To borrow from Hugh MacLennan, I propose we rebrand Playback and call it Two Solitudes magazine. Any random issue can be neatly divided in its references to the successes of French-Canadian production viewed against the struggles of English-Canadian production. Then there is the equally elegant application of the phrase to the diverging realities between Canadian broadcasters and producers. ‘Three Solitudes’ might be more to the point.

Never has this been clearer than in this very issue, which includes special reports on production in Quebec and broadcasting.

While the struggling Ontario production sector prepares to protest on the steps of Queen’s Park over the government’s flip-flop on boosting the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit (see story, p. 1), Quebec productions continue to thrive on the big and small screens.

In 2004, Quebec features drew over $23 million, 13.5% of provincial box-office receipts (p. 21). That success is matched in television production with such critical and popular successes as Fortier, Grande Ourse and Les Bougon.

Of course, the struggles of English production do not end at the Quebec border. Anglo producers in Montreal have been hit by falling volumes as well (p. 13), and recently inaugurated a lobby group under the banner English Language Film and Television Council of Quebec (p. 17).

Meanwhile, the service sector across Canada, facing a rising dollar and increased international competition is taking action by pegging rates to offset an estimated 25% decline in guest productions (p. 2).

Producers were also recently dismayed to hear Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla come looking for a 5% cut in federal funds to Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board and the CBC (p. 2).

At the same time, the purveyors of another great Canadian success story are about to come together for a round of congratulatory drinks when the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ annual convention meets in Ottawa later this month (p. 23). Riding a wave of record profits, improving ad revenues and dozens of ratings success stories (some even from domestic productions), the CAB convention will no doubt have a triumphant air about it.

Dealing with these varied interests falls to Frulla’s staff at Heritage. That a sector as important to the well being of Canadian film and TV as English-language production continues in free fall even as other sectors enjoy unprecedented successes, speaks to a critical need for bold vision at Heritage. What the industry has long needed is a holistic approach from the top that can both nurture the successes and deal with the struggles.

The minister has a roadmap at her disposal to help develop such a plan. It’s called Our Cultural Sovereignty: The Second Century of Canadian Broadcasting, issued in June 2003 by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. The report is an in-depth, 872-page study, two years in the making, at a cost of millions of taxpayers’ dollars. It contains 97 recommendations that touch on virtually every aspect of the business, including ways to stimulate production in both languages and how to continue building the broadcast industry in Canada.

It languished on a shelf for a year, but was resubmitted to Parliament on Nov. 4. Frulla must seize this opportunity and use the report to articulate a bold vision for production and broadcasting in Canada.