How much we as a country choose to spend on culture and what we define as culture gets almost no serious discussion at election time. In 2008, of course, the Conservatives took a major hit in Quebec because of the perception that whatever was being spent, the Conservatives were determined to spend less. But there was no real discussion, particularly between the two major parties, about the arts in Canada, why they're important, and what the priorities were for each party when it came to cultural spending. True enough: In 2008, with a recession just getting underway, the economy was the unavoidably dominant theme. But for next time, perhaps we can have a national discussion about the arts, armed with some clear facts about the numbers involved and some clear answers about what $4 billion on "culture" means and how that culture is to be fostered by each party.