Canadian Streaming Content Becomes a US Trade Issue (www.cbc.ca)
- Reference: 0185154598
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/08/25/1857205/canadian-streaming-content-becomes-a-us-trade-issue
- Source link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/canadian-content-streaming-trade-9.7318798
> Ottawa has long required broadcasters to promote and support Canadian content (Cancon), all the way back to song quotas for AM radio stations. In 1991, the government brought in the [4]Broadcasting Act . The law states that "the Canadian broadcasting system shall be effectively owned and controlled by Canadians" and that the Canadian broadcasting system should "serve to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural, political, social and economic fabric of Canada." But decades later, the rising popularity in Canada of streaming platforms such as Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime and Spotify raised questions about Cancon and broadcasting rules. Video and audio streaming services were not, for example, required to support and promote Cancon, but their TV and radio counterparts were.
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> Looking to address the imbalance, the former Trudeau government brought forward a bill in 2022 to update the Broadcasting Act, called the Online Streaming Act. "Canadian broadcasters have invested in and introduced us to the incredible Canadian programs that so many of us love. We are updating our laws so online streamers have to contribute in a similar and equitable way," a 2022 government [5]news release said . The legislation was controversial from the start, with the government and supporters saying it was a necessary evolution of Canada's media laws in the digital age, while opponents expressed concerns that it was overreach and an attempt to regulate the internet.
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> American streamers and digital media companies opposed the legislation fiercely. The bill passed with amendments and became law in April 2023, but the government delegated much of its interpretation -- including how much money streamers would have to contribute to Cancon -- to Canada's broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). But getting streaming companies to pay up has been a long and confusing saga. [...].
As for why the U.S. government is so invested in the issue? Mariane Bourcheix-Laporte, a postdoctoral fellow in the communication studies and media arts department at McMaster University in Hamilton, said it could be about power.
"The Americans have had, since after World War II, a very strong cultural policy of pushing out American content into the world," Bourcheix-Laporte, who has worked with the CRTC, said. "This has been a strategy -- a soft-power strategy -- for the American government, in parallel to their military strategies and political alliances strategies."
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/canadian-content-streaming-trade-9.7318798
[2] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-ottawa-rejected-drop-cancon-us-demand-streaming-services/
[3] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-full-remarks-us-trade-talks-suspended-9.7317033
[4] https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/b-9.01/FullText.html
[5] https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2022/02/government-of-canada-introduces-legislation-to-support-the-next-generation-of-canadian-artists-and-creators.html
"Trade issue" my ass (Score:1)
Donald Trump negotiated and signed CUSMA in 2018, calling it [1]the most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country [archives.gov].
Then he unilaterally breaks the deal, applies illegal tariffs on Canadian goods (by the way, tariffs are consumption taxes on American consumers, in case you didn't realize that) and then tries strong-arming Canada into giving up its sovereignty.
No wonder our negotiators walked away. Fuck that shit. At this point, it's a trade war, and Canada's not going
[1] https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/
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Move to purple states and affect the vote? I dunno.
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Both places with healthcare that won't bankrupt you.
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> How can we (blue state Americans) help you screw over the MAGAts?
One thought from this proud Canadian is that you might join us in our "No CUSMA no Boozema" boycotts. Don't buy Kentucky bourbon or California wine, and make it clear why you're not doing so. The Kentucky bourbon boycott probably has more bang for the buck, with the bonus that the pocketbooks pinched will belong primarily to MAGAts.
The other possibility - if you dare risk crossing your own border - is to bring your tourist dollars here. The New England states - along with places such as Bellingham in Washin
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> (Worth noting that news media in those areas STILL cling to the fiction that the decline is because of the exchange rate. As if!)
I've been watching a lot of Canadian content creators talking politics, and this is one of those "irritants" that keep coming up - disproved by the fact that the exchange rate is basically the same as in past decades, and Canadians are actually travelling more , to farther (ie. more expensive costs) destinations, so the exchange rate argument that "going to the U.S. costs them too much" is absolutely bogus and just a scapegoat.
