The attitude of so-called conservative politicians toward the value of the arts is well known.

So is the harmful impact this attitude can have in some of the more cultured parts of our great land to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's dream of forging a vast majority government that can set about dismantling the place for good (which is to say, for bad).

When it comes to winning votes in a place like Quebec, for example, appearing to be a knuckle-dragging throwback to the Neanderthal era has been a pronounced disadvantage for Harper's Reformed Reform Party, or whatever it plans to call itself this year. (That said, for all we know this may be quite unfair to the Neanderthals, none of whom have lived here in Alberta, at least until recently.)