Dismissed CHRC complaint against Father De Valk to be appealed, also Catholic Insight on Heritage Canada Watch List for "Questionable Content"
Update: Some Heritage Canada Leters to Catholic Insight are are now posted;)
The dismissed CHRC complaint against Catholic Insight is being appealed by Rob Wells. A request for Judical review of the dismissal was filed 2008-07-31, more information may be found here.
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Of further note is the continuing campaign of harassment against Catholic Insight by the branch of Heritage Canada responsible for funding Magazine Publications which has quietly placed Catholic Insight on a "Watch List" for "questionable content".
Sources close to Father De Valk have confirmed that this report - dated 21/03/2007 "Report to Director, Periodical publishing Policy and Programs - Questionable Content Complaint: Catholic Insight" prepared by Sara Mayes, has resulted in Catholic Insight being required to submit a copy of each issue for screening.
The same sources also confirm the Magazine Publications complaint was initiated by a Toronto based "Homosexual Activist".
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In my opinion the implied threat is that funding for the magazine by Heritage Canada will cease should it object to content in the magazine which may well include articles discussing Catholic doctrine on same sex marriage & homosexuality. Blazingcatfur is awaiting a copy of the "Watch List " letter sent to Catholic Insight.
Efforts to have the Sara Mayes report released under Freedom of Information requests have so far met with failure.
Father De Valk and Catholic Insight have already been bled to the tune of $20 Thousand Dollars in legal fees as a result of the recently dismissed Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint, the appeal will I suspect likely cost them more, a successful appeal still more.
Catholic Insight has received a total of $12,261 from Heritage Canada, according to the most recent available report covering 2006 -2007.
Truth be told I am uncomfortable with the fact that Catholic Insight takes Heritage Canada money, in my opinion no private publication should receive government funding. I wonder however if Heritage Canada would put Macleans on a similar content watch list given that magazines recent run ins with Canada's Human Rights Commissions and the fact that Macleans has received over 3 Million dollars under the same program during the same period?
Is Catholic Insight's placement on the watch list simply a case of selective targetting by our cultural marxists, a case of bullying the smaller, weaker opponent?
Oh dear, BFC. That sucks.
Yup it sure does. What else can you expect from these Commie thugs?
"I wonder however if Heritage Canada would put Macleans on a similar content watch list given that magazines recent run ins with Canada's Human Rights Commissions and the fact that Macleans has received over 3 Million dollars under the same program during the same period?"
Are you kidding me? McCleans get government money? Is there nothing in this country that isn't getting government money ... other than me?
What periodicals receive is a postal subsidy and yes, Maclean's receives one too. Not sure what else might be involved from Heritage Canada.
Most smaller papers of whatever political stripe would go under without this subsidy.
Deborah
I ain't neither Birdy.
On who's dime is Mr. Wells (gag me with a spoon) filing an appeal? Since the complainants can use our tax dollars to persecute and silence us via the HRCs will the monatary cost be paid for by Mr. Wells??
Part of me is glad he's appealing, it will let us know where our unelected Superior Court Judges stand on "Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Religion".
I have to assume it is his own, Rose, unless the work is being done gratis by a sympathetic lawyer.
The appeal is to compel the CHRC to have the case sent to the CHRT if I am not mistaken.
Canadian Heritage offers a variety of programs which don't have anything to do with the postal subsidy.
Typically Canadian, everybody with their hand out for a buck from the government. Alberta Report was pretty good at getting the government dime when it was in operation.What a country!
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/fcm-cmf/index_e.cfm
and for a list of the recepients...
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/fcm-cmf/acr-sec/index_e.cfm
[b]The Candian Magazine Fund is comprised of four (4) components:
-formula-based Support for Editorial Content (SEC);
-formula-based Support for Arts and Literary Magazines (SALM);
=project-based Support for Business Development for Magazine Publishers (SBDMP); and
-project-based Support for Industry Development (SID).[/b]
Yup saw that, 3 mill to Macleans is more than postage stamps.
It makes my hair hurt- and I have so little left!
Excuse my USAcentrism but WTF is Heritage Canada? Is it a govt agency?
I agree with you about govt meddling in creative spheres. Ever since the Piss Christ and PBS deals here I have been convinced that if plain old ordinary people are not willing to reach into their pockets for art, history and entertainment, the govt has no G.D. business reaching into their pockets for them. I don't care how frickin arty and enlightening some pencil-necked, kitsch addicted govt clerk thinks it is, if The Folks who live on Planet Reality don't care enough about it to support it through free patronage in should not become a beneficiary of political patronage.
You people have a much worse mess to clean up than we do down here, no doubt. I used to think it was Oh Canada. Then I thought maybe they meant Oh, Canada. After reading here, sda, EL, Binksville and on ffof, I am inclined to urge you to change it to OMG, Canada!
