Members of the arts community in B.C. must wonder if they live in a fascist regime. Not only has there been massive cuts to arts funding--B.C. ranks last in Canada in per capita funding of the arts at about $4.50; Yukon has the highest funding at $268 per capita--now the provincial government has "found" $30 million and is happy to give it to arts groups on the condition they meet the needs of Spirit Festivals to be held in February for the next three years as a tribute to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The money--$10 million over three years--is primarily earmarked for youth programs. It's hard to figure out what this all means, but the sense is the money is to pay for shows that gush over how great the 2010 Winter Games were and what a fine government the Liberals are for blowing the budget and funding the party. Does the word brainwashing pop into your head, too?

Creepy.

Apparently, the International Olympic Committee, headed up by Quatchi, Sumi and..... what is the name of that third mascot (what does that tell you), is deciding on arts funding in Beautiful British Columbia. We're not sure what Kevin Krueger, Minister of Tourism, Culture, the Arts and Strength Through Joy, is expecting to see from arts groups, but we wonder if he channelled the spirit of Leni Riefenstahl during his weekly ouija board sessions prior to making this momentous announcement.

Truth be told, we had a marvy time during the Olympics and are daily reliving the gold medal glories every time we drink from our special Inukshuk-themed Olympic glass we purchased at the Great Canadian Superstore. But was the two-week party worth the bazillion, gazillion dollars spent on it? Not by a long shot.

This latest arts funding blunder on the part of the provincial Liberal government, which appears to want to stick it to the people it thinks didn't vote for them, has led to Jane Danzo resigning her position as B.C. Arts Council chair.

"With respect and with regret, I felt obliged to resign in order to have a voice," Danzo wrote in her resignation letter. "In my opinion, the work of the B.C. Arts Council Board has not been supported by government on a number of different levels."

Arts groups now have a tough choice to make. Do they apply for the funding, given the culturally corrupt conditions attached to the money? We say yes. Fill out the forms, get the money, and subvert the propaganda the government wants you to spew by creating works that smartly and wittily show the Liberals up for their ideological decision. Sumi can play Gordo, Quatchi can be Finance Minister Colin Hansen and.... oh yes... Miga can perform as Krueger. Aim for subtlety. That way the Liberal government might not clue in to the fact they're being pilloried. Then throw in plenty of youth references, whatever those may be, so the kids don't get bored.

If, in the end, it all comes across as infantile, so be it. It was infantile government thinking that inspired it after all. That and torch-lit parades.