Despite his laudable French and bridge-building to Canada’s other solitude, Heritage Minister James Moore just doesn’t seem to get a break in Quebec.

Only a few weeks after journalists pounced on his display of ignorance on the popular talk show Tout le monde en parle, a recent visit with the province’s film and TV producers also failed to impress. The Heritage minister gave the opening remarks at the APFTQ annual conference, held in Gatineau, QC May 4-5, but cancelled a meeting with their board due to a vote in the House of Commons. The next day, APFTQ head Claire Samson told Playback she was frustrated.

The minister’s office was surprised at Samson’s negative reaction. Yet it’s understandable that Quebec producers are miffed. These are nerve-wracking times. Conventional TV is breaking down, producers are not welcome on the Canada Media Fund board, and Quebecor Media is lobbying the CRTC to scrap the rules forcing broadcasters to make priority programming and work with independent producers. The Heritage minister canceling a meeting at such a critical time is hardly reassuring.

What the arts groups and the film and TV sector here want to know is, does Moore genuinely care about Quebec culture and want to fund it, or does he prefer the survival-of-the-fittest model espoused by Quebecor?

Cynics here say the minister, despite public statements to the contrary, doesn’t give a fig about Quebec’s distinct identity or government-sponsored Canadian content. Others report that unlike his predecessors Bev Oda and Josée Verner, Moore is accessible and a good listener. He’s held roundtables with culture groups, including film and TV producers, and was scheduled to be back for a visit in late May. And a few weeks ago he gave $4.2 million to 12 Montreal arts organizations, including Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the National Theatre School and the National Circus School. Moore’s announcement got little coverage and critics said it was too little too late.

Moore’s reaching out and he’s writing cheques. Why, then, does it appear that he’s getting a bad rap? Why do many here privately anticipate the worst with regard to CMF’s future?

In many ways, he’s been set up to fail. The young Heritage minister bears the burden of three years of Conservative ineptitude. Oda hardly spoke French, fumbled the Canadian Television Fund file and refused Quebec’s pleas to pump more money into feature film. Next up was the indifferent and powerless Verner (making $45 million in cuts last August will go down in history as one of the worst moves her government made).

After meeting with both Verner and Oda, Quebec producer Roger Frappier said he didn’t believe the Conservative government cared about the arts. ‘Talking to them is like talking to a brick wall,’ he quipped to Playback.

How could one minister cope with so much bad press?

And while Moore speaks good French, he doesn’t appear to understand much about Quebec. How could he? He grew up in British Columbia, which is geographically and culturally about as far from Lower Canada as one can travel.

Perhaps it’s because their power base is in the West that the Conservatives just don’t seem to comprehend that the difference between a Quebecer and an English-Canadian goes far deeper than language. This province is culturally distinct, especially when it comes to the film and television industry. It’s also a different market.

The strength of Quebec’s indigenous film and TV industry and its influence over public opinion is obvious to anyone who picks up a French-language newspaper or tunes in to Radio-Canada or the private network TVA. It’s worth repeating that unlike English Canada, where most of the top 30 programs are American, this province watches its own TV. Millions tune in every week to watch shows such as Tout le monde en parle and Star Académie, and dramatic series such as Les Boys and Les Parent.

TV isn’t just entertainment here, it’s a powerful social and at times political force; it reinforces this province’s culture in a media universe saturated with American content. TV is one of the principal ways Quebec culture circulates. It’s where writers express themselves – playwrights and novelists also write TV shows here – and where other creative types promote their work. TV is also where the family that is pure laine Quebec gathers to bask in the light of their most cherished offspring: stars, or vedettes as they are known here.

TV and film types – especially performers – have political clout. This was obvious during the last federal election campaign. According to a survey of print, TV and radio campaign coverage in Quebec, culture was at the top of the list, occupying nearly 19% of media coverage – compared to 6.6% in English Canada – largely due to the boisterous efforts of Quebec’s media-savvy film and TV stars who made anti-Conservative videos and spoke out against arts cuts on talk shows and at those silly galas Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t think ordinary people care about.

Many performers, writers, directors and musicians working in TV support the pre-CMF model for financing TV. The head of Quebec’s largest actors union, Union des artistes, Raymond Legault told Playback that without independent producers, Quebec TV would be far less interesting: ‘Twenty years ago Radio-Canada and TVA made their shows in-house. So there was an obvious Radio-Canada style and a TVA style. Producers have enriched TV by offering diversity.’ They also provide work for creatives who, without independent producers, would be forced to deal with big broadcasters on their own.

Which is why UDA along with other groups representing TV musicians, writers and directors are considering taking the unusual step of joining forces with the APFTQ if the CMF’s new board and guidelines fall short.

Beware Moore et al. Quebec’s TV industry is circling the wagons.