If something in Canada is good, it should not need subsidization. That includes films, online sites such as this one, and milk, chicken and eggs. Once subsidiation starts, it grows an industry around it collecting government (our) mony. Just stop it!
"How you gonna keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paris?" American popular entertainment has sweep the world because the world finds it attractive. I know this will offend and upset some Canadians but Canadian culture is but a pale reproduction of American culture. It's like Ketchup, the posh would never put it on the table but it is the number one condiment in the world.
"Canadian culture is but a pale reproduction of American culture". The fruits of official multiculturalism, the post-national state, and seeing "culture" as a financial gravy train from government.
And that includes all forms of investment - because subsidizing a rate of return by only taxing half a capital gain (or zero in the case of principal residences) is just goosing prices beyond what the market would price them at if their gains treated like any other income.
It's the market's job to set ROI (and asset prices), not the government's.
It turns out that cultural nationalism without a culture of nationalism is absurd. When you define "Canadian" as anyone with the right paperwork, you can't possibly preserve Canadian culture in a positive way - because you don't even believe it exists.
As our population becomes much more international and the range of of internet based media explodes our national desire to hang onto proven failed content & delivery systems just continues to move us farther & farther back from the current realities.
Just last week I read the Cdn government is considering expanding government (handouts) subsidizes to more parts of the media industry. It is my view both the industry and government know the industry & its regulations are out of step with the reality on the ground but if the government did what was needed tens of thousands of current employees in the industry would be out of a job. We must be honest as Canadians that most of these folks are supported thru grants & subsidies and that this just an expensive form of Unemployment Insurance. One has to only look a the CBC viewership statistics to confirm my view.
It would probably be, for people in the Canadian media sector, a simple 'well, duh' to hold that the traditional funding and granting bodies were constructed and then helmed by industry insiders so they have have effective control of the purse strings.
To have the CRTC mandate that carriers have a certain amount of Canadian content, but allow producers and artists compete for funding from any source other than the government or mandated levies, would probably result in not much less Canadian product effectively reaching Canadian eyeballs or ears.
What would likely go away are the niche, extremely narrow audience productions that are made but largely invisible. No independent investor, with the possible exception of philanthropic organizations, would be likely to fund such things. Congratulations, you're now like anyone with a camera and a dream that shows up at Sundance. Nothing wrong with that.
The current system is a redistribution system to political constituencies. I get to make my film. I get paid out of grants and funding. The film gets shown at a CFB showcase of brave stories that must be told. It gets shelved. The general citizenry never knows anything happened at all. Rinse and repeat.
I recognize this is a bit of the old model, but even if the same works were released on a streaming service like GEM the effect is the same. The long tail gives most media an audience of less than one. But you can't say you didn't have an audience.
Tbh, I think its incomplete. I think the fear of American culture is taking over is not the only thing that's going on. Overseas culture is making large headways into Canadian culture. Like personally, I've haven't watched a Canadian or American series in a year. They're East Asian these days. The latest gaming trend are all Chinese. The music idols are Korean. The TV shows are Japanese.
And this also applies to Americans too. We're becoming more culturally alike Americans, but we're also just moving away from American culture.
It's a bit unnerving that a former CRTC commissioner (and by the sounds of it, 'one of the good ones') views Canadians reading the books and watching the movies they want to as foreigners "dump[ing] their product here". It's also a bit condescending to refer to this as "learned preferences". When Canadians are offered something Canadian that's good, they often will take it. The problem is much is not good as it is not designed to actually appeal to audiences.
Another point is that, generally, our cultural industries are focused on the Canadian market, to the exclusion of international sales. There are exceptions, of course, and Canadian programs, music, etc., that do flourish on the international scene. But these are very rarely the product of the protectionist system that you describe.
This matters. Production costs soar ever higher. That makes it important to aim for large markets. Confining oneself to just Canada increasingly won't cut it. Deliberately running a system that limits its aims to the domestic market is perverse.
I make an exception, of course, for newsletters like The Line and the Hub, who do present excellent Canadian content outside of The System, and survive. But they occupy a very small corner of Culture with a capital C.
If something in Canada is good, it should not need subsidization. That includes films, online sites such as this one, and milk, chicken and eggs. Once subsidiation starts, it grows an industry around it collecting government (our) mony. Just stop it!
