[Fwd: Election Alert]

[Allana Lindgren]

Thanks for passing on the "Election Alert" e-mail. As a subscriber to this
list, I would like to state that arts funding is of great concern to me, as
is the ability to voice that concern freely.

Whether I agree or not with the opinion attributed to Ted White, I fail to
see how distributing it amounts to "political propaganda". My only
hesitation is this: has the e-mail been verified? That is, do we know for
sure that the e-mail originated with Mr. White? If so, then the Alliance
position as represented by one of its own members should be made public,
particularly to people in the arts sector, particularly during an election.
I want to make an informed choice on election day and up to this point the
Alliance platform has not been clear on funding as it relates to the arts
and scholarly research on arts-related topics.

I would be just as happy to hear the views of people who agree with Mr.
White as those who disagree with him. Rational debate is crucial for any
decision-making process, be it political or otherwise. After all, isn't the
whole point of universities to challenge and debate ideas? Isn't being
confronted by controversal viewpoints a critical part of education?

I don't know what the "unspoken contracts behind venues like listservs"
means, but I certainly worry about the unspoken agenda behind a such a
statement--that free speech should be negated if the message is deemed
undesirable. If subscribers did not like Jane's description of a "horrid
little tidbit", erase the message. Don't try to shut down the whole
conversation.

All this said, perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps there is absolutely nothing
political about the humanities, the arts (particularly performance) and
arts-related research. Yes, perhaps the arts are best seen as trival
entertainment and arts-related research as a waste of money. Tax-payers'
dollars are better spent on important topics like researching the benefits
of a two-tiered health system and the most palatable way to axe Old Age
Security and the Canadian Pension Plan.

Allana Lindgren


On Friday, November 24, 2000
**** **** wrote:

>Why is this forum being used for political propaganda?
>Yes arts funding will likely concern subscribers to this list, and secondly
>we are all proponents of free speech, however Jane's message is neither
>valid nor appropriate given the unspoken contracts behind venues like
>listservs.
>


>From: Luella Massey <l.massey at UTORONTO.CA>
>Reply-To: "UTPERF-L : Performance at U of T"
><UTPERF-L at LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
>To: UTPERF-L at LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA
>Subject: [Fwd: Election Alert]
>Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 15:11:57 -0800
>
>Jane Freeman wrote:
>
> > Hi Lu,
> >
> > Could you pass this horrid little tidbit on to all eligible
> > voters (and all other concerned citizens) on your list?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jane
> >
> > --------- Forwarded message ----------
> > > Reform/Alliance MP Ted White (member for Lynn Valley) recently wrote
> > > this in response to a letter from a UBC professor:
> > >
> > > "Although I do not question that some of the research funded by the
> > > SSHRC has been quite constructive and forward-looking, I also know
>that
> > > much of it is not. For example, I cannot conceive of any way in which
> > > research in the fields of fine arts, classical studies, philosophy,
> > > anthropology, modern languages and literature, or medieval studies,
> > > which together accounted for over $5.3 million in grants from SSHRC in
> > > the last fiscal year, contributes to any 'understanding of Canadian
> > > society or the challenges we face as we enter the 21st century.'
> > > Research into such fields, as far as my constituents are concerned,
> > > constitutes a personal past-time, and has no benefit to Canadian
> > > taxpayers. As their representative, I cannot justify funding such
> > > activities with their tax dollars."
> >

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