Wrong question being asked. (Score:2)
> How can we (blue state Americans) help you screw over the MAGAts?
A better question would be "How can we, all Americans , help [] screw over the MAGAts?"
Because, you see, it's not up to others around the world as you implied (by the "help you" part) to fix up the mess you Americans created for yourselves (and the rest of the world that didn't get a say in any of it), either through direct support of the Orange Mussolini, or through your own inactions to prevent it from attaining office.... again , and letting happen all the shit it's inflicted to your country and the world.
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> For sure, Canada will feel a ton of economic pain
When dealing with trump it is was always going to be a lose-lose situation. If you had accepted the USA conditions you would lose more in the long term so I think Canada has done the right thing. Canada has earned the worlds respect for taking proactive steps to protect itself by diversifying its trade etc. I am keen for our country to join in a free trade agreement with Canada given our common values and attitudes.
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> Then he unilaterally breaks the deal, applies illegal tariffs on Canadian goods
That's the real problem. The US can't sign any binding agreements. Even if their congress ratifies them, which is a big if, they have enough emergency executive powers that any random president can just decide they'd rather not abide by them.
Even if the demands hadn't been ridiculous, it's insane to sign any kind of agreement that results in lasting changes when the other side can just change their mind any time they want. That g
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> For sure, Canada will feel a ton of economic pain... a lot more than the USA.
Likely, without a doubt some pain; everyone knows it was always going to be painful regardless, but now that pain is going to be under Canada's own terms, instead of the US' terms.
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> Donald Trump negotiated and signed CUSMA in 2018, calling it the most modern, up-to-date, and balanced trade agreement in the history of our country [archives.gov].....Then he unilaterally breaks the deal
Yes, the lack of a deal in the current case is tempered by the fact that any deal with Trump is meaningless anyway, his word is worth less than nothing and agreements with him might as well be written on toilet paper. Rest assured the entire world knows this and couches their expectations appropriately.
Project, much? (Score:2, Troll)
"why (is) the U.S. government is so invested in the issue?"
Claiming it's 'perhaps' about the US wanting power to project US culture...as a way to deflect from Canada ACTUALLY OPENLY AND CLEARLY DOING THAT is propaganda-judo at Iraqi-information-minister level.
Even *asking* the question is hilariously obvious. So Canada is entitled to use its streaming channels to promulgate Brand Canada (and their obligatory Francophone appendix, always...) but the US is quasi imperialist - not for demanding the right to d
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If US streaming companies don't like the Canadian content rules, they are free not to do business here.
Pretty much every country in the world other than the USA has similar cultural protection rules, and the streamers manage to make their business work anyway.
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As an American Netflix user, I fully support it. It helps that Netflix tends to buy out worldwide streaming rights on the shows they produce, so I just have access to content from more places.
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Serious question - How does the Online Streaming Act work in practice for content on demand? When a Canadian tries to binge the latest season of Stranger Things, is NetFlix required to say "nope, go watch this Celine Dion concert first to get our CanCon ratio up"?
I get how it could apply to randomized content like streaming radio, but the very concept seems incompatible with "choice".
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> Serious question - How does the Online Streaming Act work in practice for content on demand? When a Canadian tries to binge the latest season of Stranger Things, is NetFlix required to say "nope, go watch this Celine Dion concert first to get our CanCon ratio up"?
> Nope. If you want to watch Stranger Things on Netflix, you select (or find) Stranger Things and that's it.
> The OSA only requests that streamers prioritize Canadian content so if you're trying to determine if you want to show a film from the NFB (Nat
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> If US streaming companies don't like the Canadian content rules, they are free not to do business here.