"How you gonna keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paris?" American popular entertainment has sweep the world because the world finds it attractive. I know this will offend and upset some Canadians but Canadian culture is but a pale reproduction of American culture. It's like Ketchup, the posh would never put it on the table but it is the number one condiment in the world.
"Canadian culture is but a pale reproduction of American culture". The fruits of official multiculturalism, the post-national state, and seeing "culture" as a financial gravy train from government.
The CPR was good.
Boom.
Drop the mic.
And we do it over, and over, and over again.
And that includes all forms of investment - because subsidizing a rate of return by only taxing half a capital gain (or zero in the case of principal residences) is just goosing prices beyond what the market would price them at if their gains treated like any other income.
It's the market's job to set ROI (and asset prices), not the government's.
It turns out that cultural nationalism without a culture of nationalism is absurd. When you define "Canadian" as anyone with the right paperwork, you can't possibly preserve Canadian culture in a positive way - because you don't even believe it exists.
BINGO !!!
Ditto.
As our population becomes much more international and the range of of internet based media explodes our national desire to hang onto proven failed content & delivery systems just continues to move us farther & farther back from the current realities.
Just last week I read the Cdn government is considering expanding government (handouts) subsidizes to more parts of the media industry. It is my view both the industry and government know the industry & its regulations are out of step with the reality on the ground but if the government did what was needed tens of thousands of current employees in the industry would be out of a job. We must be honest as Canadians that most of these folks are supported thru grants & subsidies and that this just an expensive form of Unemployment Insurance. One has to only look a the CBC viewership statistics to confirm my view.
I think the most shocking part of this is learning that 51.5% of Canadians still have a cable or satellite subscription.
It would probably be, for people in the Canadian media sector, a simple 'well, duh' to hold that the traditional funding and granting bodies were constructed and then helmed by industry insiders so they have have effective control of the purse strings.
To have the CRTC mandate that carriers have a certain amount of Canadian content, but allow producers and artists compete for funding from any source other than the government or mandated levies, would probably result in not much less Canadian product effectively reaching Canadian eyeballs or ears.
What would likely go away are the niche, extremely narrow audience productions that are made but largely invisible. No independent investor, with the possible exception of philanthropic organizations, would be likely to fund such things. Congratulations, you're now like anyone with a camera and a dream that shows up at Sundance. Nothing wrong with that.
The current system is a redistribution system to political constituencies. I get to make my film. I get paid out of grants and funding. The film gets shown at a CFB showcase of brave stories that must be told. It gets shelved. The general citizenry never knows anything happened at all. Rinse and repeat.
I recognize this is a bit of the old model, but even if the same works were released on a streaming service like GEM the effect is the same. The long tail gives most media an audience of less than one. But you can't say you didn't have an audience.
Tbh, I think its incomplete. I think the fear of American culture is taking over is not the only thing that's going on. Overseas culture is making large headways into Canadian culture. Like personally, I've haven't watched a Canadian or American series in a year. They're East Asian these days. The latest gaming trend are all Chinese. The music idols are Korean. The TV shows are Japanese.
And this also applies to Americans too. We're becoming more culturally alike Americans, but we're also just moving away from American culture.
Bring back The Forest Rangers CBC. Also reboot King of Kensington.
It's a bit unnerving that a former CRTC commissioner (and by the sounds of it, 'one of the good ones') views Canadians reading the books and watching the movies they want to as foreigners "dump[ing] their product here". It's also a bit condescending to refer to this as "learned preferences". When Canadians are offered something Canadian that's good, they often will take it. The problem is much is not good as it is not designed to actually appeal to audiences.
Thank you, Mr. Menzies.
Another point is that, generally, our cultural industries are focused on the Canadian market, to the exclusion of international sales. There are exceptions, of course, and Canadian programs, music, etc., that do flourish on the international scene. But these are very rarely the product of the protectionist system that you describe.
This matters. Production costs soar ever higher. That makes it important to aim for large markets. Confining oneself to just Canada increasingly won't cut it. Deliberately running a system that limits its aims to the domestic market is perverse.
I make an exception, of course, for newsletters like The Line and the Hub, who do present excellent Canadian content outside of The System, and survive. But they occupy a very small corner of Culture with a capital C.