Mr. Speaker, I received a card from the Canada Council last week, as did all MPs. It asked me to imagine Canada without musicians, painters, writers and other artists. The card implies that without the council Canada will lack culture and imagination.
Well I have news for the Canada Council. Canadians have culture and imagination in spite of the Canada Council. Works like those of the Group of Seven that are now hanging in our National Gallery were examples of Canadian culture and imagination long before the Canada Council was ever conceived. No grants were needed to create these masterpieces and many of today's artists work grant free.
Why not imagine a country with a balanced budget, a healthy economy, a workplace free from government interference? Speaking of balanced budgets, the debt clock this week passed $550 billion. Shame, shame.