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Canadian Culture, Meet the Sewer Pipe

This Magazine Staff

News this morning that the CBC is laying people off. That’s sort of like saying, “once again, spring has followed winter,” isn’t it?

In other culture notes, the federal government’s proposed changes to the Copyright Act suggest that Canada’s educators will soon have a free hand in taking copyright material off the Internet for classroom use. And so we say goodbye to two professions in Canada: writers and publishers for the educational market. So long. We hardly knew ye.

Finally, a report in the Winnipeg Sun last week declared open season on George Bowering, Canada’s first ever and now retired Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He’s brilliant, his latest book is up for the prestigious Griffin Prize, he did great work promoting Canadian culture for all of $12,000 per year (now that’s a cushy government job), yet we just can’t cut him any respect. Kudos especially to the NDP’s Pat Martin for ridiculing an underpaid cultural worker. Solidarity!

Thanks to Bookninja.com for the poetry story.

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