believe there was some genuine intent to preserve Canadian culture during the dispute, but not that much. I believe the main reason it was brought up was to gain more revenue from foreign magazines. According to Karen Rinaman's Canadian Magazine Industry and Cultural Protectionism America and Canada have very similar cultures. "They speak the same language, watch many of the same films and television programs and read the same best-selling books. In addition to these similarities, proximity allows satellite and radio programming to cross the border between the US and Canada with very little difficulty." There isn't much being protected by removing American magazines.
2. The Canadian government was almost entirely driven to this decision by the
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prospect of monetary gain. The only solutions the government has found for this issue is raising taxes to foreign issues. They did ban split-run editions, however they never went as far as banning foreign magazines as a whole. If this were really about cultural preservation than I believe the Canadian government should have produced more competitor magazines with Canadian content. 3. At a mere 11% share of the total sales in Canada, I believe magazine creation and distribution is of little importance to Canadian culture. The Canadian government argues that they have to compete with foreign magazine prints and that split-run prints give the American magazine publishers an unfair advantage. It may be true that they have to compete, but there is no unfair advantage at play here. If the magazines were an important part of the culture, then the foreign magazines would be combated with "true" Canadian counterparts that have 100% Canadian content in it. 4. Canadians have had access to a wide variety of different magazines for quite some time now. If they so chose, they could just purchase the magazines with Canadian content in it, however that is not what the majority of them want. That is why 89% of the magazines acquired by the Canadian public are foreign. It is unfair to have the content that is desired removed. In a business sense it would make more sense to remove the Canadian magazines, but the Canadian magazine producers should improve their content and make it more desirable. This would be more effective then banning split-run editions. 5.
I believe it is fair to charge taxes to foreign magazine publishers. During the days before split-run magazines utilizing satellites to beam their content to Canada, countries had to print them in their own land and then import them to Canada. During that time the Canadian government had the right to accept and reject any magazine as they please to their land. Its like how video game console manufacturers have the right to region lock their consoles to ensure that even if you could access the foreign content you couldn't use it unless you also imported a foreign console. What the Canadian government is doing isn't inherently wrong, it is just that they have taken their actions too far. Requirements the magazines to contain at least 80% Canadian content is excessive. However, it is only fair that if the magazine is claiming to be Canadian in origin, that it have some Canadian content. Maybe lowering the limitation to a lesser percent would make it more reasonable.
6. If I were a member of the Canadian government and I was trying to protect the domestic magazine market, I would establish new criteria to distinguish between a split-run and a domestic magazine. The criteria I would keep for a domestic magazine would
be: the magazine is printed in Canada the editorial staff is based in a Canadian city the company is Canadian-owned the writers are Canadian the subjects of the magazine are Canadian the magazine has at least 60% Canadian content This would make the split more clear cut and remove any confusion. Sources: Rinaman, K. (n.d.). CANADIAN CULTURAL PROTECTIONISM. Retrieved December 24, 2015, from http://www1.american.edu/ted/sportsil.htm (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2015, from http://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/97534/mod_book/chapter/72829/glob101cultureandglob.pdf
But today more then even Canadian culture is affected by the American influence. Media, American artists, economic dependence, American propaganda and political pressure from the United States is making Canada too Americanized. All of these factors reflect on the social life of ordinary Canadians threatening the heritage and the traditions that define Canada as independent country. Canada and the United States are the largest trade partners in the world. It is the result of the geographical position of two countries and the free trade between two countries.
As its own state Quebec would have the capacity to act, consolidate and further create their own cultural identity (Heard, 2013). For example, Quebec could foster the national language to be French. By gaining independence from Canada, Quebec can then create their own laws, own immigration rules and levy taxes (Heard, 2013). This would allow Quebec to be completely independent from the rest of Canada, but they would have connecting boarders like the United States and Canada do.
And, if Canadians seem to prefer buying American magazines, shouldn't they be allowed to "vote" with their purchasing habits?
Canada as a nation has been striving to characterize itself as more ?Canadian? for decades. This has included numerous struggles and events such as protests, bans, and the creation of the Massey Commission, to encourage national development in the arts, and support major companies like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board (NFB). However, this has not been an easy task for the Canadian government, as major influences from below the border (the United States) have been captivating the Canadian audiences by large. American media has had a momentous revolutionizing effect on Canada, even through efforts made to define Canada with its own cultural identity.
