CCA Bulletin 36/06
Ottawa,
August 30, 2006
A
late summer update: looking back, moving full steam ahead!
Like
it or not, the official end to summer is just over three weeks
away! And here at the Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA)
it seems as if summer 2006 passed us by due to the, at times,
overwhelming flurry of activities here in our Ottawa office.
Summer has been uncharacteristically busy and fall promises
to be challenging.
This
bulletin wraps up our reports on our summer activities, particularly
regarding two recent actions on two top policy and advocacy
CCA priorities: Canadian content and Canadian ownership.
It also reminds readers of the new CCA interactive magazine
CCA's @gora and of the federal budget analysis
published mid-summer.
Please
be on the look out for CCA bulletins in the coming weeks:
the House of Commons resumes sitting on Monday September 18,
the regulatory agenda is heavy and significant and the number
of files of critical concern for all Canadian arts and culture
advocates and supporters is somewhat daunting, not to mention
the ever-looming possibility of a federal election where we
must ensure the interests Canadian culture must be part of
the debate. This is why we ask for support though our fundraising
campaign. As always, we invite your feedback via email
at info@ccarts.ca or directly
through CCA's @gora.
CCA
intervenes against the Minister of Industry's proposed guidelines
to CRTC
Just
the facts.
In
mid-August, the CCA filed an intervention against the Minister
of Industry the Hon. Maxime Bernier's proposed policy direction
to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
(CRTC). Minister Bernier wants that, when dealing with telecommunications
issues, the CRTC favour purely economic criteria over any
of the other seven non-economic objectives set by Parliament
in the Telecommunications
Act, which amongst others includes the promotion of ownership
and control of Canadian content carriers by Canadians.
As SOCAN says in its brief, "In effect, Cabinet is attempting
to use an executive order to alter the balance between the
economic and non-economic objectives enacted
by Parliament."
What
the proposed policy direction means is that the CRTC should
"rely on market forces to the maximum extent feasible as the
means of achieving the telecommunication objectives" and,
for example, agree to any foreign takeover of our distribution
(and eventually, broadcasting) industry as long as it enhances
efficiency and competitiveness, irrespective of the possible
consequences on the cultural content distributed on those
systems. Given the total convergence of telecommunications
and broadcasting and the call for folding together both the
Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts,
the impact on the Canadian cultural sector is potentially
fatal given the current trends within the CRTC and Industry.
Although
Cabinet has had the power to issue such policy directions
since 1993, it is the first time that is exercised, the more
reason to look at it very carefully and very publicly.
Tell
me more.
CCA's
position: The CCA does
not believe that the proposed policy direction is in the best
interest of Canadians. Along with SOCAN, whose solid intervention
the CCA fully supports, the CCA believes that Government regulation,
and not market forces, have led to the current levels of Canadian
cultural products in the audio-visual sector.
By
maximizing the importance of market forces, the proposed directive
could adversely affect one of the most important regulatory
instruments used to promote Canadian identity and cultural
sovereignty. Given that the impact of the proposal at hand
will extend beyond the telecommunications sector and the mandate
of Industry Canada, the CCA believes it should be carefully
scrutinized by other interested bodies, including the Department
of Canadian Heritage and the House of Commons Standing Committee
on Canadian Heritage.
The
CCA therefore supports the suggestion that there be
a public hearing on this issue, at which it would hope to
appear as an intervener.
To
find out more about this intervention and why it should matter
to all Canadians, particularly those who work in and support
the arts and cultural sector, please see CCA's
submission.
The
satellite radio saga continues.
In
June it was Rogers Cable, in July Bell
and in August, it's Telus. All three distributors have quietly
applied to the CRTC for permission to redistribute the so-called
Canadian subscription satellite radio services, possibly to
replace the two current Canadian pay audio services, Galaxie
and MaxTrax.
The
Canadian Conference of the Arts (CCA) and a group of co-signatories
(including ACTRA, the Canadian Conference of Musicians, CIRPA,
Union des Artistes, Our Public Airwaves and Friends of Canadian
Broadcasting) have had to intervene
a third time this summer against such an application and
others could come.
Rather
than merely rejecting the applications, we request that the
CRTC hold a public hearing on the fundamental cultural issues
at stake in such applications. We believe that Canadian content
regulations have played (and must continue to play)
a crucial role in achieving the objectives of the 1991 Broadcasting
Act and that they should be applied in appropriate fashion
to all distribution undertakings, irrespective of the technology
used.
Latest
information: It's now Vidéotron applying
to distribute satellite radio! The domino effect continues!
Tell
us what you think on CCA's @gora
As
announced in CCA Bulletin 31/06, the
CCA has launched a new online interactive magazine called
CCA's @gora. CCA's
@gora is the latest communications tool the CCA plans to use
in the pursuit of our mission as a national leader in creating
informed debate about arts and cultural policy issues in Canada.
It is not intended to replace our frequent bulletins to members,
but will make more detailed information on issues available
for your consultation and consideration.
Please
be sure to visit as the first edition features the CCA's
short, mid and long-term policy and advocacy objectives
established following the March 2006 national conferences.
There is also a report on the conference
proceedings and we invite you to provide your comments
and ideas about the CCA's current agenda of activities.
Get
CCA's Analysis of the 2006 Federal Budget: where is the money
going?
The
CCA recently published its analysis of
the 2006 federal budget. CCA's Annual Budget Analysis
examines federal funding to the Department of Canadian Heritage
(DCH), cultural agencies and crown corporations in Canadian
Heritage's portfolio; organizational and funding changes within
DCH; federal funding of key programs across the arts, heritage
and cultural industries, and other noteworthy developments.
A number of key findings emerge in the analysis of the 2006
federal budget, the first introduced by the new minority government.
CCA
Fundraising Campaign Continues
Help the
CCA work for you! Given
the stake we all have in the fundamental issues facing art and
culture in the coming months, the CCA has begun a funding drive
in order to secure the resources required to meet the expectations
of its members and supporters. Download
and complete a contribution form today!
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