What is Stephen Harper Reading?

Dedication:

To Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada,
A cookbook of sorts,
From a Canadian writer,
With best wishes,
Yann Martel

Letter:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0A2

Dear Mr. Harper,

So, more cuts in arts funding. In my last letter I mentioned only the PromArt program, not having got wind yet of the other cuts. Nearly $45 million in all. That will bite, that will hurt, that will kill. With less art in the future, I wonder what you think there will be more of? What does $45 million buy that has more worth than a people’s cultural expression, than a people’s sense of who they are?

This calls for a special book. How we administer ourselves—the people we elect, the laws they enact—finds itself reflected in art. Politics is also culture. A Modest Proposal, by the Irish writer Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), is a good example of an artistic reflection upon politics. It is a piece of satire, admirable for its humorous ferocity and brevity. At a mere eight pages, it is the shortest work I’ve ever sent you.

The key paragraph, enunciating Swift’s suggested solution to Ireland’s poverty, the modest proposal in question, goes like this:

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout. 

The question is simple and pertinent, Mr. Harper: are you preparing a ragout?

Yours truly,

Yann Martel

encl: one inscribed paperback

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