The Year Ahead

The New Year starts with a CRTC brief on the future of Canadian Content designed to modify the rules to coddle, appease, accommodate, the tech giants. It’s supposed to be a modernization and Unifor will oppose adjusting the rules so Canadian content will solely be created by Americans.
The Federal election is also on the top of Media Council’s mind. The Conservatives have come out of the gate being disrespectful of journalists, calling us ‘fake news’ and inciting harassment. They have promised to roll back the media supports that Media Council has been working on achieving for the last 15 years. This includes the Online News Act, the Online Streaming Act, the Journalism Tax Credits and the Local Journalism Initiative.  And of course, their biggest threat of shutting down English-language CBC.
Through the Media action Plan (MAP), Unifor is looking to wage a campaign to demonstrate the importance of a vibrant news industry in Canada. It is important that Canadians know that local news is essential and a vote for a party that will has promised to dismantle our industry will be a vote against their own employment and well-being.
And as always, the election of President-Elect Trump will be a wild card in terms of any legislation and regulations that affect US-based tech companies. We’re not sure what lies ahead in terms of the federal government’s plan to implement a Digital Services Tax, and it’s unclear how a Trump administration might retaliate against the Online News Act and the Online Streaming Act. We will continue to monitor these media-related trade issues very closely.