Seriously though BCF, God Bless you all for having the courage and perseverance. ANd God Bless the Free Anglosphere, I believe that our traditions in the hands of such as you and the others will prevail.
Keep the Faith!
YBM
BCF - thanks for the list of taxpayer $$ in action.
Between special interest groups, car, truck, horses and bike magazines - well one could slash funding to all or any and no one would notice the difference if they went to a User Pay system.
Birdy beat me to it.
"...responsible for funding Magazine Publications..." just leaped out of the page. WTF?
Lemire hits the SIG patronage out of the park - again!
http://www.freedomsite.org/legal/charts_on_section13.html
Wanna see something even scarier Brett & Birdy? - have a look at Canada Council for the Arts funding, just do the default search on "all".
http://tinyurl.com/3lg4o
The list is endless.
Well, I can see an argument for the government encouraging Canadian art and letters, for otherwise there'd be no competing with American art and letters. The population of Canadians who actually support Canadian artists and writers is small. Imagine if the only Canadian novelists we heard of were Atwood and Ondaatje. Or the only stay-at-home actors we knew were Megan Followes and Sarah Polley. And it's too bad that so many Canadian artists are never heard of unless they go to the States.
American readers should understand that we just don't have the great and generous American spirit of philanthropy up here. The USA seems to have hundreds of foundations for the arts. Heck, a nice American foundation sent me to Germany for two months, asking for nothing back except a letter to report on my progress.
The Canadian population is a tenth the size of the American population. We just don't have the millionaires to dig into their pockets for the arts, and I suspect we don't have the numbers to support our own magazines. Ever heard of "Flare"? No? Ever heard of "Vogue"? "Flare" is the Canadian "Vogue", and if you want to read about Canadian designers and Canadian shops, it's "Flare" you need to read.
Holy crap! The PAP complaints work! I've been putzing around with my Macleans complaint for awhile now, and now at least I know who to send it too. Soon Kewnneth Whyte will be buying and licking his own damn stamps.
Good post!
Seraphic, the reason we don't have a generous philantropic bent towards the arts is BECAUSE of government subsidies, not the other way around, in the same way that people are poor because they use drugs, not on drugs because they are poor.
And why don't we have millionaires? Same thing: we tax people to death and (see Conrad Black) knock people down who try to better themselves.
Who cares if we can't "live up to America"? What if America didn't exist? Would we still need gov't grants to "live up to England"? I don't get it.
Most Canadians HAVE only heard of Ondaatje and Atwood. How have arts councils altered that?
Deborah, all these periodicals need to do is move online. They won't need a postal subsidy, they'll save trees and all that crap, and they'll be the wave of the future. I'm sorry if that means that little old ladies won't get magazine x in the mail, but they probably can't read the magazine clearly at this point and besides, we have to think of future readers not just existing ones.
Good luck with that BCL, it ain't gonna get you anywhere;) Why not just issue periodicals an equivalent tax break if possible rather than cash? fact is I suspect reader numbers are rather small for the vast majority of these publications, why not just assist them to become web based. The number of Canadian households without internet access grows smaller everyday, there is really little need for dead tree versions of most of these publications.
BCF,
BUt it worked here, why not with old Mac? The bar is set very low to pull funding; essentially the material has to be "in any way offensive".
Also, Insight's circulation last time I heard was 3,000 - 4,000.
I won't know the full extent of Heritage Canada's "censure" of CI until I receive specific documents I am waiting for. I despise the fact that Heritage is acting as a censor however if you receive funding it is to be expected, my concern is that anyones view of what constitutes "objectionable content" is entirely subjective and hence this policy may be subject to the same type of abuse our Human Rights Commissions have found themselves in.
If this ministry had proof read the Davinci Code for "offensiveness" to Christians or any of the grubby Islamic publications in circulation in local Muslim communities for anti semetic content, I might lose my jaded attitude towards their bias...but they are biased and as long as they are this atrophies any civil purpose they pretend to serve.
If the mail subsidy was gone would the government still claim some justifiable need to proof read publications for their obviously prejudicial "acceptability"?
Frag 'em...more PC make work teat sucking serving no discernable civil purpose.
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Kathy, if the USA didn't exist, we wouldn't need government subsidies for literature because then the massive American arts industry wouldn't exist. Everybody would read Maclean's and Flare instead of Time and Vogue because that's all we'd have. And "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which is about Toronto, would not have had to be set in Chicago, either, which is a slightly different issue.
Philanthropy aside (and I'm tempted to agree with you about taxes killing philanthropy, although I tremble for publically funded health care and schools), the fact remains that no-one would give a damn about Canadian arts unless the government got behind Canadian arts. (And even then, how many foreign folk dance troupes get the subsidies?) We all seem to need Canada Council grants until/if we can make it big.
