Coalition for Culture and Media: Continuity - Fairness - Support - Speech from the Throne: regulation of online broadcasters more urgent than ever for culture and media in canada

MONTREAL, Sept. 20, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - On the eve of a new parliamentary session in the House of Commons, the Coalition for Culture and Media (CCM) is asking the Federal government to table, legislative measures in the coming weeks, ensuring the application of Canadian regulations to all digital platforms. 

Although encouraged by recent statements from the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the CCM reiterates that it is necessary to enact regulations, as quickly as possible, to oblige the Internet giants and online listening in Canada to contribute to the creation of Canadian content in both official languages, for the benefit of our culture and our society. Regulation of foreign online services is essential to restoring fairness with our conventional broadcasters (radio and television) who are required to invest in Canadian music and audiovisual productions. We must also ensure that that the Internet giants apply the GST/HST to online services offered in Canada.

The CCM is adding its voice to that of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel, which noted the urgent need for action on both these fronts. The panel, which presented its report to the Federal government last January, advocated establishing a registration mechanism for foreign companies offering online cultural content, and giving the CRTC greater powers to supervise their activities in Canada.

The COVID-19 crisis is hitting artists and cultural industries hard, and doubly so by accelerating the adoption of new ways to access culture and information, a situation that exacerbates the regulatory inequity resulting from the government's inaction in the face of the digital revolution. While the big globalized online platforms have seen their customers, revenues and value skyrocket in recent months, most sectors of activity linked to culture have been weakened by the health crisis.

The Coalition for Culture and Media was created in 2017 and consists of more than forty organizations that are active in the cultural and media sectors, representing thousands of people in Canada, from coast to coast. 

Member organizations of the coalition who can be contacted on this topic:

Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC)
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA)
Alliance Québec Animation (AQA)
Alliance québécoise des techniciens et techniciennes de l'image et du son (AQTIS)
ARTISTI
Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick (AAAPNB)Association des professionnels de l'édition musicale (APEM)
Association des propriétaires de cinémas du Québec (APCQ)
Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ)
Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL)
Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM)
Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ)
Association québécoise des cinémas d'art et d'essai (AQCAE)
Canadian union of public employees (CUPE) and its communications sector (CPSC)
Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques (CQAM)
Copibec
Directors Guild of Canada (DGC)
Documentary Organization of Canada and its Québec Chapter
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ)
Fédération nationale des communications (FNC-CSN)
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada (FRIC)
Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Québec (GMMQ)
L'Observatoire du documentaire
Michèle Rioux, directrice du Centre d'études sur l'intégration et la mondialisation (CEIM)
Observatoire des réseaux et interconnexions de la société numérique (ORISON) - UQAM
On Screen Manitoba
Québec Cinéma
Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC)
Regroupement des artisans de la musique (RAM)
Regroupement des distributeurs indépendants de films du Québec
Robert Armstrong, Broadcasting Consultant, Communications Médias
Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC)
SOCAN
Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM)
Société de gestion collective des droits des producteurs de phonogrammes et de vidéogrammes du Québec (SOPROQ)
Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC)
Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD)
Internet Society Québec (ISOC – Québec)
Société professionnelle des auteurs et compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ)
Syndicat des employées et employés professionnels-les et de bureau (SEPB)
Table de concertation de l'industrie du cinéma et de la télévision de la Capitale-Nationale
Unifor
Union des artistes (UDA)
Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ)

http://www.coalitionculturemedias.ca
http://www.coalitionculturemedia.ca
https://www.facebook.com/CoalitionCultureMedias/
https://twitter.com/CoalitionCM

SOURCE Coalition pour la culture et les médias

Lisa Djevahirdjian, 514-831-3815, [email protected]