Post Tagged with: "paradis"

Putting Some Substance into Canada’s Digital Economy Penske File

Industry Minister Christian Paradis paid a visit to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto last week to deliver a speech focused on the digital economy. As has been the case for months, the speech was short on specifics but filled with platitudes about a forthcoming digital economy strategy that “challenges our innovators” and “drives new technology.”

Yet despite promises of a strategy by the end of the year, the issue remains the government’s “Penske File”, a source of regular speeches and much “work” but few tangible results (for non-Seinfeld watchers, the Penske file is a reference to a non-existent work project). In fact, with Paradis telling attendees that the government’s role ” is to give our best and brightest the opportunities they need to succeed and then get out of the way” the strategy may be about as ambitious as the character George Costanza was on the Seinfeld show.

My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes that Canadians have waited years for a digital economy strategy. Paradis should dispense with the well-worn cliches and opt for an ambitious plan that generates genuine excitement and broad public support.

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September 4, 2012 6 comments Columns

Putting Some Substance into Canada’s Digital Economy Penske File

Appeared in the Toronto Star on September 2, 2012 as Canada Can’t Afford to Wait Any Longer for Digital Economy Strategy Industry Minister Christian Paradis paid a visit to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto last week to deliver a speech focused on the digital economy.  As has been […]

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September 4, 2012 Comments are Disabled Columns Archive

Paradis Promises Digital Economy Strategy By Year End

Industry Minister Christian Paradis put a timeline on the “Penske File” yesterday, promising to deliver a Canadian digital economy strategy by the end of the year.

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June 6, 2012 3 comments News

The Government’s “10,000 Consultations” on Copyright

Last week’s House of Commons copyright debate on Bill C-11 included a curious comment from Industry Minister Christian Paradis, who, in trying to demonstrate the amount of debate that went into the bill, stated that “more than 10,000 consultations have been held across Canada.” The “10,000 consultations” claim made it onto the Hill Times front page article on the bill titled “House Set to Pass Controversial Copyright Bill Next Week, After 10,000 Consultations.”

The problem with the “10,000 consultations” claim is that it isn’t entirely accurate. Paradis is likely combining the total responses to the 2009 copyright consultation (just over 8,300) with submissions or witnesses to the Bill C-32/C-11 legislative committees (roughly 300). Throw in the two town hall meetings and private meetings with stakeholders and you might come close to 10,000. However, if Paradis is relying on comments and submissions from the public to the government, the 10,000 figure massively understates the public response. During the same debate, Liberal MP Geoff Regan indicated that his office received over 80,000 emailed submissions over the past several months alone. Three weeks after the introduction of Bill C-61, Industry Canada received tens of thousands of actual letters. When you combine the additional MP meetings, thousands of letters and emails to MPs, the number of submissions on this copyright bill is at least 10 times the Paradis estimate.

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May 25, 2012 23 comments News

Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch on Canada’s Penske File

The Wall Streeet Journal’s MarketWatch picks up on Canada’s missing digital economy strategy, using the Penske File framing to discuss the failure of Industry Minister Christian Paradis to lead on the file.

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May 16, 2012 Comments are Disabled News