From the traveling desk of Alain Pineau — A full day in Saskatoon and off to Regina
January 23, 2012 REGINA — So here I am, finally settled into my hotel room after a three hour bus ride that took me from Saskatoon to Regina with my knees pressed against the seat in front of me. At least I had internet access along the way so I could catch up on the day’s e-mails and read an excellent interview by Greg O’Brien from cartt.ca with Konrad Von Finckenstein, the chairman of the CRTC whose term is finishing up in a few days. It was a long and busy day! I was up at 6 a.m. for a telephone interview with Radio-Canada in Winnipeg in advance of...
read moreFrom the traveling desk of Alain Pineau — January 23, 2012
SASKATOON — Already time to head back to the airport. My only week in the office between January 9 and February 21 has gone by like a flash of lightning: so many things to do before returning to the on-the-road virtual office, hostage to technological hazards and human frailty! So, back to the national tour: after Victoria and Vancouver, BC, on to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. I knew my first stop, Saskatoon, was referred to as the City of Bridges. Last Friday, I learned on CBC’s National that it is “the most tunefully suggestive city in...
read moreFrom the traveling desk of Alain Pineau — January 13, 2012
VANCOUVER — After an excellent meeting Tuesday with the General Director of the BC Arts Council, Gillian Wood, I made my way to the port of Victoria to ride the seaplane to Vancouver. This was a first for me, and what an experience! It was sunny and the ride was smooth considering the small size of the plane. It was simply marvellous to see the islands dotting the strait separating the island of Vancouver from the mainland. The arrival in Vancouver was one of the best experiences I’ve had. Wednesday, I met the new director...
read moreQuebec gets a move on!
In November 2011, we received two new reports examining the impact of digital technologies on Quebec. The first from SODEC, Porte grande ouverte sur le numérique, reports on a consultation undertaken in 2010. The second report comes from the Quebec Council of Arts and Letters (Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec or CALQ) and a summary is provided below. SODEC: Doors Wide Open on Digital This report details the impact of the digital technologies on the cultural industries in Quebec: music, books, crafts, film, television, and...
read moreAgenda 21
Minister Christine St-Pierre announced on December 5th that Quebec would be the first province to adopt its own Agenda 21 on Culture. Agenda 21 allows us to carve a place for culture in all political actions of the government; Quebec is the first province in the world to integrate this idea into their sustainable development plans. The move is a response to the Convention on the protection and promotion of diversity of cultural expression from UNESCO that pushes states to integrate culture into their sustainable development...
read moreFrom the traveling desk of Alain Pineau — January 10, 2012
VICTORIA — Well, it’s on! After weeks of preparation, my cross-country consultation tour started yesterday in British Columbia where I am spending the week. I must confess that after the snow and cold we’ve had in Ottawa these past weeks, it is agreeably exotic to forego boots and scarf: it’s a pleasant 8° C in Victoria and the rain seems pleasantly spring-like to someone from the Eastern part of the country. Why this pan-Canadian tour which will take me to 14 cities between now and February 18? First and foremost to validate with...
read moreFrom the desk of the National Director: New Year and Renewal
First things first: there is still time to wish all of you health, fortitude and serenity for 2012. I’m afraid we will all need that and then some! Everyone knows that the beginning of a new year is a time for renewal. This is especially true for the CCA this year: 2012 will go down in its long history as the year we recreated the CCA to ensure that it continue its unique contribution to the welfare of the Canadian arts, culture and heritage communities. Faced with the expected decision of the federal government to put an end to 45 years of...
read moreDigital New Brunswick
A new funding application process was created in New Brunswick for the film industry after consultations with the television, new media and film sectors in November. This may help to rectify some of the loss after the province cancelled a tax credit program for audiovisual productions last spring. For films this could mean between 25–30% of the production expenditures spent in the province could be covered. Accepted projects will also receive half of the funds immediately after being awarded the grant, so the producers won’t have to...
read moreCreative Europe
Europe : A 1.8 billion Euros investment in culture to stimulate the economy On November 23, the European Commission unveiled a plan to boost cultural and creative sectors. With a proposed budget of €1.8 billion for the period 2014–2020, it would be a much-needed boost for the cultural and creative industries, which are a major source of jobs and growth in Europe. The new program would allocate more than €900 million in support of the cinema and audiovisual sector (area covered by current MEDIA program) and almost € 500...
read moreCulture 3.0. : Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies on the Cultural Sector (October 2011),
The goal of the widely expected CHRC study Culture 3.0: Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies On the Cultural Sector was to assess the impact of digital technologies on the eight cultural sub-sectors and recommend priority solutions to address the challenges and leverage the opportunities arising from digital technologies. The study is the evolution of the 2010 Cultural HR Study: Trends and Issues Report, which found digital technologies was the third most important issue to the cultural sector. The new report...
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