TORONTO – "The best that can be said about this report is that the Task Force has not recommended to scrap the CTF altogether," said ACTRA national executive director Stephen Waddell in a press release.
That, and it "will change the broadcast distribution regulations to ensure cable companies pay regularly into the fund," he said.
Waddell was talking about the CRTC’s Task Force Report on the Canadian Television Fund, released Friday, as reported by Cartt.ca. The task force, led by Commission vice-chair, broadcasting, Michel Arpin, confirmed the need for the fund’s existence, but called for massive changes in how…
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TORONTO – More than 500 people will gather in Toronto on Thursday, June 14th to honour 18 of Canada’s brightest urban visionaries, activists and local heroes.
The occasion is the Canadian Urban Institute’s 4th annual Urban Leadership Awards Luncheon, and on the honour list is media innovator Moses Znaimer, who will receive the Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award.
Each year, the Institute presents awards to organizations and individuals who through their leadership, activism, tenacity and vision, change lives and transform communities.
“These are the champions of Canada’s civic public realm,” said David Crombie, the Institute’s president and CEO. “Their…
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VANCOUVER – Because of the high costs of replacing hundreds of TV transmitters with digital ones, CBC has said it plans to upgrade in dense areas while for rural regions, rely more heavily on cable and satellite transmission.
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting told the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage (which held meetings in the Northwest Territories and Vancouver this week) that CBC’s plan "will disenfranchise Canadians who receive TV over-the-air."
FCB-commissioned research submitted to the committee, which is investigating CBC’s future mandate, shows that three million Canadians do not subscribe to cable or satellite and receive their TV signal…
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TIMMINS-JAMES BAY MP Charlie Angus didn’t even flinch when I said he seemed to be the self-appointed rabble-rouser on the Standing Committee for Canadian Heritage.
Reading through the transcripts of some of the meetings reveals Mr. Angus as one of the committee members who consistently pushes his fellow members – or whomever appears in front of the committee. Seems he likes that role.
Then last week, just before Christmas, his office released a missive where Angus critiqued the three "worst performing ministers" in the Conservative cabinet: Environment Minister Rona Ambrose, Defense Minister Gordon O’Connor and Heritage and Status of…
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OTTAWA – Parliament’s Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has decided it won’t wait for the federal government to take the lead on an official review of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
On Monday, according to a CBC.ca story, the committee – led by NDP Heritage critic and committee member Charlie Angus – passed a motion to review Canada’s public broadcaster.
Through much of the summer of 2006, much speculation bounced around that Heritage Minister Bev Oda would initiate such a review herself, but that didn’t materialize.
Click here for the full story.
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TORONTO – Saying she was "among friends", former CRTC commissioner and Canadian Women in Communications chair (and current Minister of Canadian Heritage) Bev Oda spoke openly Thursday night in Toronto about the current state of the broadcast and telecom market.
The Minister was speaking at CWC Toronto’s fall gathering at the Bravo! Rehearsal Hall.
During her informal presentation, Oda acknowledged that there is much uncertainty, many questions and areas where no one knows how broadcasting and telecommunications is going to evolve over the next few years. Instead of fear and trepidation, the industry stakeholders should look at the wonderful…
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OTTAWA – Thirty-three million dollars that was once part of the Canadian Heritage Ministry’s budget yesterday is no longer there today.
While on the face of it, the budget cuts the ministry will face does not directly affect the TV, film, and related industries (funding of $6.5 million for the Centre for Research and Information on Canada was cut and $4.6 million of assistance to museums was eliminated, for example) and it was just part of a larger, billion-dollar budget trim across all ministries.
The "new expenditure management system" was announced late Monday by Jim Flaherty, minister of finance…
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HALIFAX – Canadian Heritage picked the Juno Awards as the spot to launch a new web site for those in the music biz, called "Music is My Business!"
The site is designed to assist users as they work within the Canadian music industry, said Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women, in a release.
"As the 21st century begins, the development of new technologies is changing the environment and marketplace. This innovative site will allow artists and music-lovers to find a wealth of interesting and practical information about the ever-evolving Canadian music industry," she explained.
The…
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OTTAWA – After hearing from CBC executives on October 27th, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has told Parliament it should appoint a task force to examine the nation’s public broadcaster.
The five-paragraph report from committee chair, MP Marlene Catterall says, “the government should undertake to establish an independent task force to review the mandate role and services of the CBC-SRC; to establish the role the public broadcaster must have and the services it must provide in light of the new media environment and technological advances.
And, the review should “be commenced immediately so the task force report can…
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OTTAWA – ‘Canadians are looking for truth in politics – no spin, no agenda. CPAC viewers get the unvarnished truth, the whole story. Our viewers watch, listen and decide for themselves what the real truth is,’ said Colette Watson, president and general manager of CPAC, in launching the channel’s 14th season today.
A vibrant on-air look and a pledge to renew Canadians’ interest in politics highlight the cable company-owned channel’s new season.
Political scandals, seemingly endless speculation on election timing, a minority government, and partisan bickering have eroded Canadians’ interest in the political process, says the CPAC release. "Political apathy…
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