Even as America’s state governments slash their arts funding to the bone or beyond, Canada is moving in the opposite direction. “Government spending for the arts and culture has continued to rise, with Ottawa coughing up more than $3-billion for the first time during the fiscal year 2001 to 2002… all three levels of government contributed that year to the fastest rate of increase in cultural spending in a decade, with Ottawa, the provinces and cities together providing $6.8-billion in 2001-2002.”