Anchored by Netflix, Canada has a plan to develop and support the creative industries in Canada. Announced by Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, it will help people compete in the digital age.
The “Creative Canada” road map, which was unveiled by Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly at a business luncheon in the Chateau Laurier, includes pledges to spend $125 million over the next five years to promote Canadian writing, films and other output on the international stage, as well as to contribute more federal money to the Canada Media Fund that finances domestic audiovisual and digital productions.
Here is another view on the road map from the Financial Post:
Notably missing from what was billed as an ambitious policy framework was any funding for news organizations, which have been hit hard as advertisers flock to digital platforms such as Google and Facebook. Despite intense lobbying from the news industry, Joly said the government’s approach “will not be to bail out industry models that are no longer viable.”
Joly did not make major changes despite once describing the system as “broken.” She did announce new money to maintain the existing broadcast system and unveiled a patchwork of policy designed to promote Canadian content. Tougher reforms to quotas and funding mechanisms were left to future reviews of the broadcasting, telecommunications and copyright acts.