Opinion | Is Canada disappearing in a tidal wave of American programming?

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Bill C-11 could be a very good bill supporting our industry. But there must be amendments that would eliminate the two-tiered system. Members of the Senate, why so timid? Opinion by Keith Ross Leckie

In Toronto, pundits and politicians brag about our vibrant film and television industry with film shoots around every corner. But they are all American productions with American scripts set in American towns, using American directors and lead cast and telling American stories.

Even in Britain film and television has substantial quotas and funding to insure American programming won’t dominate them. They tax the U.S. product and invest the funds into their own. Britain’s film and television industry tells its stories, supports its culture and history and values, and defines them. We do not. Canada is currently a branch plant of America.

Because of the weak funding to our film and television in the last 20 years, Canadian producers need to sell their shows to the U.S. to get them financed. Over the years I have pitched two dozen Canadian projects to NBC, CBS and Disney and they all say the same thing; can the story be set in the United States? “Could we put that story in the USA? How about Minnesota or upstate New York? Our audiences just don’t get Canada. They would be confused.

Never has there been a time more important than now for Canada to define and know herself. Our American cousins at this time in history are a polarized, angry country dominated by racism, sexism, bigotry, ultra-right Christians and alternative truths. Canadians have always been a very different people than Americans. We made that choice in the War of 1812. We are the North American alternative. We are progressive, liberal, global and diplomatic. And polite. The Americans make war.

 

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The senate is timid because the bill violates the charter and censors free speech

Sidebar comment to Mr. Leckie: The Atlas of Imagined Places firmly places Schitt's Creek in Ontario. No matter what we saw or didn't see in the show. And the producers stuck by Ontario as the setting.

No, they won't. Not unless they see a profit from it. Somehow. That said, we do need to keep making room for our own stories, told on our own terms. Whether C-11 improves the existing toolkit to that end...?

Canadian media likes to act like they are the little guy. Every American I know watches Letterkenny. Schitts Creek cleaned up at the Emmys. Make quality shows and people will watch it. B instead we get Corner Gas cartoons

C-11 is a bill to secure taxpayer funding for garbage content. And to ensure that Canada never has a culture that's not dictated by vacuous state bureaucrats.

Back in the day just about all TV programming was American, I'm still Canadian , not only that, but in the S.ern end of NS we listened to nothing but American radio stations, that's all there was that had content that we wanted to listen to as teens, I'm still Canadian

Opinion: If the Toronto star thinks C-11 is good, the rest of us should be pretty concerned. We are not children and do not censorship. TrudeauCorruption TrudeauDictatorship trudeauisadictator

Bill C11 is suppression of free speech. End of story.

It's a bill Suppressing free speech against the government..... China would be proud

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