Just read an angry essay by Margaret Atwood today in the Globe and Mail criticizing Harper's recent comments about the arts. See her essay here. Seems like Harper isn't so keen about funding the arts, because he says that ordinary people don't seem to care for it. It would be very unfortunate if his cutbacks to the arts and culture continue. In Canada, the arts (literature, film making, music, architecture) is already a small and feeble industry (compared to most other countries), and it needs to be encouraged and grown, not pulled back. Canada continues to export creative talent overseas.. and it is necessary to stop this exodus. Why would I want to move back to a place that discourages innovative architecture? Where a society as a whole doesn't want to spend an extra penny on design? Right now, Steven Holl's project- first one in Canada- for the Toronto waterfront is put on hold because of none other than budget issues. For our cities to be inspiring places that people can be proud of (and want to live in), we need to demand more from our governments.. not less.