Straight gets it half right

[img_assist|nid=725|title=The Chicken that Speaks|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=288|height=288]A golden egg to Charlie Smith at the Georgia Straight for highlighting a feature of the just announced BC provincial budget which seems to have been largely glossed over in other media – "cuts to arts funding":http://straight.com/article-201846/why-gordon-campbell-and-colin-hansen-...

From this chicken's perspective, Smith is bang on the money when he points out that this is not so much a direct attack on arts and culture as it is pandering to the gallery in key constiuencies. I also like his referencing Roosevelt's support of the arts during the Depression (the last one, that is, not this one).

I hope that Smith continues championing the arts from his perch atop the Straight. Altough, it seems to me that under his watch the coverage of the arts in “Vancouver's News and Entertanment Weekly” has shrunk dramaticaly. Weren't Colin's theatre reviews longer – and weren't there more of them – a few years ago? Or am I nuts?

Coverage of the arts is in the very DNA of the Straight. It's vital that anyone running that publication recognize the history and value of the relationship between the performing arts and the Straight . With the rumoured loss of Jerry Wasserman's theatre reviews in the Province, it's crucial that the Straight step up and once more make arts coverage central to their publication.

I applaud Smith's editorial on the value of culture. It's even more important that he walk the walk and show this city his own commitment to the arts.

Otherwise, a dreaded white feather might arrive at his doorstep....