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THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO - Karen Kain, artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper with a plea not to stop showcasing Canadian artists abroad.

The letter, co-signed by Kain and ballet company executive director Kevin Garland, expresses concern about recent budget cuts in both the foreign affairs and Canadian heritage departments.

In both cases, programs that supported appearances abroad by Canadian artists are to be discontinued next March.

Kain and Garland say the government's decision is "incomprehensible" and are seeking assurances that the arts sector will be consulted before any more cuts are made.

Their plea comes on the same day as the release of a new economic report arguing that culture is a major contributor to national wealth and prestige. The 60-page study from the Conference Board of Canada, a private-sector think-tank that did the study in collaboration with the federal government, argues that culture generated $84.6 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits last year, or 7.4 per cent of total gross domestic product.

On Parliament Hill Tuesday, opposition MPs raised the spectre of government censorship and abuse of power as they launched a House of Commons review of the nearly $45 million in cuts to arts funding.

"They were done in secret, with no consultation, with no public review," New Democrat MP Peggy Nash told a meeting of the Commons heritage committee.

The three opposition parties demanded the committee session in the wake of cuts the government quietly implemented during Parliament's summer recess.

"There is real concern the government is picking and choosing which artists it is supporting and which artists it is not supporting," said Nash. "I suggest, in a democracy, that is a dangerous thing."

The cuts affect programs vital to promotion of Canadian arts abroad, and appear to have been aimed at artists whose politics and philosophies are out of favour with the Conservative government, she said.