TORONTO — Music rights management organization SOCAN announced today 24 Canadian visionaries will be recognized at this year’s SOCAN Awards for the roles they played in helping to raise the stature of music made in Canada.
“Fifty years ago, they understood the need to protect and amplify Canadian music, giving rise to Cancon. These trailblazers will be awarded the SOCAN Guardian Award for their efforts in preserving and boosting Canadian culture,” reads SOCAN’s press release.
At a time when home-grown music was often considered inferior to foreign records dominating the charts, making it difficult for Canadian artists to get airtime on…
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Will hear from Lametti, Guilbeault, expert panel on amended bill
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Following some back-and-forth from members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on a motion introduced last Friday regarding the Bill C-10 review, consensus was reached on Monday to invite Justice Minister David Lametti and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault to appear before the group as early as Friday, with Members of Parliament on the committee to hear from an expert panel as soon as Monday.
Saskatchewan Conservative MP Kevin Waugh proposed amending Quebec Liberal MP Anthony Housefather’s motion seeking a revised Charter statement…
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Siphoning hundreds of millions from them for Cancon will give streamers leverage over government and regulators
By Len St-Aubin
THE GOVERNMENT SAYS Bill C-10 is part of a plan to rein in web giants by making them pay their “fair share” when it comes to Canadian culture. That’s their story, and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault is sticking to it.
But you have to wonder, at what cost? Extracting up to 30% of revenues generated in Canada from the likes of YouTube (Google), Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Spotify et al, and subjecting them to outdated, unnecessarily intrusive CRTC regulation, what’s the “quid-pro-quo”?
There’s…
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COMMUNITY MEDIA’S LOW-COST participatory model has the potential to address both the crisis in local news and information, and the proliferation of fake news. Yet this sector has been relegated to a sidebar in discussions to reform Canada’s broadcasting system.
When Paul Manly of the Green Party and others recently put forward an amendment to clarify that community media Is not-for-profit, it was rejected by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
The concern raised was that giving recognition to “not-for-profit” community broadcasting might somehow imperil giant for-profit cable and satellite corporations.
The 1991 Broadcast Act recognizes three distinct elements: private, public…
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TORONTO — ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, and the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) are adding their voices to the chorus of content creators who are calling for Bill C-10, which aims to amend the Broadcasting Act, to be passed.
“Following a week of debate amongst Canadian Heritage Committee members about Bill C-10, an Act to amend the Broadcasting Act, ACTRA is now urging all parties to put politics aside and pass Bill C-10,” reads a press release released today by ACTRA.
“The Broadcasting Act in its current form is outdated. It does not…
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By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – On Monday, the Members of the Heritage Committee approved a motion they had voted down previously as the Liberals on the committee compromised and opened the meeting with a proposal to back down and wait on hearing from the Justice Minister.
When a firestorm erupted after the removal by the Liberals of Section 4.1, which exempted social media platforms from Bill C-10, the legislation intended to modernize the Broadcasting Act, the Conservatives proposed to suspend the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill until a new Charter statement from the Justice Minister could be produced. Such a…
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OTTAWA — Today, the department of Canadian Heritage launched the new Canadian Artists and Content Creators Economic Survey, designed to help create an updated portrait of the artistic and creative community in Canada in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“All Canadian artists and content creators are invited to take part, to help shed light on their experiences working and earning a living in a pre- and post-Covid-19 world,” reads the press release from Canadian Heritage.
“The data gathered through this survey will inform current and future Canadian Heritage policies and programs, ensuring the department continues to be responsive to the realities…
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Second Charter review stalled by Conservative filibustering
By Christopher Guly
OTTAWA – Fraught by fears of stifling constitutionally protected freedoms, Bill C-10 could undergo a second review to ensure that the proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Act are compliant with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
At the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Friday, Liberal member Anthony Housefather presented a motion that would ask Justice Minister David Lametti “to provide a revised Charter statement on Bill C-10, as soon as possible, focusing on whether the committee’s changes to the bill related to programs uploaded by users of social…
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Resumption of clause-by-clause consideration met by stalling tactics
By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – In a quickly scheduled evening meeting the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage resumed its review of the content of individual sections of Bill C-10, which aims to amend the Broadcasting Act.
Right away the committee went back to the discussion over whether the amended bill complies with the Charter of Rights.
The first hour featured an overlong speech (a classic filibuster) from Conservative MP Rachel Harder, about the importance of the Charter of Rights compliance for the bill being studied. She may have a point, but the stalling tactic angered…
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MONTREAL and WINNIPEG – The Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, said this week it “deplores” the delay of the clause-by-clause study of Bill C-10 to amend the Broadcasting Act.
The coalition which includes creative associations such as ADISQ, ACTRA, CMPA, SOCAN and WGC, among others, “urges all members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage committee to agree to resume the study of the bill promptly,” reads its press release.
“Without a rapid resumption of this work, the entire fate of Bill C-10 is at stake. And without the immediate implementation of this bill, the entire Canadian cultural…
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