Tonight’s Your Turn asked viewers how important the funding of the arts is to them in this election. With millions of dollars in cuts in the last few years, and our national attention on issues like the economy, crime, and the environment, are we overlooking a major part of our culture, or simply prioritizing responsibly?

George Kenins, a former music teacher at Richview Collegiate in Toronto, talked about the subject with Suhana in studio, and was insistent that art is both a practical and a philosophical imperative for students. Karen Kain, the international ballet star sent us a note as well. She said:

"The arts encourage economic growth and development, enhance educational attainment and raise the standards of physical and mental health in a society. They bring individuals and communities together. All of these things are recognized facts that are borne out by the volumes of studies and reams of statistics on the subject. And they are all understood and embraced by developed nations everywhere who support artistic and cultural initiatives not just for the material benefits they bring, but because they represent the finest expressions of the human spirit. Where the arts flourish, life flourishes. Our country has an identity, a myriad of voices that allows it to stand up among the other nations of the world to say who we are and what we represent. Those voices give us our place in the world. I want to urge all the political parties, all our elected officials, to not allow those voices to ever fall silent."

The party leaders touched on the issue from thousands of kilometres apart across the country. The CBC’s Dan Halton, joined us from Montreal as Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe were at a Club Soda fundraiser for local artists. Stephen Harper and Stéphane Dion were in British Columbia for addresses to the arts issue, as well, where we tuned in to their events.

We received calls from people like Ashley, who said as a young voter, the arts definitely deserve funding. We also got webcam feedback from Ken in Lethbridge, who said as an issue, the arts is ‘right up there’. Terrance and his daughter joined us from Calgary, where he makes his livelihood showing his work. ‘Art and culture are intrinsic with native tradition’ he said. And finally, just before we said goodbye, Taylor, a 14-year-old student, and our youngest Skyper so far, said that drama and video production were his favourite classes (not least because he doesn’t get homework from them).

A couple e-mails that didn’t make it into the show:

W.O. Mitchell said: “(Politicians) think the arts are a luxury. The arts are not a luxury. They are how we know we are not alone!” I think he nailed it perfectly. I think our Canadian soul requires Canadian arts.
— David Cadogan

I think there are more pressing matters in this country at the moment and one of those is poverty. Those living in these conditions will never go to a performance sponsored by their fellow countrymen, or have even heard of it.
— Tannis Clinton

I think people need to realize this isn’t about just a bunch of artists making some paintings. This affects everything we see and hear. People comment that there isn’t enough 'homegrown', made-in-Canada TV, movies, and literature, but this is how you start to lose what little we have.
— Jean-François Coquand, Abbotsford, BC

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See you, and hear you, tomorrow, when we take a look at the issue of crime in Canada. Are we dealing with it forcefully enough, too forcefully, or in the wrong way altogether?