EDMONTON - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation today expressed dismay over the way taxpayers' money is being spent through the disbursement of arts grants. The Federation released a list of grants provided by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and funded by the provincial government.

Some of the grants awarded include: $1 million for a 26 episode drama series entitled "Caitlin's Way"; $405,000 for a made for TV movie entitled, the "Sheldon Kennedy Story"; $10,157 for a 1 hour documentary entitled "Micro Loans in Canada and the Philippines"; $9,000 for an experimental puppet production for adults entitled "The Portrait"; $65,280 to the Alberta Clown Theatre Society for clown performances; and $2,000, $7,000, and $7,400 for plays respectively entitled "Touch", "Bent" and "Kink".

CTF Alberta Director Mitchel Gray said that the $16 million awarded by the Foundation each year would be much better spent on priority items such as education, health care, debt reduction and tax relief.

"Why are we throwing public money at movie producers when we could be buying more MRI machines to shorten healthcare waiting times or hiring more teachers to reduce class sizes " questioned Gray.

Gray pointed out that if these art projects were of any value to the public they would not have required grants in the first place. "If Albertans really wanted to see these plays or watch these movies they would have paid for them out of their own pockets. Instead we have government bureaucrats deciding what constitutes art and entertainment," said Gray.

The Federation also remarked that many of the recipients have received multiple grants for similar if not identical projects and that other grants are bestowed on different groups for the same purpose (i.e. grants to the Full Moon Folk Club, the Northern Lights Folk Club, the Rocky Mountain Folk Club, etc., etc.).

Some of the grants look suspiciously like business subsidies with book and magazine publishers receiving funds to cover their costs of production. Even big name celebrities like country music star George Fox are getting into the act. Although there's no indication that Mr. Fox profited from an Alberta grant himself, Gfs Productions Ltd. did receive $60,000 to put together the "George Fox Special" Christmas TV show.

"These productions should make Albertans laugh and cry - but not for the right reasons," said Gray. "It's time to stop blowing public money on celebrities and bureaucrats and let the public decide where their entertainment dollars should go."