The Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) brought together politicians, senators and members of the country’s production community in Ottawa this week to celebrate the passage of Bill C-11 and look ahead to what’s next for the historic modernization of Canada’s broadcasting system.

The reception at the Riviera Ottawa restaurant on Tuesday evening (May 9) was a casual event, held in part to thank Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez for his “heroic” efforts in getting the bill known as the Online Streaming Act passed on April 27 and “to the government for making support for a strong domestic production industry one of their key legislative priorities,” CMPA president and CEO Reynolds Mastin (pictured far right) tells Playback Daily.

The crowd of approximately 150 included Chris Bittle, Parliamentary Secretary of Canadian Heritage, as well as Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan and CMPA board chair Erin Haskett, who addressed the crowd to give praise to Rodriguez and parliamentarians for their work on C-11 while also highlighting “the incredible work done by independent producers and the strength of the domestic production community,” adds Mastin.

The event also had producers, actors, showrunners, directors, writers and “political staffers of all political stripes,” says Mastin, noting “the full spectrum was truly represented in the room.”

“That was really important, because we also wanted to have the opportunity to remind our elected officials and the people who work in government of how important our industry is, what a huge job-creation machine it is, and how vitally it contributes to Canadian culture,” he says.

Notably, the Conservative Party of Canada has been vocal about its criticisms of the bill, which its MPs have alleged would open the door to censorship. The party has stated it will repeal the bill, if elected as the governing federal party.

“We also thought it was important to to demonstrate how tight-knit this industry is, how mutually interdependent it is, and how focused we collectively are on continuing to strengthen it in the post-C-11 era that we’re now in,” he adds.

This post-C-11 era will require much work to shape the new regulatory framework for the modernized Broadcasting Act, which will ensure that online streaming services contribute to Canadian and Indigenous content.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced earlier this week it will launch of a series of public consultations on the modernized Broadcasting Act over three phases, with phase one to begin “in the coming days.”

The Department of Canadian Heritage must also issue a policy direction to the CRTC on how interpret and implement certain sections of the legislation. The CRTC previously stated it will adapt its approach “in light of any future policy direction.”

The CMPA and other stakeholders in the system “have been engaging in a dialogue with Minister Rodriguez and his office around” what that policy direction potentially looks like, says Mastin.

“What’s important for us is that we continue to build on the momentum of Bill C-11 in terms of the recognition of the importance of Canadian ownership of our intellectual property from the shows that we produce, because having a meaningful share in the economic success of the shows that we make is what creates a virtuous cycle that enables producers to invest in development to produce the next great Canadian show,” he says.

“Our hope is that the policy direction will reinforce that key message. Our hope is also that it meaningfully addresses the fact that there are two standards that are provided in the bill with respect to the use of Canadian creative and other resources, with broadcasters being held to one standard and foreign streamers being held to a different standard. We think it’s very important that the government send a clear signal that one of the core purposes of the Broadcasting Act is to ensure a strong domestic production sector, where independent producers remain central to the future of Canadian programming, and where Canadian creators remain central to that future.”

Other attendees at Tuesday’s reception included Sen. Andrew Cardozo (pictured middle); Liberal MPs Sonia Sidhu and Ali Ehsassi; Alberta Conservative MP Ron Liepert; Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage Isabelle Mondou; Associate Assistant Deputy Minister Thomas Owen Ripley; and a slew of political staffers.

Industry stakeholders included indie producers from various companies; actors Wendy Crewson, Dani Kind and Megan Follows; Telefilm Canada director and CEO Julie Roy; Francesca Accinelli, VP, promotion, communication and international relations at Telefilm; and Canadian Association of Broadcasters president Kevin Desjardins.

Mastin says the event “felt inspiring” as the domestic industry took a moment to recognize this milestone moment, “because while Bill C-11 took many months to wind its way through Parliament, our industry has been advocating for modernization of the Broadcasting Act for many, many years.”

“This really is a marathon. It’s all about pacing,” says Mastin. “The passage of the bill, as historic and essential as it was, was just the first step in the modernization of our regulatory framework. There are, as the CRTC clearly laid out, many more steps to go and a great deal more work to be done. But at least we now have the new foundation that we needed to be be able to do that work.”

Photo: May 9, 2023: CMPA reception in Ottawa. L-R: Maria Armstrong, Tom Cox, Sen. Andrew Cardozo, Julie Bristow, Wendy Crewson, Reynolds Mastin. Photo by Dave Chan.