Parties to prioritize new media study for return of House heritage committee

MPs from all four federal political parties agree the House Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage should study new media when it reconvenes. The heritage committee launched a study on new media in October 2009, but the discussions were sidetracked by Bill C-302, the Italian-Canadian Recognition and Restitution Act. “I was tremendously saddened when we had to cancel it for meetings we had already set up back in December,” Conservative MP Gary Schellenberger, former chair of the heritage committee, told The Wire Report. Schellenberger was chair of the committee when it dissolved due to prorogation. He could again be elected as chair at the committee’s first meeting, which will be held within 10 House sitting days from the formation of the committee. “It’s going to be my initiative to see if we can get the study back on the rails and go as quickly as possible as we reconvene,” Schellenberger said. NDP MP Charlie Angus, the party’s digital affairs critic, said in an interview he has been preparing to revisit the study. “I have spent all through January and February working on witness lists, examining various briefs. We’re set to go,” he said. “ badly needed because Canada is very behind the times in addressing a digital strategy for cultural development.” The parties don’t have the same vision for the study, however, so it’s not clear what direction it will take. Schellenberger said it is likely to start off with a general look at the sector, then move into specifics following a committee vote. “I’d really like to see us … do something that is important for Canada if we want to be a leader in the digital age,” he said. Bloc Québécois MP and former committee vice-chair Carole Lavallée said her priority is promoting the digitization of print and broadcast content. “I am going to propose a study for a national digitization policy,” she said in an interview. The proposed policy would touch on several points, including funding for new media projects, digitizing print and broadcast materials, digitizing government services, and supporting digital television and video games. Lavallée said she particularly supports digitizing books, which she says is an expensive process. She said the government should provide funding, but that efforts must ultimately be undertaken by publishers to deal with copyright issues. Former committee vice-chair and Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez identified the protection of Canadian culture and content as priorities for a digital media strategy. “We have to see how we can protect our culture. We have to make sure there is more Canadian content not only in Canada, but also all over the world,” he said. Angus said he hopes the committee will look at how digital platforms affect cultural development and identity, and new trends in digital development. kfournier@thewirereport.ca

Parties to prioritize new media study for return of House heritage committee

Broadcast | March 3, 2010

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