By Bill Roberts
BANFF – Today the Banff World Media Festival (BWMF) featured a brief, whistle-stop appearance by Pablo Rodriguez (above), minister of Canadian Heritage.
Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, and a strong advocate for Bill C-11, The Online Streaming Act, provided his introduction – but not before extolling “the stellar job” done by BWMF staff in organizing the in-person event and breaking out into several bars of delightful song!
It appeared to me to be a riff on the old Frank Sinatra Summer Wind, but with revamped lyrics appealing to the promise and possibilities of getting Bill C-11 finally passed. It was a brilliant act of timely stagecraft by Creighton, and brought on the loudest audience applause with a few foot stompers thrown in.
Following this virtuoso moment, she spoke to the Canadian media industry being “at a crossroads but we need to keep focused on the content… and we need domestic and international balance… and to address such things as marginalized communities and racism… C-11 will create new opportunities and new resilience for creators… and with (Minister) Pablo Rodriguez we couldn’t be in better hands.”
Creighton has long felt the need to address the continuing imbalance of a two-tiered system in our digital world and recognize “that if you play you pay”.
It was a tough act to follow.
Minister Rodriguez, with his trademark Bo Bichette-like flo, acknowledged upfront he was literally “here for just a couple of hours” and perhaps attended out of fealty to Valerie Creighton, especially since “she named one of her horses Pablo after me, and I still don’t know what to make of that.”
Rodriguez spoke kindly and with a good heart about the many in attendance who “have been pioneers in the digital space… and Bill C-11 assures that stories and music online and streaming (via Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify and others) make a fair contribution to our system… really there’s nothing new, we established the principle 50 years ago in the Broadcasting Act… it’s all about assuring that those who benefit from our Canadian system also contribute.”
Rodriguez referenced the May 2022 National Culture Summit held at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa over three days, which many believe he segued into a pitch for digital imperatives of internet regulation as now appear in Bill C-11.
He acknowledged the impact of the Covid pandemic on delays but committed to Bill C-11 and “better funding tools, modern regulation, revised CanCon definitions… so lots for this department (Heritage) to do over the coming months and year.”
Rodriguez stated that “Indigenous stories are fundamental, we’ve missed that… also gender equity… but we see examples of positive steps (here at Banff) created by working together… in this country we do great stuff when we work together, nobody can beat us and we can be the best in the world.”
The minister did not touch on any recent developments such as his statement last week that the government would not expect the Senate to rubber stamp the bill before the summer recess, after it receives final approval in the House of Commons.
Nor did he address any of the opposition to Bill C-11, such as Google’s persistent lobbying and an impressive phalanx of YouTubers.
And he did not take any questions.
The great Yogi Berra might have gently said “It was like déjà vu all over again”.
Years ago, I chaired a UNIFOR Media Sector Conference (they represent nearly 12,000 workers in Canadian media), that featured Pablo Rodriguez MP… not then Minister. It was an animated, robust, engaging, ideas-rich experience full of smart give and take. Today’s appearance was bittersweet, somewhat reinforcing what appears as a ministerial short tether and an (imposed or advised?) aversion to unmanaged, extended or in-depth dialogue.
Timing is everything in politics, but I’m keen to see Rodriguez back as our cultural industries gifted “Sultan of Swat”!
Go Jays!
Bill Roberts is a contributing editor at Cartt.ca.
Photo supplied by Banff World Media Festival.
