Sovereignty has always been a hot button issue in Canada. Confederation happened largely as a response to threatened US aggression and it has frequently been said that the only thing Canadians can tell you about what being Canadian means is ‘not American’. One of Stephen Harper’s big issues has been Arctic sovereignty and fears have…
Truth: Is There More to Being Canadian Than Geography?
There is probably no more famous commercial in Canadian history than the Molson, “I Am Canadian” ad. As a patriotic symbol it is up there with “O Canada”. But, in 2005 Molson merged with Coors. Merging with an American company makes Molson somewhat less Canadian but that is not the end of the story. You…
Ontario Makes Film & TV Tax Credit Permanent
According to the CBC the province of Ontario has made a tax credit boost which provided an extra $165 million in 2008 permanent. The move was made following a vote in California on Thursday to boost their own tax credit. “Ontario’s film industry has been taking a beating from the rise of the Canadian dollar,…
Indie TV Canada is Coming
There has been a link for them up on the site for awhile now, but I don’t remember if I’ve ever actually written anything about them, so you should know indieTV.ca is online and indieTV should be coming to your cable dial soon. “The CRTC has granted the company a licence to broadcast a National…
Two Hours Traffic Heads Into the Studio
Not much more to report than that, except that Joel Plaskett is producing. From their Myspace Blog: “hey gang on sunday we head to halifax nova scotia to begin recording our new album. despite what you may have read it has no title as of yet. we’re very lucky to be working alongside joel plaskett…
New Media vs. Old or We’re Not Making Cake Today
It can be intensely frustrating trying to talk to old media people about new media. You can talk away and feel like it’s sinking in and you are making progress and suddenly it all vanishes in a puff of smoke. Let’s say you were teaching a cooking class and were telling people how to make…
Small Press at Risk – Quill & Quire via Robert J. Sawyer
Rob‘s one of our best-known SF writers, right up there with Gibson, Robinson, Hopkinson. He’s got Hugos, Nebulas, Auroras(our homegrown version of the first two awards) to his name. One of his novels, FlashForward, is being converted into a long-term US-produced TV series as I type this. Anyway, he’s spotted something in Quill & Quire,…
Now on Selling Out or Not
Back on January 7 I wrote a post specifically about Feist but more generally about the outdated notion of “selling out”. Selling out is still definitely possible, but it’s about the integrity of your work – not about who signs the cheques. In an age when fewer and fewer people are buying music recording artists…
Grasping at Straws or Not the CRTC Has Lit a Fuse
The CRTC and their hearings on the Internet, CanCon and New Media may turn out (whatever the outcome) to be less important than the conversation’s they started. For one thing, it’s now clear that nothing Rogers says should be taken seriously. They do not tell the ‘truth’ they say what is convenient and suits their…
Free Access to Museums and Galleries via the Toronto Public Library
According to the National Post the Toronto Public Library will soon be providing free access to museums and galleries. There are a limited number of passes each week, but any holder of an adult library card can take part – although they may have to reserve. MAP, as the pass is called, will provide individuals…