Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

Another radical leftist PromArt freeloader speaks!

by kadyomalley on Friday, August 22, 2008 4:46pm - 0 Comments

From an email received this afternoon:

Someone said to us that we are likely the very last Canadian artists to take our work outside the country on the Promart fund.

I also read that the Conservatives consider Promart a “boondoggle” which doesn’t achieve its aims of promoting Canada, Canadian foreign policy and Canadian artists. I would just like to tell you what Promart’s $2,000 will achieve for Canada and us. It will allow my husband and I to travel to South Africa where our film, THE GREAT GRANNY REVOLUTION has been used to change South African health policy. A change that all the power of governments and the UN could not achieve.

Two Wakefield Grannies and I took the film there in March on CHC funding. While there Johannesburg announced a whole new package of services for grandmothers raising their AIDS orphans. The City gave the film a gala screening and then it was shown four more times. We did a training workshop to teach others to set up a Granny support group.

Now, September 5th Robert and I will return – on Promart funding and we will show the film 7 times in Pretoria. One of those times as the Gala opening event. During the days we will be at the University teaching young people how to shoot, how to tell their own stories, how to use the media. We have meetings set up to discuss a co-production with one company and broadcast of our doc with another.

In South Africa we are heroes because we are willing to do this. Our activities will be covered by the media. We don’t mind donating our time, and the use of our equipment but we certainly can’t afford to buy round trip tickets so that we can promote Canada and Canadian doc makers. Without the support of Promart we would not be able to go.

www.rooneyproductions.com to see more about the film, the tour, the work.

Brenda Rooney.

Tags: aaaarhts funding, boondoggling in our time, brenda rooney, health care, promart, south africa, still more communists, the great granny revolution

More by kadyomalley

http://andrewcoyne.com Andrew Coyne

Uh, Kady – could you take the italics off?
http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

Oh, fine. You people have no sense of whimsy.
http://andrewcoyne.com Andrew Coyne

Thanks. I only meant you forgot to close them at the end, so the whole National page was in itals.
Heather

Grannies can be commies too. And they’re teaching “young people how to shoot” on taxpayers’ money! (Actually that sounds like something the anti-gun registry people would like.)
T. Thwim

Shoot film, I’m guessing.
boudica

LOL!!
Torontonian

This film endeavour was given coverage last year on CBC during the international AIDS conference in Toronto–the conference Harper and the minister of health didn’t attend.

The situation of orphaned children being raised by grandparents is a real situation in Africa and
this sort of effort is worth maintaining.
Style

Here’s a link to a 2 minute trailer for the film, if anyone is interested:

http://www.rooneyproductions.com/granny/granny_trailer.htm

As far as I can tell, it’s the inspiring story of 12 retired civil servants (who else lives in Wakefield?) who spark a popular uprising in South Africa against the witchcraft which causes AIDS. Although my attention may have drifted…

Does anyone else vaguely remember Paul Wells (or maybe Andrew Coyne) being vaguely supportive of the Strategic Review back in February or so? I’d like to reread their comments now that Macleans is covering the culture and CFIA cuts. Government search engines are nothing compared to the horror of Macleans’…although, again, it might be my drifting attention.
madeyoulook

Not sure if you meant to exaggerate or mock us conservatives with the “freeloader” term in the title, but the shoe actually fits very well.
Why do you suppose these filmmakers didn’t feel $2K was a worthy investment of their own to promote this film to the South African market? Precisely: there is no real promotion of their product here, to encourage future sales. So why should taxpayers from St. John’s to Victoria to Alert cough up the “investment” the filmmakers themselves would not?
If it’s a worthy health promotion project, talk to CIDA or WHO or UNICEF or MSF or OXFAM or CARE, all of whom lose $2K in the blink of an eye in their head office board rooms. But don’t try to convince me the above is a worthy promotion of Canadian culture.
Of course, this evil right-wing neo-con knuckle-dragging CBC-hating heartless SOB doesn’t even buy the rationale for GOVERNMENT promotion of Canadian cultural product overseas in the first place. I’m just pointing out that Ms. Rooney is proving the boondoggleness point here.
kody

So arts is reeeeeeealy about foreign aid, and supposedly doing hero work far more important than what the UN could accomplish.

Am I supposed to be guilted into agreeing to my hard earned dollars being taken from me amidst these shifting sands of arts funding justifications, which are sounding more and more shrill by the moment?

And if I am to be so guilty, (to those leveling the charge) have you donated to this worthy cause? There are several charities I give to, according to what I think is appropriate, not what the government tells me is. What’s stopping you from putting your money where your mouth is? Of course its much easier to ask others to put THEIR money where your mouth is, isn’t it.
Mike Horn

OK buddies, we’ll put our money where our mouths are. I think these cultural products are earning back their investment. If we can put together a profitable enterprise selling our culture to older but slightly less sophisticated nations then why not? Create a Cultural Chamber of Commerce and trade promotional work for fees or a cut. Pay for a book tour and take a goverment sized cut of the foriegn sales.
Jenn

Madeyoulook and Kody, just so I have your position straight, would it be also fair to say that when a natural disaster occurs you’d prefer our Government just say “Sorry about your luck”? Those Canadians in a position and willing to lend a hand can dip into their own pockets, of course.

I mean, in spite of the fact that Canada would soon be seen as selfish isolationists, is it your position that any sort of government-funded helping hand is not worthy of your tax dollar?

Or is it only if it is under the arts umbrella?
http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Jenn I am a libertarian and one of those irritated by all this funding on nonsense arts programs.

