OTTAWA – Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Mélanie Joly has officially launched the consultations in to Canada’s cultural and creative industries, a process dubbed Canadian Content in a Digital World.
This consultation process follows a pre-consultation questionnaire completed by nearly 10,000 Canadians earlier this year that resulted in a discussion paper designed to guide this phase of the process. Canadians are being urged to visit the website, read about the approach and provide their suggestions “on positioning Canada's cultural sector at the heart of Canada's creative economy”, now through November 25.
Minister Joly pledged to host in-person discussions across the country with representatives from a variety of sectors starting later this month. According to Tuesday’s announcement, the discussions will focus on respecting citizen choice and supporting creators in making great, compelling content; reflect Canada's incredible diversity in the content that is produced and support the production of news information and local content that is credible and reliable; and drive social and economic innovation by forging strong links between creativity, economic growth and social resilience.
"Every day, we use our phones, our tablets and other devices to access music and apps, to watch movies and shows, to read and to research contemporary works of art. We all have our own way of enjoying Canadian culture”, said Minister Joly, in the announcement. “Today, I'm launching a national dialogue on Canadian content – one that will help us adapt our cultural policies to today's digital realities. I invite you to share what's important to you and your ideas to help Canada thrive in a digital world."
First announced in April, the consultations will help the Federal government determine the best ways to strengthen the creation, discovery and export of Canadian content. They will encompass information and entertainment content as presented in television, radio, film, digital media and platforms, video games, music, books, newspapers and magazines.
