7 ms·

The perspective of Canada is useful here. Canada is culturally dominated by the US, with a 10x larger population only an hour’s drive from the majority of the C

by ttul 3y ago

The perspective of Canada is useful here. Canada is culturally dominated by the US, with a 10x larger population only an hour’s drive from the majority of the Canadian population. Canadians are generally supportive of some level of government protection for the fragile and tiny Canadian cultural industry (music, the press, TV, and film). Meanwhile, Canada’s media and telecom industry is concentrated in the hands of three wealthy families. These empires have successfully lobbied the Canadian government for decades to achieve a degree of protection from US competitors, to the detriment of Canadians in terms of higher mobile phone and internet bills, a bland selection of privately produced journalism, and underwhelming TV content. The same playbook is at work with this latest bit of protectionism. The media empires leverage Canadians’ somewhat justified desire to protect Canadian culture to convince politicians in Ottawa to provide some monopoly-preserving protectionist measures. It’s a disgusting symbiosis that suppresses dynamism, but it’s likely not going away any time soon.

pxue 3y ago
Accurately assessed. Marketed as "protecting Canadian culture". In reality it's oligarchs lobbying to keep the status quo and their margins fat.
neom 3y ago
Canada also already has pretty strict internal content regulations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_content https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_content It's part of the reason why so many artists come out of Canada. Inorder to satisfy the content regulations the government heavily subsidized the arts.
- 908B64B197 3y ago
  The most interesting thing is what's defined as "Canadian Content". Most of what Celine Dion produced in her career doesn't fit the government approved list of cultural content, so is considered foreign music. Celine Dion, probably Canada's most recognizable voice and signer, signing in French, a language almost exclusively spoken in Canada on the North American continent, isn't considered Canadian culture. But some recordings from Elvis do count because he happened to record them on Canadian soil. [0] [0] https://nationalpost.com/news/extremely-canadian-media-that-ottawa-doesnt-consider-cancon https://nationalpost.com/news/extremely-canadian-media-that-...
  - neom 3y ago
    Makes sense, if you pick up and make a career for yourself using American resources you shouldn't be cancon, same with startups, can't get amazing startup Canadian capgains if you start Canadian and later basically become an American company. JB, Celine, Brian Adam's etc arguably started because Canada is such a hospitable environment to artists, if they pick up and basically come American... Why should we classify them as Canadian artists? Don't think any of them even live in Canada anymore, can't say I think they do much for the industry. Matt Dusk, CRJ, lightfoot etc keep it real.
    - modzu 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - gerbilly 3y ago
        > the only difference between a canadian and an american is a line on a map Kindly keep this kind of ignorant viewpoint to yourself. There are a lot of differences, and if you can't or won't see them that not our problem. As a Canadian, I don't want your two party political structure (soon to be one maybe?) and your supreme court of mostly old clerics making decisions based on their religious views in my country thanks. Or shall we talk about your daily mass shootings? If you guys think that is working for you, so much the better for you.
        CHB0403085482 3y ago
        National medical insurance and maple syrup for all.
        modzu 3y ago
        ..this comment saddens me. fyi i am not an american
        neom 3y ago
        [flagged]
gspencley 3y ago
> The perspective of Canada is useful here. Canada is culturally dominated by the US, with a 10x larger population only an hour’s drive from the majority of the Canadian population. Canadians are generally supportive of some level of government protection for the fragile and tiny Canadian cultural industry (music, the press, TV, and film). Like with anything "cultural", this depends on who you ask. I'm Canadian I don't support any form of government interference in speech and "cultural" matters. I don't feel "dominated" by USA culture, and I live in a border city where it is common for people to live on one side and work on the other, where people have family on either side of the border etc. where our traditional media broadcast (tv and radio) are a mix of local and American. This is just my personal opinion, of course... but if our "cultural industries" are so fragile that they can't compete with other artists across the border, then that is their own fault and it indicates that haven't earned the right to my attention. I don't base my choice on what media to absorb on superficial criteria like the country of origin. Especially in the age of the Internet where my choices are literally global. The real cultural difference here, in my opinion, is constitutional. Such media regulations would likely be considered a violation of the First Amendment in the USA. The idea that we have regulatory bodies setting rules around what kinds of information we can be exposed and under what circumstances to is a violation of everything that I believe in and I will never vote for any politician that favours this sort of government overreach. So while you're not necessarily wrong in your generalization about the "perspective of Canada" (depending on which Canadians you speak of), as an individual Canadian I say "speak for yourself."
- nfoz 3y ago
  > I don't base my choice on what media to absorb on superficial criteria like the country of origin Other countries, including the USA, advertise and hype their own content. Your preferences are deeply influenced by the country of origin, because advertising works.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > Other countries, including the USA, advertise and hype their own content. Your preferences are deeply influenced by the country of origin, because advertising works This bill isn't blocking American advertising in Canada. It's just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
donmcronald 3y ago
> media and telecom industry is concentrated in the hands of three wealthy families > monopoly-preserving protectionist measures That’s exactly what it is. They don’t like it that others can bypass their influence and become successful without them, so they lobby the government to legislate them back into a rent seeking position.
NoRelToEmber 3y ago
> Meanwhile, Canada’s media and telecom industry is concentrated in the hands of three wealthy families. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Canadian media landscape, could you please name these families?
- rdlw 3y ago
  Rogers is owned by the Rogers family. I don't actually know if there are two other families, but gp comment is clearly about Rogers, Bell, and Telus, all of which lower their rates so that other companies can't compete, and then raise rates after everyone else is either out of business or bought up. Affectionately known as Robellus, since there isn't much difference between them.
- ttul 3y ago
  Rogers is owned by the Rogers. Obviously they also now own Shaw, which is a disgrace of failed competition regulation. Corus Entertainment is owned by the Shaws (along with Shaw Cable, which is now Rogers). They run YTV, HGTV, TÉLÉTOON, etc… Québecor Media is majority owned by Pierre Péladeau. They operate Videotron, Freedom Mobile, and others.
Waterluvian 3y ago
I’ve never known a Canadian to feel bothered by this. There’s a million of us in America. We are very disproportionately represented in American media, especially comedy.
- ttul 3y ago
  John Candy RIP

by ttul 3y ago

pxue 3y ago

Accurately assessed. Marketed as "protecting Canadian culture". In reality it's oligarchs lobbying to keep the status quo and their margins fat.