It's not just enough to say "let the market take care of the artists" because the market does not give much of a damn about excellence. Given a choice between tickets to the ballet and tickets to "Mamma Mia", your average Canadian will go for "Mamma Mia" every time.
I've never applied for a Canada Council grant myself, and I'm trying to get published without ever taking one, but I write for a publication that gets the postage subsidy. I don't know if the subscribers would be willing to pick up the extra costs the subsidy covers. But I do know that the publication is a culturally important one.
Important to Canadian culture, that is.
Ballet vs. Mamma Mia...man. You can't tell a story by wiggling your body around. It doesn't make sense. I wouldn't go to either of those. Culture is so much more than dressing up in a funny suit and running around yelling on a stage. What's the difference between an American ballerina and a Canadian ballerina? Bah.
Funny, Cirque de Soleil's founder has become a billionaire with help from my taxes, but I don't get what's in it for me.
Why does everything come back to us being neighbours to the US? If I was never born, I wouldn't miss myself, you know? What does their existence matter? I still don't get it.
And if those readers don't care enough to cover the postal subsidy, then tough. Let the magazine fold. It can't be that important to them then.
I don't see how any of this should be my problem.
No one gives a damn about Canadian arts anyway, except for a tiny elite minority. Let them fund the sound poets and interpretive dance, then. Let other people keep their own money and spend it as they will, rather than stealing it so a bunch of rich people can go to an opera they don't even want to go to.
Who cares if the average Canadian wants to go to Mamma Mia? Are you saying people shouldn't be allowed to make choices with their own money????
The average person is stupid and lazy and no amount of extortion or nagging will change that. So let them keep the money they earn and make the leeches and parasites have to work for a living like everyone else.
Kafka went to work at a boring office every day. If he hadn't, he'd have written stories about what? His grant application turning into a cockroach?
Seraphic,
"And "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which is about Toronto, would not have had to be set in Chicago, either, which is a slightly different issue."
The film agencies do not fund movies like this because they are peopled and filled with largely bitter Canadian artists who have a neo-Marxist bent and will rarely if ever fund anything that even remotely has mainstream appeal. They look and sneer down their nose at it. One week at the Carleton is a badge of honour for them.
By the way, we did get our version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding...it was called Mambo Italiano, a crapfest of a craptacular film about a loud, boorish Montreal based Italian Catholic family that can't take it when their son comes out as gay.
Didn't see it? No one did. That's why it was financed. To lecture you about "intolerance" and perpetuate stereotypes.
As someone who has applied for many of these funds I can tell you it is largely a small in-clique of people who give money to thier buddies and friends regardless of the quality of script. If you have something mainstream...good luck getting that job at McDonald's 'cause they won't finance your art/film in English Canada.
There is much controversy recently over Canadian financing of the arts and from a film perspective, I can only quote Alfred from the new Batman movie "Burn the forest". If you want to have a viable Canadian arts/film industry it will take decades to get there, but you will only even begin to get on that road when we dismantle the system as it is now.
Sarah Polley and her ilk are wealthy and do not need our money.
I know this is slightly off the given topic but felt it was an appropriate addition.
Perhaps nobody cares about the Canadian arts & entertainment industry because, quite frankly, it tries to get by on being Canadian instead of being creative. And being Canadian is defined by our art & entertainment elite as "not being American."
Think about it for a moment...
Atwood vs. Rowling?
Doodlebops vs. The Wiggles?
Little Mosque on the Prairie vs. CSI?
There's a reason why Americans, Brits and Aussies are exporting their culture. They produce work that people want to watch, read and listen to.
Sadly, Canada is trying to shut down its one author who the rest of the world seems interested in, Mark Steyn.
Nia Vardalos (of My Big Fat Greek Wedding) was born in Winnipeg, actually, so sorry about the Torontocentrism. (She did go to Ryerson though. Hmm.)
Why the USA cultural juggernaut. matters is simple economics. Hey, I eat at McDonald's, too. I'm not trashing American culture. I'm just saying that the little rowboat shouldn't be run over and swamped by the aircraft carrier, you know what I'm saying?
Meanwhile, there is this thing called Western (or European) Civilization the right side of the anglosphere is always fussing about. It includes high--and not necessarily commercially, not successful--art, not just ethnic Europeans being free to drink beer and state their opinion of Iran.
There's a reason why parents who can afford it make their kids learn musical instruments. It's to give them skills and an appreciation of music. Sadly, it takes work and brains to appreciate good art and good music, so too many people just give up and absorb the slop of junk music and junk dancing on MTV. Kind of like eating nothing but junk food.
So even if a minority of Canadian regularly allow themselves to read critically successful literature, or to buy Canadian news and opinion magazines, or to take in an art show, or to see the ballet, or even to read the theatre section of Now or Eye magazine, or (heaven forfend) see a Canadian movie (or at least a movie written by or starring Canadians), I say its worth it. Otherwise, what is Canadian culture anyway, and where are our stories?
