Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Members of the committee, my name is Alain Pineau. I am National Director of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, the oldest and biggest umbrella organization in the culture, arts and heritage sector in Canada.
The CCA's mandate is to foster informed debate on all federal policy and regulatory issues that concern this broad sector in one way or another. We are pleased to see that the debate on the need to develop a national digital strategy is at last being conducted in the public arena. We are concerned that it is focusing on not only economic, but also social and cultural issues as well.
The current debate too often focuses on infrastructure and its financing, and not enough on what is being conveyed by the new platforms, or on the interests of those who develop cultural and other content. We are therefore delighted that you, first, and the government, this week, have expanded the conversation and that you are looking into these fundamental aspects of the debate.
The advent of digital technologies has changed the way in which artists produce and the relationship that institutions have with their public. Interactivity is overturning business models and changing the ways in which cultural products are consumed.
The arts and culture sector wholeheartedly embraces the new possibilities created by digital technologies. Many individual artists have adopted them to produce performance arts and to otherwise meld technology with traditional artistic tools.
Beyond the use of digital technology in arts creation lies the impact of broadband, Internet, and wireless on its promotion and distribution. Individual artists, as well as galleries and museums, are able to digitally demonstrate the artists' creations. Some of the more innovative artists and institutions are reaching a far greater audience faster and more efficiently than before. The Internet offers new ways to engage the audience and to promote and process orders.
By the way, the democratization of production tools also raises interesting and fundamental questions about the professional status of artists and journalists. It is now relatively easier to produce a work of art and to make it accessible. Media outlets rely more and more on images and material provided by ordinary citizens, who report with mobile multi-tasking devices.
The upside of these new developments is that they encourage creation and participation. The downside is that they can debase the value of trained professionals' work, lead to the acceptance of lower standards, and, not to mention, threaten the livelihood of creators.
As many before us have said, the development of a Canadian digital strategy must be based on a new Copyright Act. There is an urgent need to acknowledge the importance of the intellectual property of those who develop content and to create a digital environment that encourages creation, distribution and protection of works. Our artists want to share their creations on the broadest possible platforms, but they must be able to do so in the assurance that they will receive fair compensation for their work, whether it be for online distribution or for transfer to other media instruments.
In this matter, we are in favour of extending the current private copy system. This isn't a tax, but rather a way as effective as possible to enable all Canadians to acquire the right to adopt the device of their choice to access legitimately acquired cultural products, while ensuring that the artist is compensated for his or her work. This is an important complementary measure to support the creation of content that, however, cannot replace the fundamental need for protection for the rights of creators through an update of the act.
Another aspect of the new reality is the fact that a number of users can take an artist's work and recreate new works. Once the work has entered the digital universe, it is possible to take it and make what's called a mash-up. It's important that, in developing a national digital strategy, the government include an innovative policy protecting copyright without discouraging the creativity that their works can in turn generate.
Let's now talk about training.
National Film Board commissioner Tom Perlmutter raised this issue very eloquently with you the other day, as part of his excellent call to action with regard to a national digital strategy. Artists and art administrators are more obligated to learn a diverse set of skills in order to compete on an open market. Those who have digital marketing skills and social media savvy will be able to promote, present, and professionalize their artistic practice. More attention must therefore be given to training young artists and creators, not only in digital skills but also in the basics of entrepreneurship.
A knowledge economy is a resource that will never run dry. Given the retiring cadre of professionals, we must invest in knowledge transfer programs, mentorships, and apprenticeships in cultural industries and in the arts.
Expanding digital literacy within the Canadian population is also an important part of a national digital strategy. This is why the CCA supports the creation of multimedia community centres, as proposed by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations.
I welcome the happenstance that we're together. It was not planned--on our side, anyway.
We view this as one of the pillars on which to build a truly democratic national digital strategy, and we urge you to include it in your report.
Canadians have a right to their culture, a fact recognized by years of public policy through government support of international agreements under the United Nations and UNESCO. Over the past 50 years, our governments have developed various support mechanisms to ensure Canadian cultural products and services are made available to Canadians and to the world at large.
