Worried that Canadian content is at risk, seven associations representing Quebec’s film, television and music industry have launched a public campaign to fight the government’s plans to reduce foreign ownership restrictions in the telecommunications industry.

‘There is a strong link between the broadcasting, telecommunications and cultural industries now. Companies such as Bell are increasingly delivering content. We are afraid that if we open up these companies to foreign ownership it will be a real menace for Canadian content,’ the spokesperson for Quebec’s music industry association ADISQ, Solange Drouin, told Playback Daily.

ADISQ, along with the Quebec producer’s association, (APFTQ), Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ), Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC), Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), Society for Reproduction Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Canada (SODRAC), and Union des artistes (UDA) have joined forces to lobby the government, which began consultations in June on changing the restrictions on foreign investment in the telecommunications sector.

The government maintains that it will protect Canadian content. In its paper on the issue, titled Opening Canada’s Doors to Foreign Investment in Telecommunications: Options for Reform, Ottawa clearly differentiates between telecommunications and broadcasting, and notes there are no plans to change ownership restrictions on the latter sector: ‘With respect to broadcasting content and culture, the government will not consider any action that could impair its ability to pursue Canadian culture and content policy objectives.’

The Quebec audiovisual industry believes the government is ignoring the fact that telecommunications companies deliver Canadian content and must be subject to the same regulations as the broadcasting industry.

‘We are convinced that the objective is profit. We know the government isn’t sensitive to culture,’ the spokesman for Quebec’s directors’ association Francois Cote told Playback Daily. ‘These big telecommunications companies want material to deliver and they can’t make money with Canadian content.’

Foreign owners likely won’t be subject to the same regulations as Canadian broadcasters and telecommunications companies, says Drouin. ‘Under foreign ownership, broadcasting and telecom companies would be tempted to give priority to content produced elsewhere,’ says Drouin. ‘We must maintain national control to ensure there is a protected space for Canadian content.’