Ultimately resulting in less content being accessible to Canadian citizens. Granted, the US pulled a similar sort of fuckery with TikTok, so we're not exactly on the highest of horses when it comes to leading by example. An open global internet was a nice idea while it lasted.
Re: Project, much? (Score:2)
Except the streamers won't pull out because even with cancon rules, their Canadian business is still profitable.
Re: Project, much? (Score:2)
I absolutely despise the Canadian content rules, particularly the implementation of them.
However, that's a Canadian issue and problem, the intent of implementing it isn't to impede foreign investment or business in Canada.
So, foreigners can fuck off about criticizing it; that's Canadas job.
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This is *within Canada*, you dimwitted pillock. The Canadian government doesn't require Netflix to broadcast Canadian content or French-Canadian language *in the US*, but the US government is trying to get Canada to change the rules for *within Canada*.
Canada is not projecting soft power within Canada.
The softest thing round here is whatever you call the mush between your ears. Soft yet pompous. What an absolute bell-end.
Content (Score:2)
> "The Americans have had, since after World War II, a very strong cultural policy of pushing out American content into the world,"
That's what every country does. Al-Jazeera doesn't push content about Brazil. The BBC doesn't push content about Lithuanians. French film companies don't produce movies about Korean ex-pats living in Japan, and Japanese film companies don't produce dramas about winemaking in Bordeaux.
People can watch whatever they like. The "Made in Canada" laws are ridiculous. The CBC wanted SCTV to produce "specifically Canadian" content when it switched to that network, so they cooked up Bob and Doug McKenzie. As if
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You know that Bob and Doug McKenzie were created to both satisfy and mock cancon requirements? They were [1]having a joke at the CBC's expense [ign.com], but the show unexpectedly became a huge pop culture phenomenon in Canada.
[1] https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/02/10/interview-with-dave-thomas-part-1-of-5
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> That's what every country does. Al-Jazeera doesn't push content about Brazil.
Too bad, their ratings would be in the brazilians.
'Cause they're Brazilian? It's a prediction *and* a pun... (sigh) nobody gets me.
(Apologies to [1]Rick Sanchez [youtube.com].)
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O50HdZ2JbJw&t=28s
Whatever. (Score:1)
First it was fentanyl, and it's been downhill ever since. If you assume that everything this administration says is a lie, you will be almost always correct.
Like a lot of Canadians I made my decisions with my wallet rather than my voice. I've cancelled motorcycle trips through the US across two seasons. I cancelled a trip to Louisiana and went to Portugal instead. I avoid US produce when I've never looked at country of origin before.
And now there are new products released by companies I adore that I am fore
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Also. No more trips to or through the USA. I avoid USA products whenever I can. Canceled Amazon, Netflix, Ebay, Meta accounts. Don't use any Microsoft or Apple products. My last tie to US big tech is Google because of my Android phone, but when that one dies, I'm getting either an open Android phone that doesn't require a Google account or a Linux phone. Or even just a dumb phone that can only do SMS and calls, since I don't use my phone for all that much else.
Canadian MAGA exist (Score:2)
They already consume the worst of our content. Let Canada have this one, in practice it does not really alter much for either side.
Don't push Canada content, and no to the french! (Score:4, Informative)
I live in Ontario, Canada.
Canadians are sick and tired of the French being whiney cry babies, who throw hissy fits every time someone even questions their superiority. I don't know if this is the same across Canada, but, in primary school and secondary school, in Ontario, you're forced to take French. Not French as in European French, the kind spoken in France, Canadianized French, which is effectively a dead, and dying language, importantly considering that Canadian French is a dialect. I have no problem with French being optional, in secondary school, but if we want to prepare kids for the real world, teach Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, or Arabic, and leave the Islamic nonsense behind before you comment.