In the new digital environment, such policies are more important than ever. The government must use all the tools at its disposal, whether through direct financial support, regulation, or tax incentives.
As mentioned by ACTRA and CFTPA in their presentations, it's important to expand and adapt previous policies to new realities. This is why we at the CCA continue to support increasing public investments in the creation of Canadian works, whether through existing institutions like the CBC, Telefilm, the National Film Board, the Canada Council, or through new instruments like the Canadian media fund. This is also why, for several years now, we've advocated extending the contribution regime in place for over-the-air broadcasters, cable and satellite operators, to the new distribution platforms like the Internet and wireless.
Finally, we insist that the government maintain in all trade negotiations its official position that cultural goods and services are not like other goods and services and must be kept off the table, lest our federal and provincial governments lose their capacity to adopt or modify the cultural policies that have led to the development of our arts and culture sector.
This leads me to my last point, which is foreign ownership.
For the past several decades, the operating principle in Canadian cultural policy has been that Canadian ownership and effective control of our cultural industries will ensure that more Canadian content is made available to Canadians. It's been deemed easier to regulate Canadian-owned companies than foreign-owned ones. Moreover, Canadians are more likely than non-Canadians to tell our own stories and to present our own views to the world based on our own values.
The absence of appropriate regulation in the movie industry is the best illustration of the negative impacts of foreign ownership and control of a cultural industry. Film distribution policy does not distinguish the distribution rights for the Canadian market from North American rights, for most of the largest distributors. As a consequence, foreign film distributors maintain a lock on the majority of the film screen distribution activity in Canada. Foreign films, namely U.S. movies, occupy over 98% of screen time in English Canada, while the situation is somewhat better in Quebec cinemas.
There is debate about the wisdom of opening up foreign investment and having eventual foreign control in telecommunications. The justification is that by bringing in more competition, we will achieve lower prices for consumers. It's difficult to be against this objective, but there are serious reasons to fear the consequences of the current backdoor approach to changing long-standing cultural policies.
The 2008 competition panel report recommended a liberalization of telecommunications and broadcasting investment restrictions “following a review of broadcasting and cultural policies including foreign investment”.
With due respect, we do not think that a handful of committee hearings here and at the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, where witnesses are limited to 10-minute presentations and questioning to five minutes, constitute an adequate review of broadcasting and cultural policies.
The chair of the CRTC recently stated before the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology that:
any liberalized foreign ownership rules for telecom should give due consideration to the social and cultural objectives of the Broadcasting Act.... it is widely agreed that, given its economic importance
—and here I would add, its strategic and cultural importance—
control of the communications sector should remain in Canadian hands.
Foreign trade agreements may contribute to restricting Canada's capacity to adopt cultural policies. NAFTA's chapter 11 provides foreign investors with a right to sue the Canadian government and to seek compensation for foreign actions, including those of regulatory agencies like the CRTC, if they believe the decisions violate their rights under NAFTA. The CCA is very concerned with the fact that the Canadian government has tabled such a dispute resolution mechanism in the current comprehensive negotiations with the European Union.
Why are we concerned? First, in relation to NAFTA, the CCA would point out that the cultural exemption is limited in scope to the cultural industries that existed at the time NAFTA was created. Importantly, this does not include the new media sector, such as interactive television, computer games, etc.
Second, chapter 11 rights could potentially come into play in two ways in this matter. If the rules in telecommunications are changed, a foreign company investing in a Canadian cable company or broadcaster could structure a deal in a way that mirrors the new telecom's rules. If the CRTC were to prevent them from proceeding, they could launch a chapter 11 challenge on the basis that they have been treated unfairly in relation to a direct competitor operating in the same marketplace
Finally, if foreign companies are permitted entry, or force entry, into Canada's broadcasting system, existing rules and regulations relating to the production and distribution of Canadian content productions may be sustainable, since the foreign company will be entering a market where those rules exist. However, if the CRTC or the government were to try to update the rules to reflect a new environment, the foreign company might have a cause for action under chapter 11.
These are the reasons we're concerned about the link with foreign trade negotiations.
Thank you for your attention, and I'll now answer any questions you have.