“Time to stop being defensive”
TORONTO – Newly designated with permanent residency status, Rogers Communications CEO Guy Laurence has some advice for the federal government as it begins the complex and difficult work of redefining Canada’s cultural policy.
Laurence spoke Wednesday at the Canadian Club in Toronto and said his adopted home faces a “once-in-a-lifetime” position to redefine its brand on a global stage and stake out a leadership position in culture.
Canada doesn’t have the gun culture of the U.S. (nor the ongoing electoral circus), has a stable economy and political infrastructure, fewer terrorism worries than other regions, and “on top of that, there’s a new government led by a visible, socially conscious Prime Minister. A Prime Minister who’s looking to build a positive brand for Canada all around the world – even if it takes a bunch of ‘accidental’ shirtless photos. Something I won’t be emulating in my own PR,” said Laurence.
Pointing to the 1990s rise of “Cool Britannia” where the United Kingdom dominated global pop culture for a decade or so and caused the world to start thinking of Brits differently, Laurence reminded the audience that he worked in media in London at the time and experienced it first-hand. “It wasn’t just about the icons. It wasn’t just about waving the flag. It was about creating an overall brand. A brand under which all things cool and British could live,” he said.
“I see the same opportunity here in Canada right now.” He pointed to artists with a global presence such as The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds and Drake as evidence that Canadians have collectively risen to the fore and in many ways, help drive culture globally. Hundreds of movies and TV series are shot here as well, delivering billions of dollars to the economy. More than a million Canadians work in the culture industry.
“But you shouldn’t have an Englishman define your national brand,” added Laurence. “The last time we did that we ended up with ‘I’m a Lumberjack’ by Monty Python.”
Jokes and comparisons aside, Laurence was there to deliver a serious message to the federal government, noting that despite our success, the UK exports $21 billion worth of cultural goods each year while Canada comes in at about $2 billion. To close this gap, we need new thinking about culture in our digital age. “You can’t just leave it all to Ryan Reynolds and Rachel McAdams,” he added. “There has to be a role for policy, too.
“Canada hasn’t made a substantive change to its cultural policy in 25 years. In 1991, one of the top rated TV shows that year was the last season of Dallas,” he said. 1991 was also the last time our Broadcasting Act was updated.
“This made sense in the early stages of Canada’s cultural development. But it’s 2016.” – Guy Laurence, Rogers Communications
“The focus of Canada’s cultural policy has been on the domestic scene, telling Canadian stories to Canadians, whilst protecting itself from Americans,” Laurence continued. “That’s meant protecting and nurturing Canadian talent through content quotas and subsidies. This made sense in the early stages of Canada’s cultural development. But it’s 2016.
“It’s time to stop being defensive, and it’s time to start being offensive. To be clear, I mean going on the offense, not being offensive. I know Canadians wouldn’t do that.”
It’s time to stop worrying about being swamped by American culture and stepping up strongly to compete far better on a global scale, said the CEO. He mentioned Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directly and lauded them in their push to raise Canada’s global profile – and to examine deeply our outdated cultural rules. He also offered help.
“Leading media companies, like Rogers, also have a role to play, so we look forward to participating in the Minister’s upcoming consultation,” said Laurence. “I’m glad to see that her consultation paper is promoting Canadian content globally, and if it’s not clear from my remarks today, we support a funding model that exploits this huge opportunity.
“We’re asking the government to recognize that there is enough money in the system already. We don't need more funds – we need to consolidate the alphabet soup of funds so we can reduce complexity and administrative costs.
“We’re asking for content to be funded on a platform neutral basis; for content to be created for all distribution platforms, whether it’s a TV screen, a movie screen, or a smartphone screen.
“Consumers are going digital. Rogers is going digital. Canada needs to go digital. Content should end up anywhere and everywhere it makes sense,” Laurence explained.
“The Government should cultivate a creative identity that the cultural sector, government, and diplomats can sell. It should redirect its focus from selling Canadian content to Canadians to selling Canadian content to the world.”