Someone or some people, will bring up the fact that Quebec exists and people with that “dying” Canadianized French should have a right to their language being respected. I don't have an issue with that, but to think it's useful to force that onto all Canadians, when it's overall reach and usefulness is ridiculously small, is just stupid. ~22% (I'll round it to 25%) of Canadians speak French as a first language, and using rough numbers that would be ~10 million Canadians, which equates to 1/8th of 1% of the world population. If forcing kids to learn a language that ~0% of the world uses seems rational, you've lost the point of education.
When it comes to Canadian content, we don't need forced adoption, either your content is or is not worth consuming. If it's not, why force it? If it is, you should naturally reap the rewards. Some Canadian content is spectacular, some of it is crap, and what these pro-Canadian force adoption policies actually cause, is media that wouldn't be given time, due to lack of quality or substance being over-represented, how does help Canadian culture?
We have culture in Canada, a brilliant culture, with a unique English dialect that gets stomped on and thrown out, without consideration. No one care, effectively, when our English dialect is thrown in the trash, but throw the Canadian French dialect in the trash, and holy bleep the CBC will run segments for months. If you've never listened to Canadian radio, you better LOVE, and I mean to a creepy extent The Tragically Hip. A subpar, just okay rock band, with a few bangers, that at best is lukewarm. If you get lucky, some stations will play Rush, but it's only their hits, and it's the same loop of songs, so you better enjoy Tom Sawyer, Spirit of the Radio, and if you're really lucky, Working Man. There all good songs, I like Rush, but come on, they don't really play the Canadian bands, they play the Canadian over market saturate hype songs, that we've all heard a million times. When was the last time you heard 3 Inches of Blood on the radio in Canada? To spite the name, they're just a heavy metal band, and they're awesome, but you'll never hear them on mainstream radio over FM.
The forced Canadian adoption nonsense isn't about premoting Canadian content, based on value, and substance, it's about hand waving, and in many cases selling crap painted gold, and try to force respect for something that doesn't deserve it. I know this is getting long, but Canadian authors, for instance, the amount of marginalized low value works on the market, in classrooms, libraries, e-stores, that just don't have substance has tipped far past reasonable. To be an award winning Canadian author, just don't be white and male, and the CBC will sell you like a pimp with a fresh street walker.
Netflix wins (Score:2)
The recent Netflix is the world leader and streaming is because they are really language agnostic. They did not start up by guessing what type of content different communities might want to see, but just put a lot of stuff up and Iâ(TM)ll see what sticks. Turns out theyâ(TM)re outstanding foreign language programs. In addition, netflix has a drop-down menu for different language choices when watching content that is quite large I think about 15 or 20 and some cases. Instead of having American cont
Assuming JD Vance or Trump wins in 2028 (Score:2)
We here in America will be invading Canada and I'm not joking. Every failing empire does the same thing. You put incompetent corrupt psychopaths in charge and they burn through the treasury. Trump for example has added 25% to the national debt in just 5 and 1/2 years. That's 10 trillion dollars in debt from the king of debt. It would not be a problem except instead of putting adults in charge and raising taxes on the wealthy and doing sound policy to grow our economy we are likely to double down on more cra
Go Doug Ford! (Score:3, Informative)
Ontario Premier Doug Ford doubled down on saying U.S. President Donald Trump could "kiss my ass" [1]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada... [www.cbc.ca]
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-news-conference-canada-us-trade-war-9.7318104
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Ya, he really handled the situation very well, something he's not really known for, but I have to agree with his take!
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We are now in [1]Canadian Bacon [wikipedia.org] territory.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Bacon
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I love that Doug Ford continues the stereotype of the polite Canadian. We all know that what he was thinking was way worse than what he said.
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Just gonna drop this here.
[1]http://www.harkavagrant.com/in... [harkavagrant.com]
[1] http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=250
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> Just gonna drop this here.
> [1]http://www.harkavagrant.com/in... [harkavagrant.com]
Yes, I'd really like to see the "typical Canadian reaction" in this case. Methinks another burning down of the White House would ensue, not this mild version.
[1] http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=250
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That was his late brother.