By Denis Carmel
AFTER LISTENING TO TWO ex-ministers of Canadian Heritage, one is struck by what political culture has become and how carefully government must navigate that realm.
The Canadian Media Production Association’s annual gabfest, Prime Time, formerly, Prime Time in Ottawa, tries to feature some entertainment in the form of discussions that could generate other conversations but also educates producers and other members of the audience on the realities of Ottawa and the importance of politics for their collective future.
That is why today we had the privilege of listening to Sheila Copps (above, right), who was the Liberal minister of Heritage from 1996 to 2003 and James Moore (middle), who held that position for the Conservatives between 2008 and 2013.
We were expecting fierce debates from these feisty politicians, but they seem to agree more often than they disagree. They also spoke more about Michael Geist, whose ears must have been buzzing, than truckers and Poilievre – but Cartt.ca has learned the session was recorded two or three weeks ago, before the tabling of Bill C-11.
The conversation was moderated by Evan Solomon (left), who started by asking Moore why C-10 failed. Moore said it fell of its own weight. The minister was new, and he stumbled on Solomon’s own show when he freelanced, clearly not knowledgeable enough, and the prime minister was clearly not focused on that issue.
Pablo Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a better choice, Moore said – more political, more experience having been Heritage minister before and having been house leader.
Copps, for her part, blamed social media in general and Michael Geist, in particular. She strongly recommended the minister “light a fire” under the production sector so their voices will be heard when the new legislation comes forward.
Moore sent a strong message to the Conservative Party: “The party needs to mature a little bit with regards to its cultural policies. I keep reminding my colleagues at the time, Stephen Harper should have won a majority in the 2008 election against Stephane Dion. There was no reason not to, except for the recession and we blew it on cultural policy, which cost us probably 15 or 20 seats in Québec.” (As a reminder, this was said before the sudden departure of Erin O’Toole from the Conservative Party.)
The advice to the minister is to get the legislation passed as quickly as possible because there are storms ahead and a minority government cannot afford to drag its feet.
Finally, Solomon raised the question about the mandate letter for Pablo Rodriguez, which basically revisits the allocation of funding for the production of French content vis-à-vis English. It is now split 2/3—1/3 but they want to increase the French portion to 40%, which is a 7% reduction for English production.
Moore answered, “This is a political dynamic. The Prime Minister is from Montréal, Pablo Rodriguez is from Montreal, Steven Guilbeault is from Montreal, Mélanie Joly is from Montreal. There is an intense debate in Québec, this is heavily political.” He also said he would like to see the rationale of the government on this.
For her part, Copps, playing to the crowd, said “If I was an English producer, I would fight it, I would definitely fight it.”
We have noticed, probably because of the ability of social media to mobilize, that a government who wants to move the yardstick on cultural issues should bear in mind it cannot do so quietly anymore by holding quiet discussions in the halls of Parliament. They must explain and communicate better, especially in a minority situation.
