Curator & Collector

Photo of a Lethbridge exhibit transported to St. Johns by the Exhibition Transportation Services program;
Photograph taken from the CBC

Effective today, the government of Canada will be canceling the much-needed Exhibition Transportation Service. The CBC notes:

“For instance, an exhibit titled Time and Space — featuring the work of three western Canadian artists — opened at The Rooms on Sunday. Using ETS, shipping the artwork from Lethbridge, Alta., to St. John’s cost $3,000. Organizers estimate it will cost three times that amount for the exhibition to return home using a private company.”

We can’t understand why the government chose to end this program, given that its overall share of government expenses is bound to be about nil. Gestures like this, we find, are more upsetting than they are worth, and serve to solidify the impression that the party in government is basically the party of the uncultured. If we were the federal Conservatives, we would be using our passion for Canadian heritage and culture to keep small programs like this running.