A rant to precipitate change...

I really, really dislike not having an internet connection chez moi. The plan to go web-less was originally conceived as a cost-savings measure and was feasible, given that I surf from 9-5:30 Monday to Friday. But since I've gotten more heavily involved in the online community this plan leaves me feeling very disconnected on the weekends, as if I'm missing some very important appendage. It must be remedied in the coming weeks, time to bite the bullet and succumb to my www(dot)addiction. Because now I have spent the first two hours of my Monday catching up on everything I missed over the weekend and well, that's just silly.

Or maybe I'm just grumpy because I got all the way through the hundreds of posts in my Google Reader before blogTO posted today's Morning Brew. What can I say, it's how I like to start my morning.

There is more to this post, though. This one is about politics. Again before noon, I know. I apologize. But I can't help it. It's in the air. Can you feel it? Like electricity, crackling, igniting...sending shock waves through the populace. It is the eve of an historic event and the world is watching.

As Capitol Hill prepares for the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America the national news networks seem unable to report on anything else. Other events of global importance are occurring, to be sure, but there is nothing to top this. It is literally all anyone can talk about. Well, almost. A few people up here in the Great White North seem not to have forgotten that our very own government will be back in the office in the coming week. Whether or not it will be as glamourous, as exciting, as momentous, or even as productive as the political process occuring to the South remains to be seen. I imagine not. Nevertheless, the return of Stephen Harper to his throne office should be of some significance to those of us residing in Canada as, following a deep freeze in government only barely matched by our frigid winter weather, change may be on our door steps, too.

To begin, no one (at least no one in the artistic community) has forgotten Mr. Harper's now infamous comments about "ordinary Canadians" and the arts. While outrage over his statements and budget failed to sway the outcome of the Federal Election in October, the artistic community's passion on the topic has not yet been exhausted. Not even close. Rather, in what has become to many a war for our survival as a culture, we have set about proving him wrong in every way we possibly can. The rise of the Department of Culture has certainly helped in the call to action and now arguments about the reality of living and working as an artist in Canada are just about everywhere.

The latest example is an article in the Toronto Star, part of a series examining the lives of Canadian artists, extolling the virtues of other government's relationships with their artists and proposing some changes to our own troubled association. I realize that in these darkening economic times supporting the arts seems rather indulgent and unessential, but the reality is that culture create jobs. No, they are not automotive or industrial jobs but their value is no less and the product they create is equally as exportable and profitable. How do we decide, really, who deserves a "bailout?" According to the Star, last year arts and culture generated $84.6 billion in economic activity, which is approximately 7.4% of our GDP, and "employed 1.1 million Canadians directly and indirectly." Isn't that worth supporting?

And heading into the battle over the budget is a new leader, arguably a cultural contributor himself. Michael Ignatieff heads to the Hill as the new leader of the Liberals when Parliament at long last resumes later this month. Ignatieff, who could perhaps be placed amongst the "gala-going elite" moreso than most of us humble artists, has one of the most impressive C.V.s in Ottawa. Amongst his many accomplishments are sixteen books, including three novels. One of the most recent, The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror, has been dispatched to Mr. Harper as required reading by one Yann Martel, who almost a year ago vowed to send Mr. Harper a new book every two weeks for as long as he is prime minister. While there has been little talk of the Coalition by Mr. Ignatieff in recent days, Mr. Ignatieff writes in his book that "liberal states cannot be protected by herbivores." In light of such, I would encourage him to go for the jugular...

Finally, the political buzz is that the soon to be President Obama will be heading North to see us in the near future. In his attempts to temper expectations amongs the American people, which have soared beyond proportion and reason since the election, Obama has Canadians wondering what his administration might mean for us. While this interdependence is unfortunate in many respects (they could inadvertently make things much worse here, as we could to a lesser extent there), it is what keeps the lines of communication open. It is, I think, what keeps us from killing each other. At any rate, Roy MacGregor at the Globe and Mail has some excellent suggestions for beginning the conversation between the American head of state and ours (oh wait, he isn't really, is he?...scratch that). It is an excellent look at the paradoxes of Canadian politics and of the Canadian character. Certainly an important introduction to any visiting diplomat. At the very least, he'll be familiar with The Hockey Song.

Suffice to say, changes are taking place all over and with greater speed than most of us can wrap our heads around, even in this post-twitter global village we inhabit. The whole thing is, in many ways, a mess. It would almost be laughable if it weren't so serious. But there is something in the wind that suggests we may yet come out on top.

On the one hand, the future is bleak. But on the other hand, maybe it isn't.