On the occasion of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Prime Time in Ottawa Conference
Ottawa, Ontario
February 19, 2009
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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
I’d like to thank Guy Mayson and his team for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today at the 19th annual conference of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association.
Let me begin by congratulating the finalists and winners of the CFTPA Indie Awards last night. These awards demonstrate the artistic diversity your industry offers to Canadians and the world.
I was also pleased to hear that the Genie Award ceremony will be held right here in the nation’s capital in April. Moving the celebration to another city for the first time is a great way of raising awareness of your industry and your products among Canadians across the country. I applaud the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for this initiative.
Now, I have already had the pleasure of meeting some of you in roundtable discussions in various parts of the country. Since becoming Minister of Canadian Heritage, I have met with many representatives of the arts and cultural sector. And I will continue to do so.
A positive relationship between us will make it easier to face challenges together — and we know there are challenges ahead.
I want to outline Canada’s Economic Action Plan for you briefly today — what it means for our businesses, for you.
Canada’s Economic Action Plan is our plan to stimulate our economy, to protect Canadians during the global recession, and to invest in our long-term growth.
The crisis we face
Since last fall, the global economic situation has deteriorated further, and faster, than anyone predicted. I know your industry has not been immune. The global economy has further weakened since Canadians voted in the election last October. And still further since Parliament met last month.
As the crisis emerged, our Government took immediate action to ensure Canadian businesses could get the financing they need to reinvest, grow, and maintain jobs.
Canada continues to fare better than many other countries. Our Government has reduced taxes, paid down debt, and invested in infrastructure. Canada also has strong financial institutions. But it is clear that we cannot escape the effects of the global credit crisis and must take further action.
Canada’s Economic Action Plan
Our Government has developed a plan to stimulate our economy, to protect Canadians during the global recession, and to invest in our long-term growth.
Canada’s Economic Action Plan will be timely, targeted, and temporary.
The stimulus provided in Canada’s Economic Action Plan represents 1.9 percent of our economy for the next fiscal year and, for the year after that, 1.4 percent.
Not only does this fulfill Canada’s commitment at the G–20 Leaders Summit in November; it exceeds the target recommended by the International Monetary Fund.
To finance Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our Government is making a deliberate choice to run a substantial short-term deficit. This temporary deficit is a necessary investment to help stimulate our economy.
It allows us to meet our short-term needs while serving our long-term goals.
It allows us to protect Canadians and help sustain and create jobs during the global recession. And it allows us to build the infrastructure Canada needs for long-term growth.
There will be no long-running or permanent deficit. As the economy recovers, we fully expect to emerge from deficit and return to surplus within five years. And we will use future surpluses first of all to pay off the debt incurred during the recession.
Action to protect jobs and support businesses
Many Canadian businesses are in a relatively strong position, compared to their foreign competitors. As a result of our Government’s actions, by 2010, Canada will have the lowest overall tax rate on new business investment in the G–7.
But Canadians agree that we need to do more. We need to do more to encourage long-term growth. We need to help sustain Canadian jobs and help all Canadian businesses weather the current storm. And we are doing more.
Through our Economic Action Plan, for example, we are increasing tax relief to Canadian small business by increasing — for a second time under this Government — the amount of income eligible for the small-business income tax rate from 400 000 dollars to 500 000 dollars.
A relevant report was launched at this conference: Profile 2009: An Economic Report on the Canadian Film and Television Production Industry. It indicates that, in 2007–2008, the Canadian film and television production industry provided 131 600 full-time jobs in Canada.
During that same period, the film and television production volume in Canada reached an all-time high of 5.2 billion dollars. Despite the higher Canadian dollar, foreign location and service production had a strong year.
However, I realize the situation has changed since last year. As we all know, the economy is the only news these days, and the current economic situation affects you as well as everyone else.
You face challenges on many fronts. There is increased competition for financing, and jobs have been lost.
The same is true across the arts and culture sector. Everywhere there are challenges, but your sector — and, in fact, the entire broader cultural sector — is too important to merely survive. And that is why we are willing to support it in a variety of ways.
With Budget 2009, we have sent a clear signal of the important contribution the cultural sector makes in stimulating and strengthening the Canadian economy. Our most recent Budget demonstrates our firm commitment to arts, culture, and heritage by providing 540 million dollars to ensure as much stability as possible for this sector as it faces challenging times.
Since coming into office in 2006, we have increased spending on the arts and culture sector by eight percent.
Yes, we have reviewed programs and spending at the Department of Canadian Heritage. We did so to reallocate funding to other programs.
In the current economic climate, it would be irresponsible for a Government not to take stock of its programs and services. It would be equally irresponsible for a Government not to want to improve efficiency where possible.
Since 2006, our Government has been clear that responsible use of taxpayers’ dollars would be our priority. It has been and continues to be our priority.
That said, our commitment to arts and culture is unchanged, and we continue to support important industries such as television and digital media. We are investing in your industry. And we are ready to invest wisely to stimulate the economy and to help ensure a stable and culturally vibrant future.
Through the Canada Feature Film Fund, administered by Telefilm Canada, we provided approximately 90 million dollars in 2007–2008. This Fund supports the development, production, distribution, and marketing of Canadian feature films.
We have seen many successes from this fund — like the Oscar-winning Les invasions barbares; Bon Cop, Bad Cop; Les 3 P'tits Cochons; and Away from Her, and such co-productions as Eastern Promises.
