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Canada’s Digital Strategy: All talk and no action?

“I’m just checking to make sure the sky isn’t falling,” says Stephen Waddell, the National Executive Director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television Arts and Radio (ACTRA).

He’s been invited to the Parliament of Canada to make suggestions about the country’s prospective digital strategy, and has just listened to a Conservative MP, Dean Del Mastro, rant about why the government does not support a tax on digital devices.

The bill, proposed by New Democratic Party (NDP) member Charlie Angus in March, proposes the current tax on blank CDs that ensures artist compensation for copied material be extended to audio devices like iPods. The Conservatives opposed the bill on the grounds that since mp3 players have other uses, like storing pictures and calendars, artists may be unjustly compensated.

“We’re not proposing a levy on your calendar,” says Waddell dryly to Del Mastro. “The primary use of these devices is music.”

This debate took place on 27 April and is one of many that have come up during a series of twice-weekly meetings the Committee of Canadian Heritage (CHPC) are holding to develop a study on a prospective digital strategy. Although the committee, comprised of five Conservatives, three Liberals, two Bloc Quebecois, and one NDP, is working together to assemble a series of recommendations for the government, conflicting views pepper each meeting.

The Conservatives have been in power for the last four-and-a-half years and according to Liberal and NDP members, are putting Canada’s cultural and economic progress in jeopardy by waiting to develop a digital strategy.

Pablo Rodriguez, a Liberal MP, points out that the committee took initiative to hold these meetings whereas in other countries, such as Britain and France, governments have made their digital strategies a priority.

Angus says since the government responds to “dumb-down principles” such as “cut taxes” and “fight crime”, when it comes to drafting a digital strategy the response is to “lock content” and “stop fair use”.  The committee’s goal is to come up with recommendations that are forward-thinking.

For example, updating the copyright law. The government is expected to update the bill at any time, which Angus hopes will not be before the committee submits their recommendations.

“The issue is not between tough and weak copyright but effective and ineffective,” says Angus, who fears the new bill will be inflexible and not take into account the current digital media landscape.

“We need a bill that deals with the issue of how to remunerate artists without criminalizing online activities.”

Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro wants the committee meetings to move away from the issue of copyright. He is confident the government will propose something all parties are happy with that ensures artists are paid for their work and “supports a functioning marketplace.”

He insists the government has been very forward-thinking on the idea of new media, pointing out that Canada is the third-biggest creator worldwide of video games and that BlackBerry, a huge North American smartphone success, was developed by Canadian company, Research in Motion (RIM).

Del Mastro says any government reticence towards developing a digital strategy has to do with “fear of the unknown”, which is why unpacking issues in the study is so crucial.

Over the 14 meetings held so far, the committee has heard testimony from large organisations ranging from Google and Access Copyright to independent businesses such as small publishers and creators of online media start-ups.

Witnesses have been divided on some issues, such as expanding the fair dealing clause and net neutrality, and in agreement on others: giving more funding to independent creators, retaining Canadian ownership over the country’s communications companies, and ensuring strong broadband access.

The meetings will end June 23 when Parliament breaks for the summer; the NDP and Liberals are pushing to get the recommendations to government as soon as possible.

“Often politicians are more reactive than proactive,” says Angus, who hopes the Committee’s study will be looked at in the fall. “Some MPs say ‘the sky is falling’, ‘artists are disappearing’ and ‘big bad Google is taking over’. I’m out in the field talking to artists and they want their money without fans being arrested for piracy.”

Del Mastro says he doesn’t consider the digital strategy an “urgent matter” and that he expects the recommendations will reach the government by 2011.

Rodriguez just laughs when asked how soon the government will look at their suggestions.

“There has to be political will and I don’t sense there is,” he says. “For Canada, it’s too late to be proactive. We’re already lagging behind.”

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Flickr comment from user manitou2121, jonasj, trendsetter

Tags: alliance of canadian cinema television arts, bloc quebecois, broadband access, canada, charlie angus, committee of canadian heritage, committee of canadian heritage chpc, dean del mastro, google, mp3, new democratic party ndp, pablo rodriguez, parliament of canada, research in motion, smart phone, stephen waddell,

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