Our Prime Minister has made major cuts in arts funding without consultation. As a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, I know that we've tried dozens of times to talk to him, but without success. In his wanton disregard of arts organizations, Mr. Harper ignores three vital facts. Arts create 600,000 jobs and over $46 billion in revenue yearly. Arts provide countless hours of pleasure for "ordinary people," to use his condescending phrase. Most important, arts in a multicultural society help us to understand each other.

"How can we ever know each other, even in the slightest, without the arts?" Gabrielle Roy's question appears on every $20 bill. I thought of its profound truth when I attended a preview recently of The Iron Road, a television mini-series scheduled to appear next year on CBC. It's a story of Chinese workers' contribution to the building of our national railway in the 1880s. With complex characters (including a role for Peter O'Toole), dramatic events, tender love scenes, it's a winner. It helps us understand our past and the heroic sacrifices of "ordinary people."

While ripping away funding of the arts, the Prime Minister has made substantial grants to tobacco farmers. If I could ever get a word to Mr. Harper, I'd ask him about the value of cigarettes to our economy. Perhaps he'd tell me that heavy smokers keep our health system working overtime.

Sincerely,

Ann Birch