Canadian actors have good reason for ‘guarded optimism’ about the TV industry, but should continue to put pressure on regulators and politicians for greater funding and industry controls, according to actor and activist Paul Gross, in a June 1 speech to the members of ACTRA Toronto.

Speaking to some 500 actors at the opening of the union’s annual conference, Gross said progress has been made in the past year to shore up the sagging fortunes of Canadian TV. He applauded the federal government’s restoration of the Canadian Television Fund and had kind words for the CRTC and its current effort to revive English-language drama.

But Gross – who sounded the alarm about the drama crisis two years ago on the same University of Toronto stage – also repeated calls for more strict regulation of broadcasters.

‘The Canadian broadcasting industry exists at the pleasure of the Canadian people and it can be deregulated overnight and its protections, shelter and support would disappear, and it is anyone’s guess as to how long that industry would survive,’ he said.

Gross also criticized Alliance Atlantis for dropping its production branch last year, and called on the audience to be active in the run-up to the federal election.

‘Speak up and ask these candidates where they stand. Force the issue of our national culture onto the public agenda in your ridings,’ said Gross. ‘We cannot and must not allow decisions about our cultural future to be determined only by the balance sheets in an accountant’s ledger books.’

-www.actratoronto.com