The Canadian Press reports that new Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore says that the government has no intention of reversing its controversial art funding cuts.
Post Tagged with: "Culture"
ISP Tax May Be The Next Big Culture Funding Fight
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) places the spotlight on the next big cultural funding issue that promises to make the current dispute seem like a short preview as compared to the forthcoming main attraction. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will hold hearings on new media regulation in early 2009 and barring a change of heart, the focal point will be the prospect of a mandated levy on Internet service providers to fund new media cultural production.
Opponents will deride the plan as a new tax, but that has not stopped cultural groups from lining up in support of such a scheme. Earlier this year, several groups, including the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), the Directors Guild of Canada, and Writers Guild of Canada, proposed a mandatory ISP contribution of 2.5 percent of broadband revenue to help fund Canadian new media content creation. In support, the groups released the results of a public opinion survey which they said found that "69 percent of Canadians believe that ISPs should be required to help fund the production of Canadian digital media content in the same way that cable and satellite TV providers are required to contribute a small percentage of their revenues to the production of Canadian television programs."
Atwood on Creativity
Margaret Atwood comments on the Harper culture cuts with language strikingly similar to that employed by user groups arguing for fair copyright: Human beings are creative by nature. For millenniums we have been putting our creativity into our cultures – cultures with unique languages, architecture, religious ceremonies, dances, music, furnishings, […]
Culture Cuts a Blow to Canadian Digitization Strategy
The Canadian cultural community has been abuzz over the past two weeks as details emerge about the government's plans to cut millions of dollars from nearly a dozen culture programs. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that while the cuts may find support among some Canadians opposed to public funding for the arts, a closer look at the plans reveal that this has little to do with handouts to artists. Rather, the affected programs are focused on industrial policy and the creation of a digital information strategy.
Culture Cuts a Blow to Canadian Digitization Strategy
Appeared in the Toronto Star on August 25, 2008 as Culture Cuts Deal Blow to Digitization Strategy The Canadian cultural community has been abuzz over the past two weeks as details emerge about the government's plans to cut millions of dollars from nearly a dozen culture programs. While the cuts […]
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