When immigrants say, "Fine. We'll give up our more annoying traditions for Canadian traditions. What are they?", what are we going to show them? Better "The Hockey Sweater" and Atom Egoyan films than nothing.
The rest of the world is interested in more authors than Mark Steyn, actually. I mean, I love the man, but let's not forget that Mordechai Richler's "Barney's Version" was a huge hit in Italy, for example, and that there are actually "Canadian Literature" courses in other parts of the English speaking world. And there was that nice little film called "The English Patient." And finally, I believe "Degrassi Junior High" did well abroad.
Canada is not a cultural wasteland, but the arts in Canada do need some help. If enough consumers aren't paying for them, and there aren't enough patrons supporting them, then the government (like European governments) should shell out. No Canadian arts = an impoverished Canadian culture.
And in this case, all we are talking about is a subsidy on mailing costs for Canadian publications, for heaven's sake. No-one's asking for state-funded salaries for artists.
Meanwhile, half my blog readers (and I bet at least half of BFC's and half Kathy's readers) are Americans. Why? Because the United States has ten times Canada's population. And do American readers care about buying and supporting Canadian arts? No. And why should they? But Canadians should, if we want to continue arguing that there's something called Canadian culture for immigrants to assimilate into.
By the way, I've met the Polley family, and if Sarah is rich, it's because she's worked her butt off since she was a kid.
Let's look at that list one more time...
The Wiggles are Australian. J.K. Rowling is British. Last time I checked, there were fewer Australians than Canadians and the Brits were only double our population.
So why are they producing art and literature that is internationally competitive, and Canada is not?
By the way, Canadian writers are very much appreciated...just not in Canada. Alice Munroe is widely considered one of the best short-story writers on the planet; Margaret Atwood one of the best novelists; Michael Ondaatje (?) similarly.
And the kind of money we're talking about to support these guys is trivial. Atwood's first poem's were published in photocopied little mags, with the government money literally paying for the cost of the photocopies.
The issue here (with Catholic Insight and Macleans) is: he who pays the piper calls the tune. If these guys want to take government handouts, then the content of their magazine can be held up for public scrutiny. Some magazines have chosen NOT to take PAP subsidies, the Alberta Report being one of them (in its day).
Hmm. I can't tell you anything about the Wiggles, never having heard of them, but J. K. Rowlings is kind of a superstar. She combined three English surefire themes--sorcery, schools and soccer (rebaptised Quidditch)--and came up with a hit series. (And as she doesn't like us to remember, she was on welfare when she wrote the first one. That's kind of sort of an arts subsidy now, isn't it?)
Look. Artists tend to be poor. They need help to do art. If art has value in society, and I will argue that it does, then society should help artists. If the artists excel, then hopefully they get a decent salary for art, and no longer need the subsidies and (indeed) support the arts financially themselves.
I know what sticks in many craws is that artists tend to be lefties. But they are not all lefties. And we want to make sure, don't we, that it is not JUST the lefties getting help with their magazine mailing costs? It would be nice, too, if the more righty of Canadians would support more traddy Canadians. I believe Michael O'Brien might enjoy having his books purchased. Oh, come to think of it, so would I. And so would Kathy. (We've both got stuff on lulu.com, and no, Kathy doesn't know I'm shilling for her.)
Ooh, Kathy. Can't believe you quoted me to sling tomatoes when you know I love you so. Ah, well, freespeecher food fight!
Seraphic,
"Otherwise, what is Canadian culture anyway, and where are our stories?"
Exactly, where are our stories, Seraphic. This is exactly where you and every other supporter of Canadian arts and film blows their argument. These are - not - our stories. Our stories as a nation would never be funded. If they were our stories people would see them. That's how that works.
No, these are the stories of a fringe group of largely well-off white, liberal elites in the Toronto, Vancouver arts scene. That is why they are terrified about losing funding...because then they would have to tell our stories which is exactly what they do - not - want to do.
I know of no great number of people that can see themselves in the culture of Atom Egoyan or Don McKellar. In politically correct junk films like Where the Truth Lies, Breakfast with Scot or Monkey Warfare.
Think of all of the stories in Canadian history that have never been captured on film so that Polley and Egoyan and their pals can tell stories of the latest white latte Toronto sexual hangups?
The system needs to change because we are - not - getting our stories through. They are being blocked by the Polleys and the Egoyans. Yes there are some exceptions, but by and large they are just that...exceptions.
As for Polley's wealth...yes, she does work for her money. In commercial American (Dawn of the Dead, Go) films for which she earns a fat paycheck,trashes them, then claims poverty to the Canadian public.
She can make whatever film she wants, but she should not get one dime of taxpayer money to do it.
If these grants help publications remain alive and financially viable, then it is a good thing.
