Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is demanding the Saskatchewan government eliminate what it calls wasteful spending at SK Arts, citing controversial grants that include funding for profanity-titled projects and personal living expenses.CTF Prairie Director Gage Haubrich criticized the annual $7 million in provincial funding allocated to SK Arts. Haubrich said that taxpayers should not subsidize "weird passion projects by artists that almost nobody watches" while Saskatchewan's debt has more than doubled over the past decade..OLDCORN: ‘Minor attracted person,’ the left’s next shiny toy after transgenderism.The CTF highlighted several grants it considers questionable. These include $1,000 awarded to an artist for recording and producing a music video for a song titled "Baby Back Bitch," which has attracted only 200 YouTube views. Another grant provided $4,747 for postproduction work on a nine-and-a-half-minute short film called "Fuck.".Additional grants drew criticism for covering basic living costs. One artist received $6,000 to take temporary leave from work and focus on songwriting and recording. Another received $5,000 to cover rent and grocery expenses during a five month work absence for songwriting purposes..OLDCORN: From aprons to extremism? Traditional values are not ‘extremist’."Most Saskatchewanians work on their hobbies and other projects after work or on the weekend," said Haubrich."They don’t expect taxpayers to pay their rent and grocery costs while they learn how to play the guitar."The CTF also questioned grants that appeared to fund grant applications themselves. .One recipient received $757 specifically to develop a proposal for another Saskatchewan Arts Board grant application.Other contentious funding included $12,500 for an established author with at least three published books to write a young adult novel about a teenager caught in a time loop in the Canadian Rockies. .OLDCORN: Looney Tunes Rachel Gilmore rails against Conservative MPs defending Christian artist Sean Feucht.The band Cupid's Heart received $5,007 for creating five original songs during a creative retreat at Anglin Lake.A $1,000 grant covered travel, accommodation, and fees for someone to attend a drag and clown workshop in Ontario. .Another artist received $10,000 to complete a five part audio piece exploring relationships with water in southwestern Saskatchewan.Haubrich characterized grants to established authors and funding for bands camping trips as obvious waste. .Pro-Hamas activists push for ‘Apartheid-Free Zone’ in Mississauga.He suggested the government treats taxpayers like clowns by funding what he termed "ludicrous examples of waste."The criticism comes as Saskatchewan faces mounting fiscal pressures, with provincial debt levels raising concerns about government spending priorities and accountability to taxpayers.
