Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 4th, 2010

[Alain Beaudoin]

I don't have any opinion whatsoever. I don't consider myself an expert.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Okay, fair enough.

I want to get the opinions of the Heritage officials here today on the current financial commitments with the CMF, if you could point to some of the successes we've had, what you're able to do with that funding, and what the potential is.

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

As I mentioned in my opening remarks, back in March 2009, the minister announced a replacement of the old Canada Television Fund and the old Canada New Media Fund, to create the new Canada Media Fund, and it was a merger of some of the moneys we had there. The federal government injects $134 million into that fund, but it's a partnership with broadcast distribution undertakings, cable and satellite companies. So we now have over $350 million being invested in digital content.

The first priority of the government at that time was to make sure the governance was right. The previous board of the Canadian Television Fund...the Auditor General had raised concerns about its ability to properly manage public moneys, because of potential for conflicts of interest. So we have now a smaller and more streamlined, independent board, but more importantly we almost nudged the industry along, because the fund is in two big broad pools of money. The convergent stream, unlike the old television fund, actually requires television producers, if they want to produce a television program, to also produce something on another platform. That's been very successful to get television producers to think of the multi-platform world.

Similarly, there's an experimental stream, and this one is wide open. It's very much an innovation stream. It's not just the producers who can apply for it, but even somebody who has a new application can apply to this stream. It's a competitive stream, and it's really for the best ideas. The thinking was that once you innovate in this realm with the experimental stream, great ideas will then become the next generation for the convergent stream. That's very much what is happening. It's relatively new; we will be evaluating it over the coming years, but the experimental stream is already oversubscribed by really, really good ideas. So it seems to be working out there.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

One thing I've asked before as we've looked at digital media is what your thoughts are on its effect for small towns, for communities. As the traditional forms of media grapple with the transitions into digital media, are any of these experimental ideas looking at that angle, sort of localization of media opportunities?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

The overheads are much less when you're doing some of these innovative things. Although creative hubs and innovative hubs have developed in Canada, the reality is that a lot of these creators can create for these platforms away from major centres. So it actually has spread things out across the country in a positive way.

So can I tell you today exactly where those projects are occurring? I can't, but it's something we will be looking at as we evaluate the outcomes of the CMF.

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

In terms of the stakeholders who have been consulted with the CMF, do you notice you're getting those primarily interested in national affairs, or are you getting those of all forms and shapes—

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

It's been a very broad scope. We've incorporated in the contribution agreement that the media fund board—it's an independent board—has to constantly be consulting folks out there. The community is very engaged. It's all over the country, from major cities to the north. They've been all over, so they are very much engaged in the process. We're very hopeful that it speaks to all kinds. And it's not just the traditional players; new players have access to it. So we've gone beyond the traditional players that may not have been able to access the old Canada media fund, because it's not limited to independent producers anymore.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Thank you, Monsieur Blais. Merci, Monsieur Brown.

Monsieur Rodriguez.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I'm going to continue talking about the Canada Media Fund. How long will the government's financial commitment continue?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

Of the $134 million, $34 million is in the department's A base and $100 million has been renewed in the 2009 budget as part of Canada's Economic Action Plan. That amount will have to be renewed before April 1, 2011.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

There's no financial commitment after March 31.

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

There isn't any yet.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I was wondering why there can't be a commitment of more than one year for such an important issue.

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

In Budget 2009, the Minister of Finance made a two-year commitment. Sometimes programs are renewed for one year, two years or five years.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

So every year, the Media Fund does not know what it will have the following year. It only knows that a budget has been adopted for a single year.

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

In this case, it was a two-year commitment.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, it was a two-year commitment.

The fund managers don't exactly know what they will have after March 31. It may be the same amount; it may be—

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

I can tell you that, since 1996, the former Canadian Television Fund and the new Media Fund have had one-year or two-year renewals. That's not new. Some way has always been found to renew it year over year.

I suppose a decision will be made in the coming months and may be announced in the next federal budget.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

That seems peculiar to me. I'm referring to all those past years. Why doesn't such an important institution have multi-year funding?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

I believe that decisions are being made for the shorter term as a result of the prudent management of Canada's public finances.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yeah!

In Bill C-32, with regard to the exemption which is extended to education, where it refers to fair dealing, what does the word "fair" mean?

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

You're putting the question to a lawyer who also has a master's degree in copyright.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

So I'm asking the right person.

[Jean-Pierre Blais]

Yes, except that I'm going to simplify matters and I'm going to abuse the concept.

This is a concept in Canada for which there is a lot of case law. The key decision is really the Supreme Court judgment in Law Society of Upper Canada v. CCH Canadian Ltd., which defines what fair dealing is.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

So, in your opinion, when we talk about fair dealing in education, we know exactly what we're talking about?

I've met a lot of people across the country and they have no idea what it is.