Frulla says government preparing second response to Lincoln broadcast report, reviewing feature film industry

Canadian Heritage minister Liza Frulla announced $5 million in public funding for the new media industry on February 3 during a speech she delivered at the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) conference in Ottawa. She also talked about the importance of investing in culture. I dare say you won’t challenge me on the following assertions: First: investing in culture strengthens the identity, well-being and economic prosperity of Canadians. Second: technological change, convergence and economic globalization are putting pressure on cultural industries to change. Fast. Constantly. Does this apply to the audiovisual sector? You know the answer. Third: you – we – can’t sit back and relax. Ever. Act we must, and now. Or be left behind. Or worse: become irrelevant. An accident of history. …Yes, I know. I know that your industry faces tough challenges. We live close to the most powerful maker and distributor of popular culture. Economic globalization, convergence and deregulation are making competition even more fierce but they also offer us tremendous new opportunities. …The government – I should say governments – is, are trying to help in several ways.First of all, financially. The government of Canada was the first to announce an increase in tax credits for films produced in Canada. And I am pleased that Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia have recently followed suit. As another example, let’s take the Canadian Television Fund. It has proved that investing in diversified, high-quality Canadian content is a recipe for success. Who says that popularity and quality are mutually exclusive? …The plan is now to ensure multi-year financing for the fund and settle the question of its governance once and for all. We need to streamline the various support programs for the film and television industries. I intend to work closely with stakeholders in your industries, with the agencies that are partners of Canadian Heritage, and with Mr. (Wayne) Clarkson, Telefilm’s new executive director, who is eminently familiar with what you do and with the challenges that you face. …Canada stands out in the creation of convergent web products tied to successful television programs...Are we taking full advantage of our technological strengths in telecommunications, broadcasting and narrowcasting? I don’t think so. Do you? Well here is an incentive to do more: the government wants to encourage this growing sector, and I have excellent news for you. Next year, we will increase funding for the Canada New Media Fund. An additional $5 million dollars will help support innovative projects. This will increase the total amount of the fund to $14 million dollars. …But investing in culture is not the only solution. We must also make sure that our policies and regulations are adapted to new realities. We are working on this. We must also defend the special nature and status of cultural industries against the indiscriminate use of international trade deregulation. Freedom of trade is good. But cultural products are not mere widgets. We are not alone in the world to think that way. And we are working on it. We must talk some more and work better together to set objectives, priorities and a pragmatic action plan for the audiovisual sector. As a starting point, the government is preparing a second response to the 97 recommendations of the Lincoln Report. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage will hold public hearings over the coming months in order to study the role of the government of Canada in the Canadian feature film industry. And my department is now assessing the benefits of the Feature Film Policy, launched in 2000.

Frulla says government preparing second response to Lincoln broadcast report, reviewing feature film industry

News | 02/14/2005 5:00 am EST

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