Search Results for: Canadian Heritage

Radio / Television News

Moore says CBC will get funding: report

OTTAWA – The CBC will receive the funding it needs to fulfill its five-year strategic plan, says Heritage Minister James Moore. According to a report in The Toronto Star, Minister Moore affirmed the government’s commitment to the national broadcaster during a Commons committee on Thursday. “CBC, through their board of directors, has approved their 2015 plan. This is a plan that we support and that we have been pushing for and hoping that the CBC would implement for a long time – staying in the regions, (enhancing) digital technology and protecting their mandate to ensure that it’s all-Canadian programming,” Moore… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

IIC 2011: Moore defends Canadian culture business, CBC

OTTAWA – Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore on Tuesday delivered a hearty endorsement of the industry his ministry oversees as well as the CBC during his appearance at the International Institute of Communications Canadian conference. During his breakfast speech, Moore dipped into history to show how far the Canadian cultural sector has come, from a pipsqueak in the 1950s, scrambling for an identity, to a robust $46 billion annual industry now boasting over 630,000 employees, many of whom “do it for the love of the craft.” Those figures are “three times the size of the Canadian insurance industry and twice… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

IIC 2011: Speculation hot heading into Industry Minister’s speech this afternoon

OTTAWA – While milling about on the floor of the Institute of International Communications 2011 Canadian chapter conference here at the beautiful new Ottawa Convention Centre on Monday morning, everyone had a guess (and some claimed inside information) on what Industry Minister Christian Paradis is going to say in his speech to the conference on Tuesday afternoon. Is it to be a statement on foreign investment changes for the telecom sector? Setting out the rules on the auction of 700 MHz wireless spectrum? Some sort of direction in the long-overdue digital economy strategy? It looks like now,… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Official process to pick new CRTC chair to begin “soon”

OTTAWA – So much for all the speculation on who will replace CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein when his term expires on January 24, 2012. While many have guessed (including us) at who it may be, and many in power have some ideas on who would make a good chair, the federal government has not yet officially begun to look, said Heritage Minister James Moore Tuesday in Ottawa. Speaking to reporters after his speech at the 2011 International Institute of Communications Canadian conference, Moore didn’t have much to say on who might be appointed chair, or when…. Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CBC unwillingly gives up documents; sealing some

OTTAWA – The CBC has complied with an order by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics to provide documents requested under Access to Information (ATI) by Quebecor Media and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. But the public broadcaster’s president, Hubert Lacroix, told an audience at the National Press Gallery Monday that the documents were given under protest, and some were sealed. Lacroix later told reporters that the decision on whether to open the sealed documents is in the committee’s hands. He said it’s the first time the committee has ordered the public broadcaster to release documents that… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Canadian Broadband for All: Rogers interested, Shaw launches $49 triple-play bundle

WHILE WE’VE YET TO hear back from the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Bell Canada or Telus – and Industry Canada hasn’t yet responded to our request for a better answer to our original question, Canada’s two largest cable companies have responded to our plea that our country come up with a plan to get broadband Internet access to low-income families. As we reported, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission along with many cable companies and other contributors, have devised a program to offer broadband connectivity to low-income families for… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Canadian Broadband For All: Silence and spin, so far

READERS MIGHT HAVE sensed with my column Thursday that I am taking the issue of getting broadband to low-income families very seriously. I called the fact that we have nothing in Canada to help the poor get broadband in their homes embarrassing, especially when compared to the ambitious and comprehensive Connect 2 Compete program that was launched in the United States this week by the Federal Communications Commission, numerous cable companies and other firms. Then, reporter Peter Nowak reports today that Canada is the ONLY country in the G8 with no assistance… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

CBC/Radio-Canada updates Parliament on its strategic plan

OTTAWA – CBC/Radio-Canada appeared before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Tuesday morning to provide an update on the progress of its five-year strategic plan launched last February.
The plan, known as Everyone, Every way, promises to improve regional coverage and expand local service to more than 6 million Canadians over the next five years; to double the investment made in digital platforms; and to offer more Canadian programming. In the nine months since the launch of the strategy, the public broadcaster noted that it has: – Announced new CBC radio stations in Kamloops, London and Waterloo, and weekend television news… Continue Reading

Cable / Telecom News

Feds launch mobile app commemorating War of 1812

OTTAWA – The federal government rolled out a new mobile application Thursday designed to encourage Canadians' participation in the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. The War of 1812 app, launched by Canadian Heritage and Official Languages minister James Moore, includes information about key battles, heroes, and related national historic sites. Other interactive features will be introduced in the lead up to the official start of the 200th anniversary of the War on June 18, 2012. "Our Government understands the importance of educating Canadians of all ages about the historical significance of the War of 1812," said Minister Moore, in the announcement.  "Knowing… Continue Reading

Radio / Television News

Despite “flaws”, copyright bill resurgence widely welcomed

OTTAWA – The Government’s decision to reintroduce its Copyright Modernization Act back in the House of Commons was been met with a resounding thumbs-up from almost all industry stakeholders. Bill C-11 seeks to bring Canada’s antiquated copyrights law in line with current international standards by implementing provisions of the World Intellectual Property Protection Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.  Industry Minister Christian Paradis and Heritage Minister James Moore said in a joint announcement that the legislation will ensure that Canada’s copyright laws are modern and flexible, while balancing the needs of creators and users. "Canadians will… Continue Reading