NEWS RELEASE

December 4 , 2006

Culture Minister Promotes Ontario’s Creative Industries And Artists
Ontario Submission Supports Ontario’s Creative Industries And Promotes Canadian Content

TORONTO — A delegation led by Ontario Minister of Culture Caroline Di Cocco today urged the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) for incentives to help Ontario’s creative industry move toward high definition and other emerging technologies.

The minister appeared today at the CRTC public hearings on aspects of the regulatory framework for over-the-air television being held in Gatineau, Quebec.

“We are participating in these hearings because over-the-air broadcasters provide major-market access and much needed exposure for Ontario’s, and Canada’s, creative content,” Minister Di Cocco said. “ Ontario is home to the largest critical mass of media and production in Canada. Our creative communities – from producers to writers, musicians, performers and other artists –contribute to, and benefit from, this sector’s vitality.”

Minister Di Cocco led the Ontario delegation which included Stephen Stohn, board member of the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC). The OMDC is the agency of the Ministry of Culture which stimulates investment and employment in the province’s six cultural industries: book publishing, music, interactive digital media, film, magazine publishing, and television.

Ontario ’s entertainment and creative industries are a key economic driver, accounting for almost half of Canada's culture GDP, and contributing $9.9 billion to the province in 2005. Ontario’s development strategy for the entertainment and creative sector is designed to support the entertainment and creative industries – including OTA broadcasters – as they adapt to digital technologies and new business models, enabling them to serve Canadian needs as well as to compete internationally.

Ontario ’s development strategy emphasizes partnerships, innovation, and research and development. Highlights of the Ministry of Culture’s CRTC submission include:

• A preference for incentives over regulation in the transition to HD technologies. Possible incentives include: permitting more flexibility in allowable advertising minutes and product placements; carriage fees for HD program packages to support OTA stations with HD programming; and, incentive programs for HD programming
• Support for the Commission’s current benefits policy (requiring 10 per cent of the value of a media takeover to be dedicated to programs that offer a public benefit), which encourages risk-taking, supports targeted research and development activities, and provides capital for promising new projects to support a globally competitive Canadian content sector
• Support for the introduction of an expenditure requirement to encourage production of a wide range of programming and broadcasters’ ability to adapt to the changing marketplace

“OMDC is proud of our ability to support Ontario's independent production companies as they continue to demonstrate their eagerness and ability to embrace emerging technologies and to produce innovative content. These companies play a pivotal role in Canadian broadcasting,” said Stephen Stohn.

“My ministry and the OMDC are working hard to promote Canadian content and the best interests of Ontario’s creative industries and artists,” Minister Di Cocco concluded.

The CRTC hearings run from November 27 to December 8. The Ministry of Culture’s submission to the CRTC can be viewed at www.culture.gov.on.ca. The OMDC’s submission to the CRTC can be viewed at www.omdc.on.ca.

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Contacts:
Mark Thompson, Minister’s Office, (416) 325-4071
Guy Lepage, Communications Branch, (416) 416 314-3497

• CRTC Submission