Odd to see arts and culture making even a slight dent in the federal election campaign, even if only in Quebec. Gotta love this bit of sweater-vest populism from Harper, attacking all those fat-cat arts folk: “I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up – I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people…Ordinary people understand we have to live within a budget.” (Canadian Press, September 23, 2008)
Odd to see arts and culture making even a slight dent in the federal election campaign, even if only in Quebec. Gotta love this bit of sweater-vest populism from Harper, attacking all those fat-cat arts folk: “I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people, you know, at a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough when they know those subsidies have actually gone up – I’m not sure that’s something that resonates with ordinary people…Ordinary people understand we have to live within a budget.” (Canadian Press, September 23, 2008)
The Liberals were quick to pounce on it with this reality check:
“Is that the same budget that his then Heritage Minister Bev Oda lived within when she sent back the mini van that had been rented for her and ordered limos for her and her staff at the Junos gala in 2006? She even used the $1,000-a-day limos two days before the Junos even began. What is worse is that she tried to stick the taxpayers with the entire bill, even for the limos she took to partisan Conservative Party events. Ironically, the hotel she was staying at is connected by underground tunnel to the Metro Centre where the Junos took place.”