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Right-wing fringe elements

The director of a prominent gay and lesbian festival defends the government, whether they want to be defended in this way or not.

Suzanne Girard, director of Montreal’s Divers/Cité artistic festival, blamed right-wing fringe elements for unfairly trying to embarrass the Conservatives and cause problems for events like hers…

Ms. Girard says she has received money from the federal government’s Economic Development Corp. for the last decade. And this year the Conservative government committed to two years of funding – providing her with more budget stability. She has also received minor funding from Canadian Heritage for the 17-year-old festival that features gay musicians, dancers and theatrical performers. Divers/Cité brings in $10-million in tourism dollars.

“Personally as an organization, we have been treated very fairly and on an even footing with everybody else,” Ms. Girard said in an interview.

Further down, another festival organizer is less impressed.

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