For some publications, 10, 12, or 15K in annual mailing subsidies, is a lot of helpful money.
"Think of all of the stories in Canadian history that have never been captured on film so that Polley and Egoyan and their pals can tell stories of the latest white latte Toronto sexual hangups?"
My Gosh thats a keeper;)
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BCL I am not sure I follow your argument re: Atwood, & Munroe, you seem to be suggesting that these writers are not honoured in Canada, which is far from the case. Hell they are the esatblishment, the "Man" so to speak.
By the Way BCL, why did Alice Munro have her stories published in the New Yorker? Ans. They paid way better than any Canadian equivalent.
And BCL as for Macleans & CI having to pay the piper, I agree in fact, so long as every gay positive, feminist, lefty mag that receives funding is also subject to the same restrictions etc. Something tells me that not all animals are equal in the eyes of Heritage Canada however.
Seraph, Shaidle ain't mad at you I know this, its just a really interesting topic she says.
First, a response to bigcitylib who said: "And the kind of money we're talking about to support these guys is trivial."
Then why all your moaning and bitching (bitch - itch - snitch - Quidditch) about some Catholic magazine from the world's least classy "world class" city receiving a few pennies?
Now on to Seraphic Single who said: "J. K. Rowlings is kind of a superstar."
So where is our Canadian superstar who dreams up bestselling children's books? Maybe a Canadian Rowling is too much, but in the past thirty years Canadian children's literature hasn't even produced a Brian Jacques, Philip Pullman, Eoin Colfer, Darren Shan, R. L. Stine or Mary Pope Osborne.
What happened to the Lucy Maude Montgomerys and the Farley Mowats? If it wasn't for Canada's francophone community, Canadian children's literature would be dead.
"Look. Artists tend to be poor. They need help to do art. If art has value in society, and I will argue that it does, then society should help artists."
As a professional "arteest" myself I understand the poverty that comes with the fine arts. I also understand that many "artists" deserve to starve because their art is shallow, whiny, pretentious and without any discernible value to the audience or to society. So let them whine about being starving artists on their own dime.
"I believe Michael O'Brien might enjoy having his books purchased."
Michael O'Brien's books are purchased. But that's because he communicated his message to his audience, and written books his audience wants to read.
Which is the problem with most "artists" today. They're too narcissistic to communicate their message, assuming their message is something worth communicating. Until Canadian artists produce something worth supporting, government funding for the arts should be cut off.
It's a bullying tactic by an ignorant deviate thug. Rob Wells "boyfriend" has insisted he pursue the issue or no more spankings!
Mr. Wells likes to be spanked by his fat queer master, so he has to keep at it.
The real issue here is: who's being the most objective in assessing Catholic Insight's hateful content???
Is it Heritage Canada who are dumping a shit-load of money on Alphonse de Valk's lap, or
Is is the Canadian Human Rights Commission who dismiss any complaint which would piss off Harper and his reigh wing party and who might just loose their cushy jobs and hugely inflated salaries as Commissioners if Harper disbands the Commission???
I'd say there is less apprehension of bias with Heritage Canada's decision.
Let's see what the Federal court judge has to say. And let's see how long Harper can get his Heritage department to stall the disclosure of their "CATHOLIC INCITE-MENT file.......
And didn't Harper campagn on a promise for an open and transparent government?? yeeesh!
Tony Clifton, our children's lit superstar is (or was) Gordon Korman (of "This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall" fame). I believe he now lives in New York City.
Yes, Canadian writers do indeed tell many stories, including Western stories. In high school, I had to read the collected works of Margaret Lawrence, which means I had to read a heck of a lot about Manitoba. And I had to read Joy Kogawa, which meant I read about British Columbia. I never read a word about Toronto until I found Margaret Atwood's "The Edible Woman", and I was thrilled that she actually described places I'd seen.
Anyway, if you actually sit down and read Canadian Literature (and I read all the Gov. Gen. finalists for fiction) you will see all kinds of stories. There weren't any "Christian" stories in the Gov. Gen. line-up, but there will be when my next book comes out. (If it comes out. Ahem)
Can Lit is really rich.
Quotes from Heritage Canada's March 21, 2007 investigation into Catholic Insight:
"Linking people of a particular sexual orientation to an extremely socially abhorrent crime with very little factual basis has the potential to be extremely damaging."
"Frequent use of the term "sodomite lifestyle"
"It is my opinion that linking homosexuality to paedophilia, using derogatory terms to describe an indentifiable group, and depicting this group as seeking to undermine or coerce the rest of society is harmful and capable of discrediting or maligning them. Therefore, I find that both the articles cited could be considered to be denigrating to an identifiable group."
WHY DOES CATHOLIC INSIGHT STILL RECEIVE GOVERNMENT FUNDING TO SPEW THIS KIND OF CRAP?????
