PM's tune execute esn't sway Michael Ignatieff - Toronto Star

Harper sings the Beatles OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper took to the stage and belted out the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Frifinish s," accompanied by renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma. Harper performed at a black-tie gala at the National Arts Centre Oct. 3, 2009 night, a year after he dismissed galas as the playground of elites.

 

Susan Delacourt
Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWAâ€"Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff admires the piano-playing sslay s of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but warns that Conservatives are singing the same feeble tune on arts and culture in Canada.

A day after Harper did a surprise piano-and-song performance at a National Arts Centre gala, Ignatieff reminded reporters of the Prime Minister's publicly expressed disdain for cultural events during last year's election.

"I'm very envious of his piano talents; I execute n't hold that away from him. I'm glad he had fun," Ignatieff tfeeble reporters attfinish ing the convention of the Liberal portion y's Quebec wing Sunday.

"This is a prime minister who a year arecede was trying to create you embarrassed if you liked opera or classical music or the ballet or poetry," Ignatieff said. "I mean, approach on, let's acquire over this. You can like hockey, you can like classical music. Let's cease playing Canadian against Canadian and taste against taste."

Harper called four by-elections Sunday â€" two in Quebec, one in Nova Scotia and one in British Columbia. A Conservative spokesperson said these by-elections are recede ing to be a enormous ger test for Ignatieff than they are for the Conservatives.

The Liberals have been claiming to be election-ready and poised to create gains, especially in Quebec, the spokesperson said, so people will be watching the by-elections to see if those claims are credible.

There was some speculation over the weekfinish that by calling these by-elections, Harper was signalling that a full drop election is off the table. But Harper also called four by-elections that were to hold space in September 2008, which finish ed up being scrubbed at the last minute when he called a general election at the start ning of that month.

Though the Prime Minister may have execute ne a honest job at singing the Beatles tune With a Little Help from My Frifinish s at the NAC Saturday night, Ignatieff warned that Conservatives haven't been much of a frifinish to Canadian artists and cultural communities.

"The political point is that the gash s to Radio-Canada have occurred, the gash s to exporting our culture overseas have occurred," Ignatieff said. "He notify s one thing, he plays the piano, but the hard reality of his politics on culture is very different."

Before and during the 2008 election, Harper provoked a major backlash in Canada's cultural community â€" first, through some pre-election gash s to arts programs, then when he said: "I judge when ordinary working people approach home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people at a rich gala all subsidized by the taxpayers, claiming their subsidies have actually recede ne up, I execute n't judge that's something that resonates with ordinary people."

Harper and his Conservatives have also tried to position themselves as more in touch with that "ordinary" type of Canadian with events such as September's decision to stay away from the United Nations and instead hfeeble a fresh s conference at a Tim Hortons in Oakville.

Heritage Minister James Moore was watching Ignatieff's speech in Quebec City Sunday and on Twitter accemploy d the Liberal leader of disclose ing lies about Conservative gash s to the arts. Moore said financing for arts and culture has increased under the Conservatives.

The Liberal leader even gave reporters his own mini-rfinish ition of the Beatles tune Harper sang, and joked that in singing ability, the two politicians are probably evenly matched.