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| Last updated at 8:37 AM on 16/08/08 |
The art of politics 
The Telegram
There was no sign taped to Stephen Harper's suit jacket Wednesday as he watched the RenewsCappyhayden tattoo.
But there could have been - a big white one with black lettering, taped on his back.
And, no, it wouldn't have said "Kick me" - though there's a premier who might have stuck that sign on "Steve's" back a time or two.
Instead, it would have read "Election coming." For as sure as frost heralds winter's approach, the visit of federal politicians to Newfoundland means a writ is about to fall.
That's an admittedly cynical view. Sure, Harper could have simply wanted to see the shore. But he has craved an election for months, doing everything but tossing a glove in the face of Opposition Leader Stéphane Dion as he attempts to goad him into bringing down the House.
Now that Dion has released his carbon-tax election platform, Harper can smell a vote on the wind. And he knows it will be close - close enough that every seat counts, including the seven here.
Hence his visit to the tattoo, where he made time for a little politicking with the locals, handshakes all around.
Proper thing, too. He is a politician, after all, and his willingness to press Eastern flesh suggests he's mellowed in the years since he dismissed Atlantic Canada as a region burdened by a "culture of defeat."
But does that mellowing suggest something deeper - that the former right-wing ideologue is taking his party toward the political centre?
Indications are mixed. For every step forward - the residential-schools apology to aboriginals, for instance - the Tories find a way to fire a bullet into the extended foot.
The decision to withhold government tax credits from Canadian films deemed "offensive" was one such shot.
So was Health Minister Tony Clement's comment that needle-exchange programs for heroin addicts amounted to "harm addiction."
Most recently came Tory cuts to several arts programs - including Trade Routes and PromArt, which helped defray artists' travel costs when creating and promoting Canadian art.
Eliminating the programs, which helped events like the St. John's International Women's Film Festival, and artists such as Andy Jones and Jim Payne, displays a disregard for the role of art in society.
The cuts also reveal a Tory party that has become thin-skinned with little time - or money - for viewpoints that differ from their own.
Evidence of that came in a leaked Tory memo regarding the PromArts program. In it, a staffer noted some grant recipients were "left wing," adding their beliefs were "not exactly the foot that most Canadians would want to see put forward."
But isn't that what artists do? Offer a different point of view, examine the status quo, question authority?
Of course it is. And spending a few million dollars to help foster that is a way to acknowledge art's importance to the broader culture. Or at least it is in a centrist society.
One suspects that, deep down, Harper and his fellow party members don't much care for art like that.
Though a day at the tattoo is nice.
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16/08/08
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Eddy Fan from St. John's, NL writes: So, Harper is going to break his own election law? Funny how a guy can change with a little power. I guess it's good we have a premier who always obeys the laws of the land, right MUN Board of Regents? Did Danny call to tell you he was breaking the MUN Act from his cell phone while driving?
Funny how a guy who hates Harper so much is so much like him.
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| Posted 16/08/2008 at 9:32 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Phoebe Tilley from NL writes: Eddy you nailed it. Danny is only peed off because Steve is doing a better job than he is.
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| Posted 16/08/2008 at 10:26 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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james from nova scotia writes: It is not too late for Mr harper and Mr. williams and/or their representatives to try and settle their dispute over the off- shore royalties or income perhaps through arbitration or whatever is required.
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| Posted 16/08/2008 at 3:02 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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W McLean from ON writes: What dispute over offshore royalties? The province gets them all. Always has.
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| Posted 16/08/2008 at 6:58 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Wayne Pittman from NL writes: One day I walked down a salmon river, and didn't see what I expected to see.
The other day it was a trout river, and I still didn't see what I expected to see.
What are you doing here I said to the stranger?
Moose hides and salmon by the tail.
Mississippi darkness heading down to the sea.
Wayne Pittman
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| Posted 17/08/2008 at 6:00 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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Wayne Pittman from NL writes: THE BEST THING FOR THE Telegram to do is to get a grip.
Wayne Pittman
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| Posted 17/08/2008 at 6:24 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
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