Anon I am waiting to recieve specific documents, in the interim if you have a copy of the Heritage Canada Report please forward a copy to my e-mail, blazingcatfur@gmail.com.
Artists do art because they are mentally unbalanced and are compelled to express themselves.
The CBC on the otherhand gets $1 billion a year to employ the lefty elitists who get paid to produce crap that very, very few pay attention to.
Do you honestly believe that artists in Canada would suddenly go get jobs and stop making art if funding was pulled?
Didn't the great artists in history have patrons that funded them?
Flare sucks because Flare sucks. If they were actually forced to survive on their merits they might improve or they would wither away.
Oh anon, this is an interesting study by the Mayo Clinic, the report dates from 2007.
"Pedophiles are usually attracted to a particular age range and/or sex of child. Research categorizes male pedophiles by whether they are attracted to only male children (homo-sexual pedophilia), female children (heterosexual pedo-philia), or children from both sexes (bisexual pedo-philia).
The percentage of homosexual pedophiles ranges from 9% to 40%, which is approximately 4 to 20times higher than the rate of adult men attracted to other adult men (using a prevalence rate of adult homosexualityof 2%-4%). This finding does not imply that ho-mosexuals are more likely to molest children, just that a larger percentage of pedophiles are homosexual or bisexualin orientation to children."
Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/5sdwvp
Sounds like a bit of a PC sidestep in describing their conclusions, however my point is that I doubt the Heritage Canada staffer could be relied upon as an "expert" witness especially in light of the fact that multiple studies are available often with contradictory findings.
This book may also be of interest, it explains the issue of contentious topics being sidestepped by the media who wish to uphold PC shibolleths: Press Bias and Politics By Jim A. Kuypers
It offers a more direct interpretation of similar findings to the Mayo Study.
"The ratio of heterosexual males to homosexual males is approximately 36:1, with gay males accounting for approximately 2.8% of the male population. Yet Freund & Watson found that the instance of heterosexual pedophilia to homosexual pedophilia is not 36:1, but rather a ratio of 11:1.
Put another way, "pedophilia is far more common among homsexuals than heterosexuals"."
Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/5n9s8t
Hello, none of you commentators (except BCF) have bought my books yet. Come on, people. "Seraphic Single" at www.lulu.com. You want artists to rely on the market, so I am relying on the market. I'm no leftie. I have no fancy fashionable friends. So to the market I go!
You are the market.
Buy my books or I will apply for a Canadian arts grant!!!
I highly recommend Seraphics books, she is a writer with a strange and terrible power....and she hangs out in Goth Bars!
"Kathy, if the USA didn't exist, we wouldn't need government subsidies for literature because then the massive American arts industry wouldn't exist. Everybody would read Maclean's and Flare instead of Time and Vogue because that's all we'd have."
I love the concept that if magazines like Time and Vogue don't exist, then Canadians will happily read the dreck that is left. Is it just possible that Canadians might still seek out other magazines of better quality?
Theorem: Government arts funding is inherently evil. I show this by a simple case analysis.
We assume (0) that the purpose of the arts funding is to support things that the people will not voluntarily support because they do not value it.
Also assume (1) the government restricts speech in the public sphere, e.g. Section 13(1).
Why would a government that restricts speech pay people to make restricted speech? That's absurd, so the theorem is true in this case.
Negating Assumption (1) gives
Lemma (1): the government does not restrict speech in the public sphere.
Now assume (2): the government funds arts without political discrimination.
However, the funding program's intent is to be discriminatory. For example, in Canada, things that are not "Canadian" cannot be funded, because it is the point of the funding program to fund only Canadian things. Who decides what is "Canadian"? A government bureaucrat must decide, because by assumption (1) the people's decision is wrong. It should be safe to assume that works that are hateful towards Canadians should not be funded. However, our recent experience shows that what is hate to some people is a legitimate expression of political views to others. So assumption (2) is false. Therefore
Lemma (2): the government does exercise political discrimination in arts funding.
Using the above, we see that government arts funding agencies necessarily
(a) Will fund art most people don't like. (Assumption (0))
(b) Will exclude some artists on political grounds. (Lemma (2))
(c) Do not even in principle care about your opinion. (Assumption (0))
And all of this in a country that does not otherwise restrict free speech (Lemma (1)). This is evil, so the theorem is true in this case as well. I have shown that government arts funding is evil whether or not the government otherwise restricts free speech. QED.
So please buy this book with your own money.
BCF.. would those number include
Catholic Priest, by any chance??? You know, the asexual, celibate priest that have been abusing children for hundreds of years??
Canadian magazines aren't dreck. I enjoy Macleans, Flare, Toronto Life, The Walrus, Chatelaine, Brick... The thing is, they appeal to the Canadian market which is a tenth the size of the American market.
