CBC president likens Netflix to colonialism

OTTAWA — CBC/Radio-Canada’s president Catherine Tait compared Netflix Inc.’s worldwide presence to the damage done by European colonialism, comments she made at a high-profile industry event Thursday where representatives from every sector of Canadian broadcasting outflanked the global streaming giant with calls for it to be regulated. “I was thinking about the British Empire, and how if you were there and you were the viceroy of India, you would feel that you were doing only good for the people of India. Or similarly, if you were in French Africa, you would think, ‘I’m educating them, I’m bringing their resources to the world, and I am helping them,” Tait said. She was speaking at a panel discussion in Ottawa, responding to a comment from Stéphane Cardin, Netflix’s new director of public policy for Canada. Cardin had told the audience the company was committed to Canada and not here to diminish or harm the existing system. “There was a time when cultural imperialism was absolutely accepted. And if you were a history student, you would be proud of the contribution that these great empires gave. I would say we are at the beginning of a new empire,” Tait said. “Fast-forward to what happens after imperialism and the damage that can do to local communities. So all I can say is let us be mindful of how it is we as Canadians respond to global companies coming into our country.” Tait’s metaphor came at the end of an hour-long panel discussion on the first day of the Prime Time conference in Ottawa, during which both she and Mike Cosentino, president of content and programming at BCE Inc.’s media division, argued Canadian broadcasters are able to make Canadian content in a way foreign competitors can’t. “At the end of the day, we are the cultural champion of our country,” Cosentino said. “Ultimately, we’re the voice of a nation.” Tait said the Canadian broadcasters “get up every morning and we think, I know at our shop we think about ‘how do we serve Canadians. How do we tell their stories’.” “This is our unique position,” she added. “And no-one else from outside of Canada will have that instinct.” Cardin responded that while he agreed to a certain extent, what makes a story Canadian is the “authorial voice.” He gave the example of a new movie Netflix commissioned from Quebec director Patrice Laliberté, who will be writing and directing the film, which will be shot in the province with an entirely Quebec cast. “The mere fact we are financing it makes it such that it doesn’t count as Canadian content so to us there is a bit of incoherence,” Cardin said. He also pointed out that Netflix has now picked up the long-running show Trailer Park Boys. “Does that make it such that because of that simple fact, Trailer Park Boys is no longer a Canadian show?” Cardin also said Netflix brings benefits to a highly-concentrated Canadian broadcasting industry, which producers have long complained means there are very few doors they can knock on to pitch projects. “I think we are providing, actually, opportunities to creators,” he said. “We’re offering new options -- not just Netflix, but other online services -- new opportunities to creators and producers that just weren’t there before.” He also said the expert panel leading the review of Canada’s communications laws shouldn’t heed a call by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) -- which organizes the Prime Time conference -- to fast-track a review of whether to regulate over-the-top platforms. “We certainly think that is fraught with some risks… and that the process needs to be played out in its entirety,” Cardin said. Janet Yale, who is heading the panel in charge of the review and was moderating the panel discussion, responded that she has “no control” over the timeline of the process. Corus Entertainment Inc. Doug Murphy argued that on any given night, Netflix generates “more audience at prime time than CTV or Global. “I would call that a broadcaster.” CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin added he didn’t think any of the points Cardin made during the discussion “would be a reason not to make a contribution to the .” Bell’s Cosentino argued there is a need for a level playing field between Canadian companies who are “living in a world of regulation” while foreign services are competing for the same viewers but face no regulation. Cardin pointed out Bell is calling for foreign OTT players to be required to contribute 20 per cent of Canadian revenues to the CMF -- in contrast to the five per cent Canadian content contributions broadcast distribution undertakings currently have to make. “Which, to us, is entirely unreasonable,” he said. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Kyle Duggan at kduggan@thewirereport.ca

CBC president likens Netflix to colonialism

Broadcast | January 31, 2019

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CBC president likens Netflix to colonialism

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