$500-million Netflix deal anchors Canada's culture plan

The "Creative Canada" roadmap is meant to support Canadian creative industries, but critics argue it's too thin and avoids key questions.

Thestar.com
Sept. 28, 2017
By Alex Ballingall

The federal government pulled back the curtain on its plan to support creative industries on Thursday, with much of the spotlight focused on a marquee commitment from American-based Netflix to spend $500 million to make Canadian shows and movies.

The "Creative Canada" road map, which was unveiled by Heritage Minister Melanie Joly at a business luncheon in the Chateau Laurier, includes pledges to spend $125 million over the next five years to promote Canadian writing, films and other output on the international stage, as well as to contribute more federal money to the Canada Media Fund that finances domestic audiovisual and digital productions.

Joly also announced the creation of a digital news incubator at Ryerson University, which will be supported by Facebook, and a new Creative Industries Council, co-chaired by Joly and Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains.

Critics were quick to point out that the plan avoids answering looming questions about continuing reviews of the CBC's mandate and legislation that governs Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications.

Speaking to reporters after her speech, Joly refused to say how much new money would go to the Canada Media Fund, and dodged questions about how much Netflix already spends on Canadian content.

The plan as a whole seeks to buttress the efforts of Canadian artists and creative industries in a competitive digital age. "By attracting new investment from foreign players and creating a strong domestic market that is adapted to our new reality … that's how we'll have a great Canadian system," she said.

Ian Morrison, spokesperson for the non-profit group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, called the plan "disappointing" for its lack of detail. He said it was silent on the critical issue of digital advertizing, which sees out-of-country giants, such as Google and Facebook, gobble up billions of Canadian digital ad dollars each year, according to a prominent media report released in January, and that it doesn't outline how the government plans to stem the erosion of local news coverage.

He accused the Liberals of "punting" key questions down the road, possibly until after the next election.

"It's so inadequate. It's so incomplete. The omissions are pronounced. It's not a Canadian content strategy for the digital age," Morrison said of the plan. "There was an absence of protein in this document and they wanted this Netflix stuff to try to hide that."

David Sparrow, national president of the creative industry union ACTRA, said the Netflix money is a welcome investment for film and television in Canada. As Joly explained, the $500-million deal ensures Netflix will spend $25 million in Canada's francophone market, and could open the door for similar deals with other online streaming services.

Officials from the Heritage Department said, at a briefing on the plan Thursday morning, that the deal will see Netflix essentially set up a Canadian production house. The streaming company has agreed to spend $500 million over five years in Canada, and could face fines under the Finance Act of up to $10,000 per day if it doesn't follow through, the officials said.

Even so, Sparrow said he's wondering whether Netflix already planned to spend this money in Canada, with or without the deal announced Thursday, and he pointed out that there's no guarantee for long-term funding. "What happens at the end of five years?" he asked. "This is the problem, when we're counting on the largesse of organizations to simply do what they think is right at the time, is that, next year, they might not think it's right to make that investment."

CBC president Hubert Lacroix, who attended the Economic Club of Canada lunch where Joly presented the plan, said he was "extremely happy" to hear her describe the importance of public broadcasting in her speech.

He added that "we're going to need a very strong funding model" to fulfil what Joly outlined in her speech, which included the need for CBC and its French counterpart, Radio-Canada, to be a "leading partner" with private news and cultural organizations.

"We hope, and we will continue these conversations with different levels of government, to ensure that we can meet the expectations that she has clearly stated for us," Lacroix said.