The Conservative Canadian government, leaning against a wall in an abandonned warehouse while gulping for air and cocking the last cartridge into its sawed-off shotgun, is all “ooohweLOVEthearts!” now that it had its ass beat down in the last election by the culture vote. Besides his sudden newfound love of playing the piano in sweater vests, Stephen Harper appears to also be into performance art. His first piece, entitled: “Wolf, Sheep’s Clothing”, mostly constitutes him standing uncomfortably straight with his hands at his side and a perma-smile laser etched into his robotic face until shortly after the next election. Mark my words, he’ll do anything to get into power and once he’s there with a majority, the knives will come out. The world has moved on without you, Harper. Your breed of nasty conservative anti-intellectual has gone back to its swampy cave in the US to scheme for eight years. Why don’t you go join them?

Moore suggested that arts and culture would be considered in the economic stimulus package the government plans to present.

“This is an incredibly important part of the Canadian economy. We often talk about arts and culture building value in communities and building networks and so bringing creativity,” he said.

“It’s a huge part of our GDP. It’s twice the size of all those who work solely in agriculture. It’s three times the size of our forest industry. So it’s a huge part of our economy and most importantly, in my view, is that arts and culture is about improving the quality of life of Canadians,” Moore said.