MONTREAL – L’Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM), which represents more than 160 independent production companies in Quebec, said Tuesday evening it’s very disappointed the Canadian government’s fall economic statement earlier in the day did not include an announcement regarding the sustainability of Telefilm Canada’s budget at its current level.
During the 2019 election campaign, the Liberal Party of Canada’s platform included a commitment to gradually increase Telefilm’s budget “to reach a sustainable increase of $50 million per year,” notes an English-translated press release from AQPM Tuesday.
After the election, the government…
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Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously said the CMPA does not believe there should be a mandatory base contribution. In reality, it is asking for a mandatory base of no less than five per cent.
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said Monday that the stonewalling of the federal government by foreign platforms on legislation that would require them to pay to host news links will likely mean that they will also scoff at any requirement for them to pay a base contribution to Canadian content.
The CRTC is proposing a mandatory base…
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OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage has on Tuesday finalized its policy direction to the CRTC on the implementation of the Online Streaming Act.
The final version doesn’t deviate on major goals from the proposal the department put out in June, specifically outlining that social media creators and certain single transactional media, such as video games, will not be regulated.
The CRTC, which already set a $10-million threshold for broadcasters to register basic information with the regulator, said it still would like social media and other media forms, including podcasts, to register so it can monitor their…
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OTTAWA and PALO ALTO, Calif. – Canadian satellite operator Telesat announced Tuesday it has entered into a 10-plus-year agreement to use Palo Alto, Calif.-based Aalyria’s Spacetime network orchestration technology to organize the efficient flow of customer traffic over the Telesat Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation.
Telesat’s Lightspeed satellites will contain leading-edge technologies including digital beamforming, integrated onboard data processing and optical inter-satellite links, “resulting in better link performance, increased network efficiency, and enhanced flexibility to focus and dynamically deliver reliable capacity to customers,” a Telesat press release says.
Telesat will leverage…
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OTTAWA – On the recommendation of Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge, the Governor General in Council has reappointed Etoile Stewart as a member of Telefilm Canada’s board of directors.
Stewart’s new five-year term began Nov. 1.
She has been a Telefilm board member since November 2018 and is currently chair of the board’s nominating, evaluation and governance committee.
“Having worked in all levels of government, she is now a management consultant based in Winnipeg specializing in strategic planning and government relations for a diverse range of clients,” reads Stewart’s profile on…
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By Doug Barrett, adjunct professor in the Arts, Media & Entertainment MBA Program at the Schulich School of Business. From 2004 to 2008 he was the chair of the Canadian Television Fund
Phil Lind was an unlikely hero, but a genuine one. Since his passing, much has been written about his decades’ – long service to Rogers Communications, his role as consiglieri to Ted Rogers, his determined recovery from a major stroke in his mid-fifties, his art collection, and his love of the Yukon.
However, scant attention has been paid to what I think is his greatest accomplishment: he was the…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Regina member of Parliament Andrew Scheer has asked the federal government to provide more information about the rationale and cost behind a registry of companies set up by the CRTC that is intended for them to contribute to the enrichment of Canadian content.
The former Conservative Party leader has tabled two sets of inquiries in the House of Commons Monday, with one requesting specifics as to the overall rationale for setting up the registry and how the commission arrived at the $10 million annual revenue threshold to include companies for possible regulation.
Under that set of questions,…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC communicated with Canadian Heritage over months about the information it was going use in its messaging about the Online Streaming Act, but that was not for soliciting comment or approval, the regulator told Cartt.
Earlier this year, Conservative member of Parliament Martin Shields of Bow River, Alberta, tabled a request for the government to provide detailed communications between the regulator and the department about the legislation that requires online streaming services to contribute to Canadian content.
The Conservatives have accused the independent regulator of parroting government talking points about the legislation after…
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TORONTO and MONTREAL – The Canada Media Fund said Monday it is starting the process of making changes to its funding programs that will take a platform-agnostic approach to supporting content creators, in lockstep with the federal government’s modernization of the broadcasting industry via the Online Streaming Act.
“After several years of calls for change from the industry we proudly support, the Department of Canadian Heritage has unlocked new authorities for the CMF to administer our funding and programs moving forward,” reads a CMF press release.
“As the CRTC undertakes its process to…
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TORONTO – After a year-long research initiative on Canadian content — which included interviews, a survey, in-person and virtual workshops, and written submissions — the Canada Media Fund last week officially released New Futures for Canadian Content: What You Said, a landmark report by independent research firm La Société des demains that draws on viewpoints from more than 2,800 industry professionals and the public from across the country.
“Our industry stands at a pivotal juncture. After over 1,000 hours of feedback, the insights gathered in this report prove that Canadian content matters more than ever,” said Valerie Creighton,…
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