Must... not... write about Mr. Ignatieff.
It's almost impossible not to. It's like not slowing down and looking at a car crash by the side of the highway. You know you shouldn't. You know you mustn't. But it's just so hard.... not to look... not to write about the remarkable polling numbers or the gracelessness and the boring speech this weekend.
But this addiction to the Ignatieff crack must be broken.
So, let's talk about the Tories instead.
As has been widely discussed on this website, Mr. Harper's recent appearance at the National Arts Centre gala was without a doubt one of the smartest things the Prime Minister has ever done.
All across this land, Beatles fans like me are currently listening and re-listening to a fabulous set of remastered Beatles records released with much fanfare a few weeks ago. Those remastered discs are a great treat, and a fine way to reconnect to a body of work I last listened to carefully on the original vinyl, played and replayed and replayed until the albums (remember "albums") were scratched beyond tolerable.
It's amazing what those four musicians were able to accomplish in such a short recording career as a band.
It's amazing there are depths to this music still be found (check out Paul McCartney's now crystal-clear progressive bass playing on With A Little Help From My Friends -- not a bad choice for the Prime Minister to tackle since the original singer, Ringo Starr, more or less sings in his range).
And amazing that Stephen Harper somehow found a way to place himself in this cultural moment.
And you know, he really wasn't half bad up there.
This is an opportunity not to be missed.
To be specific, since Mr. Harper has now joined the ranks of Canada's artists and performers, now would be a perfect time for the Prime Minister and his government to turn their minds to the extremely tough hand dealt to entertainment professionals in the Canadian arts.
Many artists, entertainers and performers look like they are self-employed, as far as government programs are concerned. That means no pension, no medical benefits, no dental, no training and no employment insurance.
Those artists lucky enough to be represented by creative unions like the one I work for can pool part of their earnings and give themselves some of these benefits, taken for granted by most people in the economy. But those benefits must be negotiated painfully over many years; typically go up and down with earnings and so are denied to many underpaid creative people, even if they are in creative unions; and rest on legal foundations in most provinces that are in dire need of being shored up. The bottom line is that far too many of Canada's creators live in crippling economic insecurity, followed by retirement into poverty.
So, Mr. Prime Minister, now that you've proven you've got some chops, this is the perfect moment for you to step up to the plate for your fellow artists.
Here are some excellent places to start.
First, the government has already announced its interest in extending employment insurance benefits to self-employed workers. How about making sure those changes are carefully tuned to work for Canada's freelance creative people? Few types of worker are in more critical need of income security, parental benefits, and access to training and retraining than Canada's artists.
Second, how about another look at income averaging for people in the arts? Artistic incomes fluctuate wildly, but the tax system sees that one good year in ten as a typical year and taxes it accordingly.
One last thing. That recorded NAC gala performance is being pirated and redistributed around the world, without one penny of residuals or royalties to the Prime Minister, Yo-Yo Ma or the rest of the orchestra (who performed the song) or to Paul McCartney and the estate of John Lennon, who co-wrote it. Now that Parliament is more or less back in business, how about early action on copyright reform, with top priority to giving artists the right to virally distribute their work when they want to, and the right to insist on payment when they want to as well?
It was great moment, seeing you up there on stage, Prime Minister.
And what a great moment for you to now do something great for your fellow performers.
(By the way, you did apply for your union card, didn't you?)