And Vogue, for example, is bigger and more famous than Flare. Both Vogue (which is fantastically rich) and Flare (which isn't) are competing for the Canadian market. I don't understand why no-one can get my rowboat vs. aircraft carrier analogy.
Everybody knows what the "New Yorker" is. But do you know what "The Walrus" is? And why not? It's not because "The Walrus" is crap. It isn't. It's very good.
Hey, anti-Catholic Anon. Guess what? I've met a priest who was charged with kissing a teenage boy. He was definitely gay. He was also a jerk.
Do you actually know any priests? I know dozens. Some are gay. Most are straight. That one gay guy was the only one of the dozens of priests I know (straight and gayP who was ever arrested for sexual behavior. So go soak your head.
Anon 2 would you be referring to the homosexual paedophiles who falsely assumed priestly vows, and then abused the trust placed in them by the church and their innoncent victims?
Wasn't the founder of Catholic Insight defrocked by the Bishop??
Seraphic - I was very excited when The Walrus launched. I see it filling more of a Harper's Monthly-shaped hole in Canada than a New Yorker-shaped hole. The Walrus has a decent article every issue or two, but I can get more good reading for my money elsewhere. I subscribe mostly because it's Canadian and has the form of something worth reading. See, you don't need the government to condescend to Canadian culture workers (Like "sex workers" but somehow more dignified). Joe Shmoes can do it too!
Really anon you should at least make an effort.
As an expat Canadian, I'd like to make a comment on this matter, particularly as it pertains to the USA (where I live now).
1) There is no 'American' culture. There are different types of American culture. Western and cowboys are very different from metal and stoners, but both are significant contributors to 'American' culture, and no sane person would confuse the two.
2) Culture that appeals mainly to Canadians will, for the most part, be sub-standard simply because the money isn't there. JK Rowling is a Scottish author, but her writing appealed to more than the Scots. If it didn't, she'd be a struggling single mom, even if she sold well north of the Tweed.
(Side notes - 1) Rowling did receive a grant for her first book from the Scottish Arts Council -- 2) Canada has had their JK Rowling, her name was L.M. Montgomery, and I'm guessing that she was decidedly grant-free. These types of authors don't show up that often). If Canadian artists can't appeal to non-Canadians, they will be poor. So they should look at universal themes if they want to prosper (and no, this does not mean they should expunge all Canadianess, but it should not be the central part of the art).
3) When there are obvious biases favoring a minority of artists, the system is not fair. Why should Canadian tax payers fund an unfair system?
4) Struggles can make an artist better. Kathy's Kafka example should be noted. Many others are available upon request.
5) Publicly funded artists tend to care less about the public's perception (from my experience) because they know that they can suck and still eat. This attitude breeds narcissism. This is not a virtue that anyone should encourage.
Geoff Matthews
I would very much like a copy of that Heritage Canada investigation:
fromseetosee@yahoo.com
Did art exist before nanny state subsidy? How is this possible?
Well Ricky Martin:
If you want to see Heritage Canada's investigation, write to them and ask for the Catholic Insight file under the Access to Information Act and send them the $5.00 access fee.
Write to:
Access and Privacy Coordinator
Heritage Canada
15 Eddy St.
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0M5
Then watch how they illegally withhold documents which are are entitled to get under the Access Law.
Remember how Harper promised an open and transparent government? Yet his Minister of Heritage is breaking the law to hide documents.
Can people get hold of two lists:
1) The list of publications/organisations which receive money from Hetetics (oops, Heritage) Canada
2) The 'Watch List'
It would be interesting to find if certain publications publish 'hateful' content from the left but somehow haven't made it onto the precious "Watch List" yet.
Doh, meant 'Heretics' not 'Hetetics'. Blew it.
Rob the list of publications is available I linked to it in my post above.
I suspect they will not release information of who is being watched, they will state that it contravenes the privacy act etc etc etc.
I looked at the list. It looks like every periodical in Canada I've ever heard of gets the postage subsidy. And why not, I ask. The subsidy is not a tax levied on us. It's a tax (the stamp tax) waived or partially waived for Canadian newspapers and magazines. Or it's robbing Peter to pay Paul, so Paul doesn't have to charge Peter (including the libraries, where some of us have to read them) extra.
The (now defunct) Western Standard is on the list. So is the (now defunct) lefty Catholic New Times. The playing field looks even to me.
Well I have received the documents I was promised by my anonymous source. What to do what to do....
Why not? Because of the incredibly expensive bureaucracy required to run this frivalous program. And it still costs the Post Office the same sum to send the stuff. This is creative accounting between government and Crown Corporations.
The government's job is to protect me and my property from enemies foreign and domestic, not to involve itself in "culture."
Those left and right who make it there business to criticize the government should think twice about getting a tax break that other Canadians are obliged to subsidize.
