Government must look before it leaps with C-10
By Monica Auer
THE DECISION BY THE Minister of Canadian Heritage several weeks ago to drop explicit protection for user-generated content uploaded to social media sites from Bill C-10 led to more attention being focussed on the new Broadcasting Act it would create.
In plain language, the Minister’s change means that while users themselves would not be subject to that Act, it would govern social media services “whose broadcasting consists only of” user-uploaded content. Even if the CRTC is unlikely to demand content posted by millions of Canadians on Facebook or YouTube meet its…
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By Denis Carmel
GATINEAU – Four hours worth of meetings on Friday and Monday barely advanced the progress of Bill C-10 at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and as more time passes and so little is done, there is real risk now of the bill simply withering and dying.
The Friday meeting dealt with only two amendments, both of which were defeated, and three amendments that were ruled out of scope by the chair of the Committee, Liberal MP Scott Simms.
We thought the Committee might have returned to its normal business of clause-by-clause consideration and, oddly, most of the talking…
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By Doug Barrett
NETFLIX’S RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT that it would establish its Canadian headquarters in Toronto produced considerable excitement – at least in Toronto.
In February, under the heading “making a New Home in Canada”, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos wrote a blog post announcing: “We want to make a new home for Netflix in Canada – opening an office and hiring a dedicated content executive to work directly with the Canadian creative community.”
Then in late April, the company announced Toronto had been selected as “Netflix’s 22nd international outpost” and Sarandos, in the press release, stated: “We’re looking forward to…
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Production volume for Canadian content was $2.92 billion, a 12.4% decrease
OTTAWA — For the 12-month period ending just prior to the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Canadian film and television production sector generated $9.32 billion in production volume, $12.24 billion in gross domestic product and created 224,500 jobs across Canada.
That’s according to a new report, released last week by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), which provides an analysis of economic activity in Canada’s screen-based media production industry during the period between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.
“These numbers are an important reminder of the boundless economic…
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OTTAWA – The federal government today announced an $49 million increase to the short-term compensation fund (STCF) for Canadian audiovisual productions which it set up in 2020 to help producers, actors, musicians and the like to get through the Covid crisis.
The additional funds will bring the STCF’s coverage capacity to $149 million until March 31, 2022. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault and Telefilm executive director Christa Dickenson made the announcement during the virtual Canadian Screen Awards yesterday.
The new money will “allow more productions to make use of the program to meet their shooting schedules, particularly in the sector’s busiest seasons…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – After three meetings that interrupted the clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-10, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage got back to work Wednesday afternoon but did not advance at a pace that would suggest that the bill will get out of committee anytime soon.
The amendment discussed today was proposed by the government and announced previously by Minister Guilbeault. It was supposed to correct the impression that the removal of Section 4.1 was an attack on the freedom of expression, the impression that the CRTC would be given power to somehow regulate user generated content. The amendment,…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – Experts designated by each party visited the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Monday to further discussing Bill C-10, the legislation which aims to modernize the Broadcasting Act.
The work of the committee has been at a standstill since April 30, and today’s discussion, which was often centred around freedom of expression and whether C-10 will impact what Canadians post on social media, gave little hope that the clause-by-clause consideration process, which should be the bulk of the committee’s work at this stage would resume anytime soon.
The experts are well known: Michael Geist, Canada research chair…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – During its May 10th meeting, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Committee all agreed to invite the Ministers of Canadian Heritage and Justice to its next meeting, once a revised Charter statement on Bill C-10’s conformity with the Canadian Charter of Rights would be produced, and to suspend the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill until that happened.
Well, the Charter statement was produced, it said the partly examined C-10 is just fine, and the Minister of Canadian Heritage showed up for questioning on Friday. However, the Minister of Justice, David Lametti turned down his…
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But we have a question about “unaffiliated users”
By Greg O’Brien
OTTAWA – On the day before Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault and senior members of the federal Department of Justice face the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to talk about Bill C-10, Heritage officials have released the new Charter statement, which says, in a nutshell, it’s fine.
Those following the C-10 saga over the past two weeks will recall the committee removed a section of the proposed bill, s. 4.1, which originally exempted social media companies from broadcasting regulation under the new Broadcasting Act, should C-10, which aims to amend that Act,…
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TORONTO — The fourth season of the award-winning series Employable Me, which features job seekers determined to show that having a physical disability or neurological condition shouldn’t make them unemployable, will premiere June 9 on AMI-tv, the broadcaster announced today.
Seasons one, two and three of the series previously captured Rockie Awards for best lifestyle program at the Banff World Media Festival. In addition, season three won a Diversify TV Excellence Award at MIPCOM in the representation of disability, non-scripted category in 2020.
Produced by Thomas Howe Associates, season four of Employable Me (six episodes x 60 minutes) provides “an honest…
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