timeimmortal

Full and fair disclosure: I’m still angry at Harper and the Conservatives for cutting the Telefilm new media fund. As a part-time gamer, part-time game historian, part-time game-maker, and technical officer for the Edmonton Game Convention, the loss of the Telefilm fund is, for me, something that stings…especially since we had hoped to draw funding for the Convention, in part, from Telefilm (who were really enthusiastic at the idea of a gamer-centric gaming convention).

Be that as it may, however, I do agree with Stephen Harper when he notes that much of the whining and pleas for money from the arts community in Canada simply do not resonate with Canadians. Much of the content that the arts community in Canada produces is, simply put, not worth the money spent on it. It’s just not that good.

That’s not to say it’s all crap, of course…but one notes that the best things coming out of e.g. Vancouver these days are not wholly Canadian shows. Things like Battlestar Galactica — an excellent series — make heavy use of Canadian talent and Canadian locations, because it’s the only way that a show with such consistently high-quality visual effects can possibly stay within its overall budget. And that Canadian talent is put to good use; many of the actors on that show are excellent or better. Likewise, the Canadian landscape has proven itself versatile and adaptable to the needs of a show that has involved a few instances of planet-hopping.

But in the end, BSG is still essentially an American show. Most of its funding flows from the Sci-Fi Channel, and its principal audience is State-side. The same can be said of shows like Stargate Atlantis — produced here, but mostly funded from abroad. Few wholly Canadian shows rise to match the quality of e.g. BSG, and fewer still enjoy any kind of comparable audience and popularity.

And in many cases, there’s a good reason for that. Even a cursory glance at the slate of programs that the CBC is running this season makes one scratch one’s head — the shows just aren’t that good. Hockey Night in Canada is still about the best thing the CBC has going for it, because it’s about the only show in Mothercorp’s lineup that doesn’t betray a leftward political slant (although, to his credit, Rick Mercer has come down on the right side of the freedom of speech/HRC debate).

And of course, this is just television we’re talking about. The arts community in Canada produces quite a lot of other stuff besides niche television shows…much of it of even lower quality, and lesser appeal, than Canadian television. There’s not a stage play that has been produced in Canada in…a long time…that I’d care to go and see, and even most Canadian “artists” (by which I mean painters, sculptors, and the like) produce material that simply does not resonate with me (and, I suspect, with many other Canadians as well). Some of it is disgusting, some of it is mediocre, and some of it is just damned odd…and the amount of crap sadly outweighs, and overshadows, what genuinely good stuff exists.

And we, the Canadian taxpayers, shouldn’t have to fork over dollars in support of things which we’ll never go and see, nor ever acknowledge as being something of substance and quality. Yeah, I’ll gladly pay to support Hockey Night, even if I don’t watch much hockey…but I’m not particularly inclined to support Little Mosque On The Prairie. I’d be okay with sending a few of my tax dollars to the producers of Corner Gas, but I’d rather not line the pockets of the people who work on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Canadian artists rallied to denounce the Harper government for its stance. Gordon Pinsent even stood up and said that Canadian artists “should be the landlords of [their] own industry, not the tenants.”

I actually agree. I think Canadian artists shouldn’t be government tenants, dependent on federal handouts. I think the art that Canadians produce should be able to stand up on its own merits, and generate revenue that doesn’t emerge primarily from federal coffers. I have no problem with the idea that the government might lend assistance to commercially viable artistic ventures…but in the end, I don’t think the government’s contribution should be the majority share of any particular art project’s funding.

Let’s come back to the Telefilm fund and computer games for a minute. If there is one thing that Canadian artists — new media artists, mind — do very well, it is computer games. Canadians make excellent games. And I’m not just talking about EA Sports out in Vancouver, which was for years the only decent EA studio. I’m talking about the various smaller developers who have produced a consistent string of excellent titles over the last few years. Relic (Vancouver) gave us Homeworld and its sequel. Ironclad Games (Burnaby) gave us Sins Of A Solar Empire, which I am told is just an astounding title. Edmonton’s own BioWare has produced a steady stream of hits, including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Knights Of The Old Republic, and Mass Effect. And Ubisoft Canada (Montreal) gave us Assassin’s Creed, another critically acclaimed game.

Government funding went into some of these titles, but the government didn’t provide the lion’s share of the development money in any particular case. And it isn’t government money that let the games themselves turn a profit; all of these titles have been commercially successful, because they’re damn good. Because they were developed with the end user in mind, and offered something that gamers the world over were willing to actually pay money for.

It’s that last point that’s important: people wanted to support these games financially, by buying them. As Kateland at TLA notes:

In any given time, in any given culture, if patrons cannot be found who are freely willing to pay for the fare which is offered by the artistic community, is says something substantial about the fare which is offered, but apparently, not in Canada.

The government purse is not a finite resource. The purse is only filled by sweat of the brow of the taxpayers via the coercive arm of Revenue Canada. Life is about choices and so is government. The government cannot go on funding indefinitely and without concern to the cost of each program which it currently funds.