For me, this is about Canadians rethinking our relationship with the State itself. To stop thinking that 'art" -- or almost anything at all -- requires stealing other people's money, especially in the 21st century where the cost of entry to so many media is lower than it ever has been before.
"J. K. Rowlings is kind of a superstar. . . And as she doesn't like us to remember, she was on welfare when she wrote the first one. That's kind of sort of an arts subsidy now, isn't it?)"
In fact, Rowling received an extremely generous grant from the Scottish arts council to write her first book -- and despite becoming a billionaire as a result, she never returned the money.
As a direct consequence of this the Scottish arts council is reportedly going to make repayment of their grants mandatory now, should the recipient go on to earn obscene amounts of money. Good for them.
Ellie in T.O.
That's a great idea, Ellie.
"Nicol DuMoulin said...
No, these are the stories of a fringe group of largely well-off white, liberal elites in the Toronto, Vancouver arts scene. That is why they are terrified about losing funding...because then they would have to tell our stories which is exactly what they do - not - want to do.
I know of no great number of people that can see themselves in the culture of Atom Egoyan or Don McKellar. In politically correct junk films like Where the Truth Lies, Breakfast with Scot or Monkey Warfare."
Hey, fuck you! I made Monkey Warfare with a line of credit from the bank I worked my ass off for two years to pay down.
You got a problem with that, then come to Parkdale and this "white, liberal elite" will kick your ass from one end of the neighbourhood to another while all the drunks and meth addicts cheer me on.
Parkdale has many left wing denizens, it is no longer, save for an ever decreasing segment, the crumbling neighborhood it once was. Today it's filled with young families. It's hardly Cabrini Green pally.
"Blazing Cat Fur said...
Parkdale has many left wing denizens, it is no longer, save for an ever decreasing segment, the crumbling neighborhood it once was. Today it's filled with young families. It's hardly Cabrini Green pally."
Fuck you, I live there. Had to break up one fight in front of my yard by teeing my hands together and calling time out on Monday and then watched the cops take someone down in my neighbour's front yard on Tuesday. Come to Parkdale and I will show you, elitist north of Queen Street asshole.
Oh yeah. Bring your cat into our front yard and our silver haired tabby "Chaka" will also kick ITS ass.
Your pretentious "tough guy" image is lacking substance Anon. Don't tell me the cops hauled off some derelicts and this means you live in Compton North. Get a life.
No one is saying I live in Compton North, fuckhead.
My film Monkey Warfare is being lumped together under the term "white, liberal elitism" by a bunch of dogmatic pretentious assholes just because Don McKellar is in it.
Where the Truth Lies - $25 million
Breakfast with Scott - $2 million
Monkey Warfare - $60,000 paid by me
Get a life? You have a fucking blog.
Potty Mouth do you think anyone cares about your movie? I mean beyond your immediate family or were they the derelicts the cops hauled off?
I read about my movie on YOUR blog, so I guess you do.
Potty Mouth - Good one. Good response. Intelligent, compelling.
Stop giving "Cat people" a bad name, please.
Well anon for one I have never made mention of your Monkey movie on my blog others did that. They as you are entitled to an opinion.
Potty Mouth is an apt description of your style, live with it;)
As for your movie, well Don McKellar was in it, and you know what they say - if it walks like a white, liberal elitist.....
And if I had spoken in a more "genteel fashion", you would have accused me of being a "pretentious, white, liberal elitist".
If it walks like a dogmatic, right-wing asshole...
Non-sense anon, your background is self evident.
"Blazing Cat Fur said...
Well anon for one I have never made mention of your Monkey movie on my blog others did that. They as you are entitled to an opinion."
I was responding to what Nicol DeMoulin said and you picked up the baton, jerk.
Oh yeah?
Tell us what my "self-evident" background is then.
Yeah, didn't think sol
Yes but I am protective of my community;)
There it is then.
The "dogmatic right-wing assholes" versus the "pretentious white liberal elites".
Guess what?
Fuck, both those communities.
Potty Mouth
For what it's worth, American magazines also only have to pay "second-class postage," as it is called, so whether right or wrong, it is not solely a Canadian thing.
True James, but Heritage also offers "Editorial Content Support" as in the case of Fab magazine.
For what it's worth, American magazines also only have to pay "second-class postage," as it is called, so whether right or wrong, it is not solely a Canadian thing.
Wasn't the founder of Catholic Insight defrocked by the Bishop??
Seraphic - I was very excited when The Walrus launched. I see it filling more of a Harper's Monthly-shaped hole in Canada than a New Yorker-shaped hole. The Walrus has a decent article every issue or two, but I can get more good reading for my money elsewhere. I subscribe mostly because it's Canadian and has the form of something worth reading. See, you don't need the government to condescend to Canadian culture workers (Like "sex workers" but somehow more dignified). Joe Shmoes can do it too!
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