The example you use is one where I would support government involvement because I believe the number one duty of government is to protect its citizens.

There is also the fact that individuals, by themselves, wouldn’t be able to do much without help from the army and those trained in medicine and/or rescue operations.
Compos Mentis

Boondogle has become such an overused word that it has now become synonymous with “something that I disagree with, but can’t actually articulate because in dxoing so, would make me look really stupid and\or shallow.

I respect kody and madeyoulook for at least being able to articulate their opinion (even though we fundamentally disagree).
Style

Does flying a couple to South Africa for business meetings actually fit the mandate of PromArts? It doesn’t seem quite the same as sending Oscar Peterson behind the Iron Curtain. I notice their earlier film on the same subject was made in association with CIDA and Vision TV. Since those haven’t been shut down, Canadians may be able to continue this work. Despite the claim that this film has had more influence than the UN, CIDA may have found better ways to improve public health policy in Africa than 12 Canadian senior citizens offering moral support which they then make a film about…

And there may be people with more relevant experience in guerrilla media for the workshops mentioned than an advertising and events firm that works for the Government of Canada…I think Holy Fuck’s UK tour was a more encouraging example of PromArts at work than this case.
Maureen

Why didn’t they just mail the video to the screening (they could videotape their introduction to the video as well) – that might cost $50. Or better yet, since the video proposes to change SA health care, why don’t people in South Africa pony up the money? Why is it always the Canadian taxpayer that gets the special priviledge of paying for these things.
dB

“Why didn’t they just mail the video to the screening?”

A very nuanced view of cultural industries from the commenters. Bravo.
T. Thwim

Because for 2 grand, we’ve given lots of people in South Africa, including the government, the warm fuzzies about Canadian ideas and Canadians in general. This means that when we negotiate trade deals with them, or try to convince them to act or vote our way in various international conferences, they’re more likely to give us favorable terms.

jwl: So what you’re saying then is when it’s a program that’s acceptable to you, then you’re willing to have the government dip into my pocket for it. But when it’s not, then they better not come to you, right? Just so we’re clear.
http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

T Thwim Since I am not an anarchist, I do believe some government is necessary. The government has legitimate role in maintaining law and order, infrastructure and emergency services.

Since you are happy to send pensioners to Africa in the hope of trade deals with marxists, I assumed you would be happy to help out your fellow countrymen in their time of need. Am I wrong?
T. Thwim

Oh, you’re not wrong. But I don’t laud cuts to programs I don’t like simply because their cuts.
That’s the primary difference.
Style

I submitted a version of this comment earlier this afternoon, but mentioned a certain Holy band which I think is keeping the comment in the moderation queue.

Does flying a couple to South Africa for business meetings actually fit the mandate of PromArts? It doesn’t seem quite the same as sending Oscar Peterson behind the Iron Curtain. Since their earlier film on the same subject was made in association with CIDA and Vision TV, and those haven’t been shut down, they may be able to continue this work.

Of course, despite the claim that this film has had more influence than the UN, it’s possible that CIDA has found better ways to improve public health policy in Africa than 12 Canadian senior citizens offering moral support which they then make a film about… From what I’ve seen on the Rooney productions site, the film doesn’t seem to contain any Canadian ideas or to have taken South Africa by storm. Would South Africans feel all that warm and fuzzy about the claim that 12 pensioners from Canada had to save their public health system?

And there may be people with more relevant experience in guerrilla media for the workshops mentioned than an advertising and events firm that works for the Government of Canada…It might be better to spend our money on those experts.
madeyoulook

There is a massive difference between civil protection expenses and meddlesome “investments” in Canadian businesses engaging in domestic or international trade. If the business is unwilling to make the investment itself, the payoff mustn’t be there, so it is stupid for the government to siphon off our taxes to make the investment the business would not. And if the payoff is there, there is also no need for our taxes to be ponied up, since private investors will also see the payoff and be willing to contribute. And if it’s for a different purpose like international aid, then at least have the decency to put the charge under the right mission statement.
The moral failings associated with the throwaway of two thou for this granny to bring the video in their own carry-on can be lumped with the moral failings of throwing away tax $ for the Canada-logo to be displayed at all those miniature Quebec municipal festivals, and with the billions in “repayable (suckers!)” loans to Bombardier, and with any number of ridiculous activities that have nothing to do with the responsibilities of a federal government. “Freeloader” belongs to all of the above.
If a program that wants to cut back on two thousand here, twelve thousand there, can lead to this amount of vitriol from the pampered pigs feeding at the public trough, it cements in my mind the need to be swift and brutal in slashing all this nonsense, and to resist the urge to wander across the country throwing gold coins out of the public purse ever again. You just can’t kill these bloated beasts once they are born: we simply must prophylactically prevent conception, or abort before delivery. Oh Lady Thatcher, how is your health? Any thoughts of becoming a Canadian citizen? This country could use you right about now. At the very least, could you please become a penpal to our current prime minister? Minority government has taken away his spine.
kody

“If a program that wants to cut back on two thousand here, twelve thousand there, can lead to this amount of vitriol from the pampered pigs feeding at the public trough, it cements in my mind the need to be swift and brutal in slashing all this nonsense”

Bravo.
Geiseric the Lame

” I only meant you forgot to close them at the end, so the whole National page was in itals.”

tsk tsk

If you can say that out loud and still hit the short queue next time you loose a file your IT shop is punching well below it weight.
David

Teaching young people how to shoot? Sounds like porn to me.