Last year alone, more than 40 feature films were created thanks to this fund. And it triggered an additional 153 million dollars in feature-film financing from other public- and private-sector sources.
In 2008, the Government invested more than 300 million dollars in the audiovisual production industry through the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit. This represents the largest federal investment in your industry.
In addition, as you know, Budget 2009 provides funds to support you in producing high-quality, distinctively Canadian television programs, as well as in creating innovative, interactive new media content.
We believe these are investments that will help strengthen the economy and protect and create jobs for Canadians. We believe these are wise investments in the future.
Specifically, the Budget earmarks an additional 200 million dollars for the Canadian Television Fund over the next two years.
It is important for us to support the CTF because it is the largest production fund in Canada and sustains about half of the 45 000 industry jobs related to certified Canadian productions.
Since 1996, the CTF has invested more than 2.7 billion dollars in over 27 000 hours of Canadian television productions. For every CTF dollar spent, more than three dollars are generated in production activity.
The CTF has supported several successful television programs, including Toopy et Binoo, Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, Durham County, and The Border.
We are also taking measures to support digital technologies.
Our recent Budget confirms more than 28 million dollars in funding for the new media sector over two years and provides for ongoing annual funding of more than 14 million dollars.
To further strengthen the new media sector, last month our Government announced plans to establish the Corridor for Advancing Canadian Digital Media.
The Centre will link digital media clusters from across the country and enable researchers and entrepreneurs to collaborate on developing new digital media. Through its partners, the Centre will offer research activities for graduate students and commercialization support and services for industry.
This new centre will help Canadian researchers and entrepreneurs get more of their innovations from the lab to the marketplace.
Telefilm and National Film Board are two other important players that contribute to the vitality of your industry. Both institutions focus on innovation so that your industry can continue to be a strong driver of economic growth.
I believe the National Film Board is on the right track when we think about innovation. In honour of its 70th anniversary, the NFB has put the better part of 900 films online free of charge. Day or night, anywhere in the country, you and I now have access to this important part of our cultural heritage.
Challenges and opportunities
We must remember, however, that there is also ample opportunity in front of us, of you and your industry.
Rapidly changing technologies are having a huge impact. They present a whole new set of challenges — as well as exciting opportunities.
Canadians now have more options than ever. More and more, we can watch our favourite program or film whenever, wherever, and however we want. At home, at the bus stop, or on a plane. Anywhere in the world. On our TV, computer, or cell phone.
Look at this conference: completely paperless. You’re all working off iPod Touch phones!
I know many of you are already finding ways to reach Web-savvy audiences:
- by making recent episodes of TV shows and newscasts available online, such as Renegade Press and Les Invincibles;
- using social networking sites to build audiences for your productions, in addition to traditional advertising;
- and incorporating new technology into almost every aspect of the production process.
This is the kind of innovation we must continue to pursue as we continue into the 21st century. Now is not the time for any industry to rest on its laurels. Innovation is key.
There have already been many success stories in interactive media.
We have award-winning and critically acclaimed products such as Degrassi.tv, ReGenesistv.com and Cornergas.com.
And who can resist bringing the podcast with them of Politics with Don Newman? Ok, maybe too “Inside Ottawa”… but you get my point.
One week ago today, all of Canada joined in the one-year countdown to next year’s Games. The excitement could be felt right across the country. The potential of multiple platforms to enhance access to information and entertainment will revolutionize media coverage for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
English and French Vancouver 2010 websites have already been launched by Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.
The point is, in this rapidly changing environment, you must be innovating constantly to stay in the game. And yes, this is also true for Government.
We need to take a careful look at how we invest in culture. We need to re-examine our cultural policies because many of them are rooted in traditional approaches that may not fit anymore.
We need cultural policies that put Canadians’ interests first, as citizens, creators, and consumers.
Canadians want and should have information about the world through websites, books, magazines, films, television, and museum exhibitions.
But we also want products that move and keep up with the times as quickly as we have.
And we’re very interested in what you’re doing, with so many opportunities.
Opportunities to generate excitement around television series and increase audiences by complementing them with webisodes.
Opportunities to experiment with Web-only content and to increase revenue by adopting various pay-per-view models.
Opportunities to collaborate with broadcasters to provide Canadians with the best, most innovative content possible.
Our Government is relying on you to find the innovative solutions that will meet the changing needs of Canadian citizens, creators, and consumers and put their interests first.
We’re relying on you because we know in many ways you are relying on us.
Conclusion
The Government of Canada is not without its challenges — no government can be in these times of global economic uncertainty — but let me assure you, we are meeting the challenge of our time.
We are protecting Canadians during the global recession, stimulating our economy, and making the investments necessary to ensure the country’s long‑term prosperity.
We are meeting our short-term needs, while serving our long-term goals.
More importantly, Canada’s economic plan meets the needs and expressed wishes of Canadians.
It helps Canadians who are out of work. It helps Canadian jobs and businesses. It builds up our communities.
As Ministers and Members of the Government, we are committed to making ourselves accountable to Canadians in following through on our plan.
But our country’s success depends on all of us:
- all levels of Government
- business and financial leaders
- community leaders
- and all Canadians
We all need to do our part.
Thank you for the time to speak with you today.
Merci et bon appétit.[ Back ]