To the Editor,
Re: Culture can thrive without tax dollars, Letters, Dec. 2.
No, culture cannot thrive without tax dollars. However, supporting the Port Theatre expansion does not require an extra taxation for the people of Nanaimo, just a fair allocation of funds from the approved city budget.
Artists are enriching our lives by contributing many vital elements to the community non-material culture and it is unreasonable to expect that they should also have time, money, energy and skills to administrate and promote their work.
It is very virtuous to be concerned about families with “the crushing ever-present fear of debt and bankruptcy,” but Nanaimo community, as a whole, is not that poor, which is well-reflected in our personal taxes; accepting that part of them will support the local culture goes with the old wisdom that “man shall not live on bread alone.”
Lidia MongardLadysmith