Government intervention needed for Canadian culture: Clarkson

Telefilm Canada executive director Wayne Clarkson said during a speech before the Canadian Club late last month that government intervention was crucial to Canada’s cultural industries. Below is an excerpt from his address. …I believe when it comes to Canada’s cultural industries, and especially film and television, government intervention is good. No, I’m wrong about that. Government intervention is not good – it’s absolutely critical. It’s the difference between being Canadian and simply not being American. For well over 75 years, ever since the CBC was founded in 1929, Canada’s governments have been intervening to support and strengthen Canadian culture. Why?Because we’re a very small population in a very large space. So creating the myths that shape and distinguish us from the world’s other tribes, communicating the stories that define our identity, isn’t an easy task. But countries such as Spain and Australia have similar population, and a flourishing cultures, especially in film and television. What’s the difference? In three words…Proximity to America. …If there was no CBC to produce original Canadian drama; if the Canada Council hadn’t been created in 1957 to help Canadian writers, dancers, painters and symphony orchestras and opera companies; if Ottawa hadn’t created the National Film Board in 1939; the CRTC hadn’t regulated (what) radio stations could play, pushing Canadian songs and singers into the foreground; if Telefilm Canada hadn’t been created in 1967 to develop an indigenous film industry; if the provincial governments hadn’t created agencies to help in that never-ending process, then…then what? I absolutely believe there would be no Margaret Atwood, no Karen Kain, no Atom Egoyan, no Ben Heppner, no Barenaked Ladies, no Denys Arcand, no Paul Gross. No Robert Lantos. No Alliance Atlantis. So without the right kind and amount of government support, I believe Canada would be as different from America as…well, as Monaco is from France. After all, culture today is what sets one nation apart from another and gives people their unique identity. …Today, the lines between movies that play in theatres and movies that play on flat screen HDTVs with wraparound sound in the comfort of our homes are completely blurred. So while the second half of our organization’s name is rooted in film, the first part is rooted in the most powerful form of communication developed by humankind. In fact, so enticing and satisfying is television that, despite the Internet, despite countless other things to do, despite no NHL hockey, Canadians continue to spend an average of 24 hours a week with the flickering blue screen. It makes sense then, that another of the keys to building the new economic landscape is strengthening Canadian television, especially English-Canadian drama. …Yes, we have wonderful shows, like Da Vinci’s Inquest, The Eleventh Hour and This is Wonderland. But each year, there are fewer and fewer of them, which makes reaching larger audiences an even bigger challenge. But we all know that the more specific you are, the more universal you are. And that’s why well-produced Canadian drama – shows by and about Canadians – whether they live in a trailer park in Dartmouth, work in a courthouse in downtown Toronto, or a general store in Dog River, Saskatchewan, will, given half a chance, find an audience, not only in Canada, but beyond our borders as well. So in both television and film, it’s tempting to conclude that the country has confidence, the government has commitment and the industry has the critical mass to shift into and reach the potential so many people including many from this podium, have predicted for Canadian culture. What is clear after 40 years of federal government support for Canada’s film and television industries is that we have almost reached a tipping point. All of those sustained investments have created a multi-billion industry where none existed before.…So let’s make Canadian cinema and television our highest priority.

Government intervention needed for Canadian culture: Clarkson

Broadcast | April 8, 2005

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