Throne Speech mystery won’t be revealed for days: Heritage
Canadian Heritage officials are staying mum on a statement in the Sept. 30 Speech from the Throne indicating some kind of merger between two of Canada’s chief cultural agencies. The speech reads: "The government will ensure that as Canadians take charge of their future, they will have access to their history by creating a new institution that brings together the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada, providing new tools to reach Canadians, young and old." The two bodies have been among the main recipients of digitization funding under the Canadian Culture Online Program. Heritage officials won’t comment, though, on what the speech meant, saying only that details will be released in the coming days.
The speech also held a few goodies for new media industry observers. The government has promised to "revise Canadian copyright rules to ensure that Canada has a progressive regime that supports increased investment in knowledge and cultural works," a process already underway through several consultations and a section 92 review of the Copyright Act. Ottawa has also promised new funding for research and innovation. The full speech is available at http://canada.gc.ca/cgi-bin/redirect.pl?http://www.sft-ddt.gc.ca/sft.htm.

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