Miller, P. J. (2014, January 13). What is Canadian About Canadian Media? Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
The history of Canada was flooded with many influential and incredible events, particularly during World War 1 and World War 2. During the 20th century, Canada got more involved in worldwide events. It was a very important period for Canada; it was where they gained their independence and progressed as a country. After this century, Canada was considered an important and powerful country. The three main 20th century events in Canadian history are the battle of Vimy Ridge, the change of woman’s rights and the battle of Juno Beach.
Is Canada a nation or has its control just switched empirical hands? As Professor Hutcheson asked, did Canada go from "Colony to Nation or Empire to Empire?" This question has greatly influenced Canada's changing identity since her birth as a British colony with Confederation in 1867 to the present day. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyse the shifting Canadian identities between the years 1890 to 1960. The objective is to illustrate Canada's transforming identity by using the novels The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan, and Fifth Business by Robertson Davies and to connect the stories of each of these works of fiction to the varying political, economic, and social issues of their times. Each book is written by a prominent author, and portrays an accurate reflection of the demanding political, economic, and social concerns throughout the late nineteen and first half of the twentieth century of Canadian history. All of the novels reflect Canada's peripheral view of the world, as opposed to a central point of view, because throughout its history Canada has always been perceived as a secondary player. As George Grant says in his literary piece Lament for a Nation, Canada is "a branch plant society" , meaning Canada is controlled by another power. The essential question is where has Canada's loyalties traditionally lay and how has this shaped the Canadian identity. The Imperialist by Sara Jeanette Duncan, written in 1904 reflects a very British influenced Canada. At this time, Canada is still a British colony under British rule, and the people of Canada are very content to consider themselves British. The novel predominately ill...
Have you ever wondered which events in Canadian history have been the most significant in shaping Canadian identity? Many significant events in the twentieth century left a lasting legacy for Canada. Canada would not be the culturally rich, prosperous and progressive nation that it is today, without its immigration patterns in the past. World War I (WWI) was also a significant event as it united Canada and left behind a legacy of sacrifice and national pride. Economic development during the post war period contributed to Canadian success nationally and globally. Immigration, WWI and economic development were significant events in Canadian twentieth century history. Each event brought new and powerful
Back to the early 1970s, people from CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) felt anxious and threatened when they became aware of American Cultural imperialism had a big influence on Canadian Cultural Identity which made the latter to diminish. To solve this crisis, CRTC adopted Canadian content rules (CanCon) to govern the percentage of the music with Canadian content should be played from radio stations until now. Theoretically, this regulation could cause Canadian talents to rise and support the Canadian music industry. Also for Canadian artists, they would get more opportunities to let the masses to hear their music. However, from my point of view, CanCon works the opposite way. Reasons are as follows.
In the 1990s, 95% of feature films, about 70% of retail sales of sound recordings, 60% of television programs come from abroad, overwhelmingly from the United States. 80% of magazines, 70% of books come from abroad, of which overwhelmingly from the United States especially in the educational publication, only 25 %of educational book publishers in Canada were Canadian. At the supermarkets, the shops such as McDonald’s, Wal-Mart chain stores went into Canada on a ...
The culture of Canada refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that are a representative of Canada and Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by American culture because of a shared language, proximity, television and migration between the two countries. Over time, Canadian-American relations have helped develop Canada’s identity during the years 1945-1982; thus introducing changing social norms, media and entertainment. In support of this, due to the United States being approximately 9.25 times larger in population and having the dominant cultural and economic influence, it played a vital role in establishing Canada’s identity. With Canada being its neighbour, naturally, the United States would influence their way of life upon Canada.
The country that we have come to call Canada has been created through the unity of several
There are many differences with Canada’s neighbour, the United States of America; some in which can be dated back to our ties with our English heritage. Canada is known as a constitutional monarchy; meaning that although they are independent from
Canadians have come along way in their culture and identity. Canadians have participated in multiple wars and battles that have shaped our country and the people that live in this country. But it’s not just the violence what shaped our country but the people and traditions that originated outside of Canada and was brought here. European, British and French cultures and tradition have all influenced Canada’s culture and identity. (Blattberg, C. 13, January 02). Immigrants from all over the world have in the passed contributed to the way we view Canada and because of that we live in a safe, mosaic, multicultural country. (Blattberg, C. 13, January 02).There have also been the First Nations people who started Canada’s good reputation and because of them we have accomplished everything that we have done today. (Blattberg, C. 13, January 02).
Thomas, David M.. Canada and the United States: differences that count. Third ed. Toronto: Broadview Press, 2008.