By Denis Carmel
OTTAWA – “This fall, in addition to extending the wage subsidy, the Government will take further steps to bridge vulnerable businesses to the other side of the pandemic by introducing further support for industries that have been the hardest hit, including travel and tourism, hospitality, and cultural industries like the performing arts,” reads Wednesday’s Speech from the Throne, kicking off the next session of Parliament.
“The Government will also identify additional ways to tax extreme wealth inequality… by addressing corporate tax avoidance by digital giants. Web giants are taking Canadians’ money while imposing their own priorities. Things must…
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TORONTO — The Canada Media Fund (CMF) today announced it is taking two key actions to support creators from Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities.
The first step is a top-up in Covid-19 emergency relief funds for companies owned by Black people and people of colour. The CMF also announced it has engaged three new team members to support and connect with BIPOC communities.
The top-up is part of phase one of the federal government’s Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund for cultural, heritage and sport organizations and is available to companies that are majority-owned by Black people and people of…
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Minister raises, and tamps down, expectations
By Greg O’Brien
HERITAGE MINISTER STEVEN Guilbeault gave precious little away last Wednesday afternoon during a CMPA- and AQPM-sponsored town hall meeting.
As is well known by now in the TV and production communities, after five years of study and work through three different Heritage ministers, the federal government will finally have something concrete to announce sometime during the next session of Parliament this fall. It is expected Wednesday’s Throne Speech will have something to say about new broadcasting legislation.
While Minister Guilbeault was asked a few different ways during the interactive virtual session (he’s pictured…
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CREATIVE ORGANIZATIONS across the country reminded the Canadian government about its commitment to new legislation to force web giants to pay their fair share when it comes to Canadian content, a commitment which they hope to see represented in Wednesday’s speech from the throne, which will kick off the next session of Parliament.
In a press release issued Monday morning, leaders of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), AQPM (Association Québécoise de la production médiatique), ARRQ (Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec), CMPA (Canada Media Producers Association), DGC (Directors Guild of Canada), SARTEC (Société des…
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OTTAWA — CACTUS (the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations) announced late Monday it has been chosen by the Department of Canadian Heritage to administer funding for community TV under phases two and three of the Covid-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations.
Licensed community television stations as well as unlicensed not-for-profit community-managed corporations which support community members in producing and distributing community television programming are eligible for funding, says the CACTUS blog post.
Applicants for the Covid-19 relief funding being administered by CACTUS must demonstrate they:
are eligible community television organizations as defined above;
…
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TORONTO – Hosted by Canadian poet Ieden Wall (above), Canada’s newest late-night talk show, Canadian Jewish TV, kicks off Thursday October 1st at 11:30 p.m. on Rogers Communications’ multicultural broadcaster OMNI 1.
The show will feature interviews and performances from some of Canada’s most notable Jewish figures, and in keeping with Wall’s background, CJTV will also feature a spoken-word short-film series based on new poems from Wall’s upcoming book, The Wisdom of the Wall 2. His first book of poetry, Wisdom of the Wall sold over 30,000 copies.
“With the loss of established Jewish media like The Canadian Jewish News, CJTV…
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OTTAWA – Last week, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault made it pretty clear, with two tweets, where the government stands when it comes to making the digital giants contribute to culture here.
In the first, he tweeted a Reuters story published by the Globe and Mail which detailed the ongoing skirmish between the government of Australia and Facebook, saying “We remain committed towards ensuring a comprehensive, more equitable digital regulatory framework here in Canada. That includes making sure that Canadian news organizations continue to inform and empower our communities.”
Minister Guilbeault then followed that up with a clarifier,…
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OTTAWA — Members of Canada’s screen-based production community will be able to pose questions and submit recommendations to Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in advance of a virtual town hall being held September 16.
The town hall is part of Heritage’s development of a post-pandemic recovery plan for the cultural industries, and attendees are asked to fill out a short survey to submit recommendations about actions the federal government can take to help revitalize Canada’s production sector in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. The survey also allows attendees to submit questions or comments ahead of the town hall. The…
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By Steve Faguy
MONTREAL — Quebecor has cut funding for MAtv, Videotron’s community channel in Montreal, by 45%, prompting an anglophone member of its advisory committee to resign in protest.
Fortner Anderson, a local artist, said he can “no longer in good conscience” remain on the committee because the latest cuts “will substantially alter and reduce the benefits MAtv provides to the English language community of Montreal, and because they will diminish the vitality of that community.”
The 45% cut is the result of Quebecor’s decision to take advantage of an allowance the CRTC gave large vertically-integrated companies in 2016. As part…
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Pandemic has accelerated structural decline and ideas abound, but government has not responded
OTTAWA — The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) today released an economic study by media economist Communications Management Inc. (CMI) which projects the possible closure of up to 40 local TV stations and 200 radio stations within the next three years.
According to CMI’s The Crisis in Canadian Media and the Future of Local Broadcasting report, within four to six months up to 50 radio stations could close, with an additional 100-150 radio stations possibly shutting down during the next six to 18 months. In addition, CMI…
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