Today, in one tweet, @mattwolfab made abundantly clear how @ucpcaucus and @alberta_ucp really feel about artists. That they have nothing to offer. That to suggest that an artist might know something about economic matters is laughable enough to be mocked. #ableg #abpoli

Musicians, actors, writers, designers, painters, sculptors, dancers, composers, directors, graphic designers, illustrators, filmmakers, video game designers.

The UCP feels that these folks, who spend a significant portion of their careers maximizing the value of a dollar, can't possibly have anything to offer to a discussion about dollars and sense.

That it must be a joke, because "how serious" can anyone be who makes the suggestion that these Albertans have any value or expertise.

According to the UCP, the group of Albertans who grossed $5.3B in GDP & provided over 54K jobs in 2017 know nothing about the economy. And the idea of anyone who is involved in our cultural industries having something to contribute to an economic discussion is worthy of derision.

Does @leelaaheer have nothing to say about this? Does @tanya_fir also believe that the people who work in the cultural industries have nothing to contribute to an economic discussion?

Did we not just appoint an artist as the chair of the human trafficking committee? Or does Matt Wolf believe that work is laughable too?

Say that "there isn't room on the panel for another individual." Not a credible response, but sure. Say that "artists were considered, and none were selected because there were stronger contenders from other fields." Fine.

But to mock the very suggestion of an artist being involved in conversations of substance that affect all Albertans reveals exactly what our government thinks of cultural industries and the people who work in them.