Margaret Atwood vs. The Tories

Canadian literary powerhouse Margaret Atwood takes a strip off the Tories in this article. She is critical of their hesitancy to support the arts, as evidenced by various government spending cutbacks. Interestingly enough, perhaps adopting the language of monetarism and capitalism of the governing party, her rational for continuing to support the arts has more to do with the arts as a revenue generating mechanism than as an entity that provides knowledge and cultural enrichment.

"When selling artistic things abroad, that money comes into Canada and is taxed in Canada, so it’s a net gain for Canada," she said. "Would they like to guess how much Yann Martel’s novel The Life of Pi generated abroad? Would they like to know …how much my foreign editions bring in? Would they like to know how much [Canadian producer] Robert LePage generates abroad?"