TORONTO – Culture industries should be treated differently that other industries when it comes to competition policy say ACTRA and the Writers Guild of Canada
The two groups filed a joint submission last week in response to the discussion paper, “Sharpening Canada’s Competitive Edge”, issued by Industry Canada’s Competition Policy Review Panel. The two entertainment-industry associations say Canada’s cultural industries will face “devastation” should government remove protections.
"The current foreign ownership rules as they apply to broadcasters do not ensure that Canadian news and entertainment programming are made from and reflect a Canadian perspective, "says Maureen Parker, executive director, Writers Guild of Canada, in a press release. "The panel not only needs to grapple with foreign ownership but also its more insidious twin, foreign investment. Foreign investment always comes at a cost. And in our industry we’ll pay that cost with the loss of our voice and our identity."
Parker is referring to the recently approved acquisition by Canwest of Alliance Atlantis, backed by hundreds of millions of dollars of Goldman Sachs’ money, an American investment bank.
Says the release: “ACTRA and the WGC strongly opposed the recent takeover of Alliance Atlantis Communications by CanWest Global, a deal approved by the CRTC in December 2007, despite majority equity financing coming from U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs. This deal saw existing foreign ownership regulations stretched to the breaking point in order to accommodate foreign investment. ACTRA and the WGC are deeply concerned that privileging competition and market forces over cultural value will lead to more such deals, devastating the cultural sector in Canada.”
"Cultural industries are more than just business – they strengthen who we are as a nation. Canadians are in jeopardy if the government continues down the road of relaxing the protections our industries need to exist," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA’s national executive director.
"Canada was proud to host an important UNESCO cultural meeting last December at which it was recognized that cultural goods and services should not be considered exclusively on their commercial value. This review raises questions about the government’s sincerity at that meeting. Protecting culture is important and we expect this panel to commit to continue protecting Canada’s cultural industries," he added.
The panel for which WGC and ACTRA submitted its paper is reviewing the Competition Act and the Investment Canada Act, neither of which take into account the importance of culture. The WGC and ACTRA are concerned that the increasing convergence of cultural and non-cultural activities is likely to erode Canadians’ ability to implement essential cultural policies.
"We are fighting for our culture, our jobs, and our industry, and yet we’re up against the very government charged with the responsibility to protect Canadian culture," said Parker. "If we struggle to get the Canadian government and Canadian businesses to recognize the value of Canadian culture, how are we going to convince foreign owners?"