And so I find I’m torn. I agree, overall, with the decision of the Canadian government to restrict arts funding. I just wish they hadn’t killed the Telefilm fund in the process. In the end, though, that’s not a total loss either. Certainly, none of the above-listed game companies is going to be hurt all that much by it, and even the Convention will be able to find alternative sources of funding. That’s because they, and we, keep in mind the most important thing: the people. These companies, and our Convention team, intend to produce something that others will see as worthwhile, and not just something which will earn appreciative nods from a select handful of artistés and intelligensia.

September 11th, since 2001, has always seemed to bring out the raging anti-Semite lurking none too far beneath the skin of many on the Left.

To briefly give example to this observation: blogger Canadian Cynic noted his belief that Stephen Harper has been ‘bought’ by the Jews, and just for good measure threw in a snide reference to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Cyinc’s exact comment on Harper, by the way, began by noting that, “Jewly speaking,” (wtf?), Harper had been an excellent investment (screenshot at that link, by the way).

It gets better, with commentators adding their own $0.02 with such pearls of wisdom as:

Who knew it was such a doddle to get ’s highest honour?

“I luz Isreeal!” Now give my my award and make it snappy.

And:

Can we just round these people up and put them in camps where they can’t do any more damage?

And sure enough, there’s no resisting the lure of a Godwin violation:

Josef Goebbels Stephen Taylor must be so proud

Even Dr. Dawg, another lefty blogger and supposed champion of human rights, thinks this is the cat’s meow:

Rock on, CC, and damn the torpedoes.

It’s really quite incredible. Scratch a leftist, find something truly ugly lurking beneath the surface. All that prattle about human rights and equality is, evidently, just so much pretense.

Update: Welcome, Steynians!

We’re…what?  Two days in?  And already, Harper has had to apologize to the Liberals for an image that appeared on NotALeader.ca (nice opening Flash animation, by the way…) — a site operated by a Conservative supporter that pokes fun at Stephane Dion’s hesitance as a party leader — of a puffin taking a crap on Dion’s shoulder.

But that wasn’t the only apology issued.  Dion had to apologize for an ill-advised comparison between Harper and Adolf Hitler (I invoke Godwin!) made by Liberal MP candidate Brent Fullard.

Two days into the campaign, and both party leaders have had to apologize for gaffes made by others.  It’s just a strange year for elections, I guess.

…when one considers that most of them seem to be concerned only about control of the vagina and uterus (and not zippers or skirts) as the fundamental rights of womyn. Someone who may potentially become the ideal of classical feminism — breaking barriers, opening new options, heck, I bet she’d even push for equity laws on pay, parenting and other issues, in a conservative way (say, equal pay for equally valued work, no tax penalty for the married or for families that choose to have a single breadwinner etc.) — is not welcome because she does not ‘fight for womyn’s rights’ but wants to curtail them. They also fear that a smaller nanny state will have fewer dollars available for their pet projects, thus putting them on an equal playing field with their intrinsically stronger opponents (who never received the nanny state money in the first place. See: the outrage when Harper cancelled funding for some lefty-feminist groups as a Canadian example).

The Palin/McCain campaign needs to encounter the frothy anger with calm, reasoned responses, and their ticket will be punched into the White House.

Update: Welcome, Steynians!

Campaigning is already underway.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper pulled the plug on his minority government and asked voters to go to the polls on Oct. 14 to give him a fresh mandate as Canadians face growing global economic turbulence. Harper’s opponents say the campaign will be a referendum on his leadership and the direction he has taken the country since the Conservatives won power in 2006.

Harper painted himself as a reliable quantity while his political opponents pushed the “change” button.

The Conservative leader pointed to what he said was a solid record of governing that, he says, proves he is a tried and trusted steward for uncertain times.

Voters have two distinct choices, he said.

“They can choose between clear direction or uncertainty; between common sense or risky experiments; between steadiness and recklessness,” he told reporters after Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean agreed to dissolve Parliament.

October: busy month!

Harper’s Conservatives seem to be in a decent position at present; this should be a good campaign for them. The Liberals — at least based on their choice of campaign aircraft — aren’t well-positioned financially to fight an election, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the NDP has alienated a lot of people with its constant rhetoric against the Afghanistan mission.

But the NDP were always small fry. It’s the Liberals that stand the most to lose here, and indeed the possibility has begun to emerge that this election might send the Liberals the way of the Progressive Conservatives.

One can hope, I suppose.

Now, if only the Conservatives hadn’t axed the Telefilm fund…that bad decision will make voting for them a little less palatable for me.

Canadians will go to the polls on October 14th.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean early Sunday morning and ask her to dissolve the 39th Parliament, Canwest News Service has learned. Canadians will vote Oct. 14, after the shortest campaign permitted by law.

Harper will begin campaigning immediately after leaving the Governor General’s residence at Rideau Hall, touching down in at least two cities and possibly three before day’s end Sunday.

The general election will supersede four scheduled byelections — two each in Quebec and Ontario. Voters in three of those ridings were set to vote Monday.

Harper’s decision to ask for a general election ends one of the longest minority Parliaments in the country’s history.

So…majority this time ’round?