Canadian Taxpayers Group Objects to Government Funding of Senior Sex Story Shows

A file photo of a Canadian dollar coin, or a "Loonie." Mark Blinch/Reuters

An ongoing multi-million-dollar federal program meant to engage in cultural diplomacy—bringing Canada’s arts abroad—has included an exhibit of giant sex toys. Since 2010 and up to this day, it also includes a production that has elderly Canadians get up on stage in front of audiences abroad and describe the sexual experiences of their past.

“I’d like to meet the person who thought paying for seniors to relive their sex lives in front of a live audience in another country is a good use of Canadian tax dollars,” said Franco Terrazzano, Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) director, in a May 10 release. “How do sex stories from seniors in other countries promote Canada?”

The show, called “All the Sex I’ve Ever Had,” has toured to Austria, Australia, and Taiwan. CTF recently learned details about the show through an access-to-information request.

A government document regarding the Taiwan event describes it as “a very successful collaboration between Canadian and Taiwanese performers but also a well-delivered social engaging project that promote [sic] Canadian values in freedom of speech and tolerance of society.” The production travelled to Taipei five weeks early, in the summer of 2019, to choose six Taiwanese seniors for the show.

The total bill for the show thus far is $12,520, according to CTF. It is funded by a Mission Cultural Fund created in 2016 and managed by Global Affairs Canada. The fund has an annual budget of $1.75 million, but has regularly gone millions over budget, according to CTF.

A government evaluation of the fund’s effectiveness up to 2020 highlighted the “absence of a formal governance structure” and “unclear roles and responsibilities.” It said, however, that the program continues to be useful as a tool for cultural diplomacy.

Global Affairs Canada did not immediately reply to an Epoch Times request for comment on CTF’s criticisms.

CTF recalled the 2019 exhibit in Hamburg, Germany, featuring giant sex toys dubbed “the Fleshies” that spouted water meant to simulate ejaculation. The Mission Cultural Fund gave Canadian artist Peaches almost $9,000 for it, CTF said.

“First we learned of the so-called art show in Germany featuring giant sex toys, and now we’re learning taxpayers are also on the hook for these weird stage productions where seniors share sex stories,” Terrazzano said. “What on earth is going on at Global Affairs Canada?”

Terrazzano concluded, “Here’s a novel idea: maybe the government lays off the sex shows until it pays down the $1-trillion debt?”