TORONTO - Despite Ottawa's recent multi-million dollar cuts to arts funding, Canadians shouldn't take government cultural financing for granted, says blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron.
Neatly shaven and sporting a navy bowtie, the Oscar-winning director shared his views as he strode up the red carpet in Toronto on Saturday towards his latest accolade: a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
"I live and work in Los Angeles, and there's no funding for arts and culture in the American federal budget, or very, very little," said the native of Kapuskasing, Ont. "The fact you still have a budget, I think you should be thankful for it.
"I think Canadians care more about the arts than a lot of other countries do."
But fellow inductee Mark McKinney, who was honoured alongside the four other members of their sketch comedy troupe Kids in the Hall, called the Conservative cuts "really dumb."
"Arts are profit-making and popular and they present our country worldwide," he said, on the eve of a federal election call. "And they help us in a difficult situation, being north of the United States, to establish a national identity and a national tone to the kinds of shows we produce -- Kids in the Hall being one.
"I guess this government doesn't believe in it. But the next one will. Yeah!"
Neither those moments of seriousness nor overcast skies could dim the smiles on the eight newest Canadians to be feted at the 10th annual event.
Actor Michael J. Fox, who has also campaigned tirelessly for increased Parkinson's disease research through a foundation he created, was joined by his mother Phyllis. As his cement star was about to be unveiled, he jokingly threw his hands up in the air and pleaded innocence from a pair of RCMP officers on hand for the ceremony.
Ninety-year-old actress Frances Bay, affectionately known as Hollywood's Grandma, energetically signed autographs as she was pushed along in a wheelchair.
While she didn't begin professional acting until age 60, she said "Canada began it," recalling her role in a play at age seven in small-town Manitoba as instrumental in achieving her dream.
A slick-looking Steve Nash, the NBA star who plays for the Phoenix Suns but grew up in British Columbia, rubbed his new star as if for luck.
While stunning in a skin-tight black dress, supermodel Daria Werbowy posed like a pro for cameras but didn't show off her usual runway walk. Werbowy wore a heavy-looking cast on her left foot, which she said was the result of an engine accidentally dropping on her several weeks ago.
Also celebrated were recording artist k.d. lang and rocker Bryan Adams -- an inaugural inductee in 1998, who was finally available to receive his star this year.
There now are 115 stars on the Walk of Fame.
A host of other celebrities joined the festivities as presenters, including actress Sigourney Weaver, supermodel Linda Evangelista and figure skating champ Kurt Browning as host.
Director Cameron said that while he feels Canadians usually "are a little stingy with giving out their praise " -- especially to those who've left the country to make their mark elsewhere -- the Walk of Fame is a "very cool" honour.
"Canadians succeed, they succeed wherever they go," he said. "So there has to be something in our basic fibre, or spirit that prevails in all these foreign environments."
A broadcast of Canada's Walk of Fame ceremony airs Sunday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.
