First post in a long time, some policy discussion!

I haven't posted in forever, so I decided to break out of the doldrums of summer by posting a policy I'm considering submitting for OYL Summer Fling on reforming Canadian Content regulations. Here it is:

Whereas - Canadian music deserves to be supported and funded for both economic and cultural reasons,

Whereas- Canadians are accessing more and more content online, bypassing the traditional models of Canadian Content regulation and promotion, [1]

Whereas- Many Canadian bands and performers have recently had more success from establishing popularity outside of Canada, or from online promotion,

Whereas- Canadians access Canadian Content on websites like Youtube at as high a rate as non-Canadian content, without any regulatory regime in place [2]

Whereas- Modern technology and the nature of cultural consumption by Canadian consumers has increasingly made an anachronism of Canadian content regulations for commercial music radio stations,

Be it resolved that - A Liberal government commits to updating the mandate of Industry Canada, the Ministry of Canadian Heritage and the CRTC to better reflect the nature of Canadian musical production and promotion in the 21st century by phasing out the requirements for commercial radio music stations to play 35% CanCon.

Be it further resolved that - A Liberal government commits to directly supporting Canadian artists and not a regulatory framework by committing to increasing the funding for programs like FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) and Starmaker which fund new Canadian artists.

Be it further resolved that - In recognition of the need for a funding model for giving greater direct support for programs that support Canadian artists, the federal government ensure that ISP's pay a fraction of their Canadian profits directly to these programs.

Be it further resolved: Nickelback sucks.

Citations:

For citation 1: Statistics Canada’s 2009 Canadian Internet Use Survey: 80% of adult Canadians used the internet for personal use https://www.lib.uwo.ca/blogs/education/2010/05/statistics-canadas-canadian-in.html

For citation 2: "Who needs Cancon?", Winnipeg Free Press, Jan 14, 2012: "YouTube reports that Canadian videos are being sought-out and viewed at a rate roughly on par with those originating in the U.S...Annually, in fact, [Youtube] calculate[s] that the site features more original Canadian content than has ever been broadcast during prime time on CBC (English and French) and CTV combined." http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/who-needs-cancon-137339598.html

 

Harper wants $80 million of your tax dollars to creep your emails

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/02/22/pol-lawful-access-costs.html

That's what it'll cost you to give Stephen Harper the privlidge to look through your email's and browsing history.

It's going to cost at least $80 million to implement the government's lawful access bill to force internet and telecommunications service providers to collect customer information in case police need it for an investigation, CBC News has learned.

C-30, a bill to update Canadian law when it comes to crimes committed online, will cost $20 million a year for the first four years and $6.7 million a year after that, Public Safety Canada told the CBC's Hannah Thibedeau on Wednesday.

Harper wants your $80 million to spy on you at the same time he's slashed over $200 million and over 1000 jobs from Environment Canada. Sign the Liberal petition to keep Harper out of your inbox, because the government does not belong in the hard drives of law abiding Canadians like you:

http://petition.liberal.ca/online-privacy-surveillance-lawful-access-bill-c30-liberal-amendment/

Mississauga South Conservative website- just a bit odd?

I just checked the Mississauga South federal association website, and this is the front page:

Now I don't exactly check the website often (particularly as long as no news develops on the nomination race), but doesn't this look kinda...odd? A couple random declarations that "Stevie Harper is a cool guy!" and that "Stephanie (sic) Dion is a wimp". Either the website got hacked, and the webmaster doesn't care/notice, (which given the MSC's lack of Facebook presence, would fit in the trend of Internet apathy) or this is the actual quality of the website. Either way, doesn't bode so well for whoever ends up getting the nod, wonder if they will use the same webmaster?