Heritage committee recommends opening up CMF to digital media

OTTAWA—The House of Commons heritage committee issued a report on digital media Thursday that called for increased access to the Canada Media Fund (CMF) for digital media projects. “What we’ve heard again and again is to open up the Canada Media Fund so that new digital forms of culture can be accessed without having to tie it to a traditional broadcaster,” NDP MP and digital affairs critic Charlie Angus, a member of the committee, said at a news conference on Parliament Hill Thursday. The heritage committee report results from hearings since 2009 and the launch of an official study in April 2010. It heard from 56 groups and individuals and issued an interim report last June. The report recommended that the CMF examine ways to give digital media producers access to more funding without requiring production agreements with Canadian broadcasters. Heritage Minister James Moore has applauded the new CMF—a revamped fund that combined the former Canadian Television Fund and Canada New Media Fund—for its flexibility to fund gaming, interactive and digital media content. The fund also took steps in its 2011-2012 program guidelines to encourage more digital media production, but much of its digital media funding must be tied to traditional broadcasting productions. The heritage committee is asking the CMF to look at further changes. Speaking at the press conference, Angus said it is significant that all-party support has been reached for recommendations such as a broadband strategy and changes to the CMF. The committee also recommended that the federal government “increase funding to the Canada Media Fund.” The CMF’s budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year is $350 million, with a total government contribution of $134 million. The fund’s annual budgetary appropriation expires April 1, 2011. Moore said last fall that he is in regular contact with CMF CEO Valerie Creighton to talk about the fund and its evolution. Among other recommendations, the report said Telefilm Canada should revise its co-production treaties so that interactive content and interactive platforms are covered. Conservative MP Michael Chong, chair of the heritage committee, said at the news conference Thursday that the challenges for Canada’s digital media sector range from ensuring digital skills and literacy to providing Canadian content online. “The report proposes 26 recommendations. The media environment is changing rapidly, and in fact, when we began studying it in 2009, neither Netflix nor the iPad existed ,” Chong said. The committee also recommended that the federal government: create a tax credit for digital media production; support national digitization policies to encourage the digital preservation of government records, library repositories and Canada’s documentary heritage; extend its Broadband Canada program to connect rural Canadians; work with the provinces to encourage digital literacy programs; examine the proposal of the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) to establish community-operated multimedia centres; ratify the Internet treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); review its grants and contributions for digital media companies to speed up the process and better encourage innovation; reinvest funds from the next Industry Canada spectrum auction into the government’s national digital economy strategy; proceed as “quickly as possible” with the national digital strategy; examine ways to streamline the processes for permits and visas for foreign workers in the digital media sector; ensure that trade agreements do not include a right to sue regulatory agencies; and ensure that the Canadian broadcasting sector remains Canadian-owned. The report called on the Conservative government for an official response. Under the House of Commons rules a response is due within 120 days. The Bloc Québécois attached a supplementary brief to the report that said the recommendations are sound but “piecemeal and presented haphazardly.” The party said there is no logic to the presentation of the recommendations, which should have been separated into sections on creators, users, and broadcasters. The party said the key recommendation of the report should have been to encourage the government to proceed as quickly as possible with its national digital strategy, which the government previously delayed but is now expected to release this spring. The Bloc also said the report deals insufficiently with copyright. “wo of the report’s recommendations are on copyright, and the other recommendations are excessively vague,” the Bloc Québécois wrote. The party issued a separate set of recommendations to the legislative committee on Bill C-32, the Conservative government’s omnibus copyright reform legislation. sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

Heritage committee recommends opening up CMF to digital media

Broadcast | February 17, 2011

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