neom 3y ago

Canada also already has pretty strict internal content regulations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_content https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_content It's part of the reason why so many artists come out of Canada. Inorder to satisfy the content regulations the government heavily subsidized the arts.

908B64B197 3y ago
The most interesting thing is what's defined as "Canadian Content". Most of what Celine Dion produced in her career doesn't fit the government approved list of cultural content, so is considered foreign music. Celine Dion, probably Canada's most recognizable voice and signer, signing in French, a language almost exclusively spoken in Canada on the North American continent, isn't considered Canadian culture. But some recordings from Elvis do count because he happened to record them on Canadian soil. [0] [0] https://nationalpost.com/news/extremely-canadian-media-that-ottawa-doesnt-consider-cancon https://nationalpost.com/news/extremely-canadian-media-that-...
- neom 3y ago
  Makes sense, if you pick up and make a career for yourself using American resources you shouldn't be cancon, same with startups, can't get amazing startup Canadian capgains if you start Canadian and later basically become an American company. JB, Celine, Brian Adam's etc arguably started because Canada is such a hospitable environment to artists, if they pick up and basically come American... Why should we classify them as Canadian artists? Don't think any of them even live in Canada anymore, can't say I think they do much for the industry. Matt Dusk, CRJ, lightfoot etc keep it real.
  - modzu 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - gerbilly 3y ago
      > the only difference between a canadian and an american is a line on a map Kindly keep this kind of ignorant viewpoint to yourself. There are a lot of differences, and if you can't or won't see them that not our problem. As a Canadian, I don't want your two party political structure (soon to be one maybe?) and your supreme court of mostly old clerics making decisions based on their religious views in my country thanks. Or shall we talk about your daily mass shootings? If you guys think that is working for you, so much the better for you.
      - CHB0403085482 3y ago
        National medical insurance and maple syrup for all.
      - modzu 3y ago
        ..this comment saddens me. fyi i am not an american
        neom 3y ago
        [flagged]

gspencley 3y ago

> The perspective of Canada is useful here. Canada is culturally dominated by the US, with a 10x larger population only an hour’s drive from the majority of the Canadian population. Canadians are generally supportive of some level of government protection for the fragile and tiny Canadian cultural industry (music, the press, TV, and film). Like with anything "cultural", this depends on who you ask. I'm Canadian I don't support any form of government interference in speech and "cultural" matters. I don't feel "dominated" by USA culture, and I live in a border city where it is common for people to live on one side and work on the other, where people have family on either side of the border etc. where our traditional media broadcast (tv and radio) are a mix of local and American. This is just my personal opinion, of course... but if our "cultural industries" are so fragile that they can't compete with other artists across the border, then that is their own fault and it indicates that haven't earned the right to my attention. I don't base my choice on what media to absorb on superficial criteria like the country of origin. Especially in the age of the Internet where my choices are literally global. The real cultural difference here, in my opinion, is constitutional. Such media regulations would likely be considered a violation of the First Amendment in the USA. The idea that we have regulatory bodies setting rules around what kinds of information we can be exposed and under what circumstances to is a violation of everything that I believe in and I will never vote for any politician that favours this sort of government overreach. So while you're not necessarily wrong in your generalization about the "perspective of Canada" (depending on which Canadians you speak of), as an individual Canadian I say "speak for yourself."

nfoz 3y ago
> I don't base my choice on what media to absorb on superficial criteria like the country of origin Other countries, including the USA, advertise and hype their own content. Your preferences are deeply influenced by the country of origin, because advertising works.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > Other countries, including the USA, advertise and hype their own content. Your preferences are deeply influenced by the country of origin, because advertising works This bill isn't blocking American advertising in Canada. It's just robbing Peter to pay Paul.

donmcronald 3y ago

> media and telecom industry is concentrated in the hands of three wealthy families > monopoly-preserving protectionist measures That’s exactly what it is. They don’t like it that others can bypass their influence and become successful without them, so they lobby the government to legislate them back into a rent seeking position.

NoRelToEmber 3y ago

> Meanwhile, Canada’s media and telecom industry is concentrated in the hands of three wealthy families. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the Canadian media landscape, could you please name these families?

rdlw 3y ago
Rogers is owned by the Rogers family. I don't actually know if there are two other families, but gp comment is clearly about Rogers, Bell, and Telus, all of which lower their rates so that other companies can't compete, and then raise rates after everyone else is either out of business or bought up. Affectionately known as Robellus, since there isn't much difference between them.
ttul 3y ago
Rogers is owned by the Rogers. Obviously they also now own Shaw, which is a disgrace of failed competition regulation. Corus Entertainment is owned by the Shaws (along with Shaw Cable, which is now Rogers). They run YTV, HGTV, TÉLÉTOON, etc… Québecor Media is majority owned by Pierre Péladeau. They operate Videotron, Freedom Mobile, and others.

Waterluvian 3y ago

I’ve never known a Canadian to feel bothered by this. There’s a million of us in America. We are very disproportionately represented in American media, especially comedy.

ttul 3y ago
John Candy RIP