When a diverse group of artists, environmentalists and concerned citizens got together back in September to protest government cuts to the arts, they realized they needed a name and a plan of action. Just in time for Election 2008, the surprisingly well-organized coalition seems to have met both challenges quite well.
The so-called Department of Culture, the group that formed in the wake of the now infamous cuts to PromArt and other programs announced in August, used the brisk autumn night of October 9 to deliver its first major public statement.
But its tactics didn’t include the violent overthrow of the state. Instead the event was dubbed This is NOT a Conservative Party, and was a night of music at the Phoenix Concert Theatre headlined by Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene and featuring performances by Dave Bidini, the Barenaked Ladies’ Jim Creeggan, Nadjiwan and Porkbelly Futures among others.
If you live in Toronto, you’ve probably seen the stark red, yellow and white promotional posters for the event displaying a raised fist and the message “People Take the Power Now.”
Creeggan was one of the night’s first performers, taking the stage in front of an enormous Canadian flag draped on the wall behind him
He used the moment to hearken back to the days when the Barenaked Ladies were an up-and-coming local act whose biggest song was called “I am in Love with a McDonald’s Girl.” Back then they applied for and received financial backing.
When we were starting out, we got (government) support and it grew and grew and grew. I think the arts are worth investing in,” said Creeggan, whose three-song set included a Sarah Harmer cover.
The theme uniting the musicians was a vocal and visceral anybody-but-Harper sentiment.
To really understand the emotion felt by the artists taking part in events like This is NOT a Conservative Party, you have to go back to that day in August when the Prime Minister’s Office delivered what many considered a shot across the bow to the nation’s artists. The government was nixing funds for programs that for years have given bands and writers a chance to promote their works.
In an interview before the concert, Department of Culture member and This is Not a Conservative Party organizer Rebecca Campbell, an accomplished singer and songwriter in her own right, vividly recalled that day.
“It was a Friday afternoon. I was at my desk in my apartment in Parkdale working at my computer and heard it on the CBC just as it was being announced. Then I searched Google and got the quote.”
Justifying the cuts, the communiqué from the PMO had singled out “fringe art groups” such as the Toronto band Holy Fuck, the clear subtext being that such unwholesomely-named groups don’t make the “right” kind of Canadian art and don’t deserve money to represent Canada abroad.
“Holy Fuck are a joyful, fun, beautiful band. There’s nothing offensive about them whatsoever. They got a $3000 grant a couple years ago to tour, they pay rent here, live here, they’re part of the economy here, ” said Campbell.
Campbell got together with her sister and colleagues and “we discussed how outraged we were kickstarted the idea we could do something.”
600 people attended the first meeting. It was that night that Campbell came up with the idea for This is NOT a Conservative Party. “The question on everyone’s mind was: Is Harper trying to isolate and censor art to suit his government’s conception of what art is.”
Campbell isn’t one of those extremists who would compare the latest cuts to the actions of the 20th century’s worst totalitarians, but she goes so far as to say that since Bill C-10 first came on the radar screen, many artists have increasingly viewed Harper as a potential authoritarian where it comes to art.
The first band approached to perform at the flagship Phoenix Concert Theatre event was none other than Holy Fuck but the band was forced to decline the invitation because of its current touring schedule.
The Department of Culture—the name was dreamed up by playwright and novelist Darren O’Donnell according to Campbell—will exist at least until Election Day. A series of other events by groups who have also taken the name are happening across the county. Check out the website departmentofculture.ca.