OTTAWA – Governor-General Michaelle Jean mentioned the Environmental Protection Act, the Federal Accountability Act, the Canada Health Act, the Bank Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Despite much recent rumblings and grumblings on the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act, the short Federal Government Throne Speech on Tuesday didn’t mention either one – or even allude to the industry at all.
For ACTRA, the performers union, this was too much to bear. "We were pleased to hear in the throne speech acknowledgement of the importance of creative expression in a democratic society, but we were hoping that the government would signal its plans for protecting our culture," said Stephen Waddell, national executive director, in a statement that expressed the union’s fear that things might change, saying, the "Tories don’t have a plan to protect cultural sovereignty."
"The Telecom Review Panel recommended relaxing foreign ownership rules two weeks ago, and we’ve heard nothing from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and nothing from Heritage Minister Bev Oda. And there’s nothing in the speech from the throne. Our cultural sovereignty is under threat, and we need to know that the government is going to keep the status quo and do nothing to change the current foreign ownership rules," added Waddell.
The release cited the union’s usual issues: The small amount of Canadian-made drama on TV, the few "Canadian" films in theatres and what ACTRA sees as the underfunding of all cultural institutions.
"We’re asking the Prime Minister and the Heritage Minister to make a public commitment to ensure that Canadians maintain control over our airwaves and we’re asking this government to direct the CRTC to guarantee Canadians the opportunity to see our own stories on those airwaves," said Waddell.
