OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper addressed the CRTC on Wednesday during an election stop with a message aimed squarely at Quebecers who haven’t had a look at the existing structure of the CRTC.
The PM said yesterday “(b)ecause CRTC decisions affect our daily lives, it must reflect our linguistic and cultural reality.” So, “a new Conservative Government will ensure that decisions about French-language broadcasting are made by people who understand the French-language and culture."
That’s happening already but anyway, under the plan:
* The chair of the CRTC will alternate between English speakers and French speakers. (This has…
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MONTREAL – The Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Association des producteurs de films et de television du Québec (APFTQ) have called for an urgent meeting with the ministers from Heritage and Foreign Affairs to discuss the government’s decision to eliminate cultural programs valued at nearly $18 million.
Last Friday, the Conservative government announced that the A-V Preservation Trust ($300,000), the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund ($1.5-million), the National Training Schools Program ($2.5- million), PromArt ($4.7-million) and Trade Routes ($9-million) will be eliminated as of March 31, 2009.
“These cuts risk diminishing Canada’s international reputation,"…
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GATINEAU – The CRTC will make public its recommendations for the future of the Canadian Television Fund at 2 p.m. today.
It’s a story Cartt.ca has been following closely for about 18 months and the release should be a sensation at the Banff World TV Fest beginning this weekend in the Alberta town (Cartt.ca will be there, of course, covering that gathering).
In December of 2006, cable companies Shaw Communications and Quebecor Media decided to withhold their contributions to the fund, citing numerous issues the companies had with the fund, from its corporate governance to the types of programming being…
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TORONTO – Canadian actor R.H. Thomson joined union members to demand government action on cultural issues at the Canadian Labour Congress Convention (CLC) that began in Toronto Monday.
"We’re turning up the volume on culture at the house of labour today," said Thomson. "Canadian workers agree that government censorship of the film and television industry as proposed in Bill C-10 is bad news for culture, bad news for jobs, and bad news for the economy."
A policy resolution on cultural issues was on the floor for CLC debate today, the first day of the five-day CLC convention being held…
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TORONTO – Recognizing that the digital transformation is changing fundamentally how audiences consume and interact with audiovisual media, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) announced a new five-year Strategic Plan at the Hot Docs festival on Monday night.
“In a digital era, the need for the NFB as Canada’s public producer and distributor is more essential than ever to undertake the kinds of risks that an audiovisual industry in constant state of change and turmoil cannot afford to take,” the NFB states in its Strategic Plan (2008-2013).
The NFB said key aspects of its mandate include supporting creators,…
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CALGARY and OTTAWA – Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw told Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a letter yesterday that the CRTC is bent on derailing the conservative government’s goals.
The five-page letter date April 16th, which was also sent to Industry Minister Jim Prentice, Heritage Minister Josee Verner and CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein, first outlines Shaw’s broad support for the government’s deregulation thrust on the telecom front and then decries the actions, or lack of action, Mr. Shaw feels is happening on the broadcasting and cable file.
“(W)e were the only broadcast distributor to support your Government’s move…
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TORONTO – Seven broadcast journalists will be honoured this spring with lifetime achievement awards presented by RTNDA Canada – The Association of Electronic Journalists.
The seven are Doug Collins, Vicki Gabereau, Vern Coop, Mike McCourt, Tom Young, Dan McLean, and Gord Harris.
The awards will be presented at the RTNDA Regional Pro Dev Seminars in Kamloops on April 26th, in Calgary on May 10th, Fredericton on May 31st, and at the Central Awards Banquet June 19th during the RTNDA National Conference in Ottawa.
“On behalf of RTNDA Canada, let me congratulate these exceptional broadcasters,” said Bob McLaughlin, President of…
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VANCOUVER – An amendment to the Federal Income Tax Act that affects the granting of tax credits for Canadian films and television shows is seen by many Canadians as a threat to artistic expression, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, almost half (48%) of respondents think Bill C-10 – which would allow the Heritage Minister to grant tax credits only to productions that would “not be contrary to public policy” – should be rejected because it amounts to censorship and jeopardizes artistic freedom in Canada.
Conversely, 36% of…
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DESPITE THE CLOSING OF Canadian Digital Television (CDTV) at the end of August 2006, both the Canadian television industry and government still saw a need for further collaboration on technical and operational issues surrounding the roll-out of digital television in Canada.
To that end, a new group called the Digital Television Technology Group (DTV-TG) was formed about one year ago.
The Technology Group (whose web site can be found here) carries out collaborative investigative projects and research “to provide decision makers in industry and government with the technical information they need to plan for, and advance, the roll-out…
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OTTAWA – The federal government has found a new President and CEO for CBC – Radio Canada.
He’s Hubert T. Lacroix, a Montreal lawyer, former private broadcasting executive and former Radio-Canada basketball colour commentator.
The announcement was made Monday by Heritage Minister Josée Verner, who said Lacroix “possesses the necessary experience and skills to lead Canada’s national public broadcaster”.
“I am confident CBC/Radio-Canada will be well-served by the leadership of Mr. Lacroix,” Verner said in a short statement.
Over at the federally-funded CBC, the news was “welcomed” by CBC Board Chair Tim Casgrain, who, anticipating criticism of the appointment,…
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