Standing on guard: defending Canadian culture - interview with Shiela Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage - Cover Story

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Fall, 1998 by Stanley Haidasz, Janusz J. Uiberall

An exclusive interview with The Hon. Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage

In the face of the 80 percent of Canadian newsstand space which is occupied by foreign magazines, and the perceived threat to Canadian cultural identity, the Federal Government is being urged by many to protect Canadian publications.

Responsibility for the rescue belongs to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Sheila Copps, who has a mandate to preserve and promote what it means to be Canadian. Her sword is Bill C-55.

Bill C-55 was tabled in the House of Commons by Minister Copps and received first reading on October 8, 1998. Under the bill, only Canadian publishers will have the right to sell advertisement directed at the Canadian market.

As the Minister stated in the House of Commons, "Canada cannot allow foreign publishers to chip away at our advertisement market and thus harm an essential part of our culture and identity. What is at stake here is the capacity of a country to secure and promote its own culture. What is at stake is Canadian content, stories by Canadians for Canadians and the world. What is at stake is the collective and individual capacity of thousands of our writers, editors, photographers, publishers and entrepreneurs."

Performing Arts: The fact that 80 percent of Canadian newsstand space is occupied by foreign magazines, mostly American, is a great challenge to the survival of Canadian publications and a real threat to Canadian cultural identity. What will you do, Madame Minister, to diminish these dangers?

Hon. Sheila Copps: It is true that there are more foreign magazines than Canadian magazines on the newsstands. We are not targeting the newsstand issue in isolation, but looking at assuring the overall survival of the Canadian magazine industry by ensuring fair access to advertising revenues in Canada.

The real issue is getting Canadian magazines to readers. Canadian publishers are obliged to sell most of their magazines through subscription. The Government of Canada provides a postal subsidy to Canadian magazines to help offset some of the costs of mailing subscription copies.

PA&E: How does your Bill C-55 help smaller publishers [circulation under 50,000]?

Minister Copps: For Canadian magazines, both big and small, advertising revenues usually represent the single most important source of revenues.

Bill C-55 ensures that Canadian publishers have fair access to those revenues and can continue to produce content for the Canadian market.

Both the Canadian Magazine Publishers Association and the Canadian Business press, which represent hundreds of magazine publishers of all sizes, have stated their support for Bill C-55 as the most effective way to maintain a viable and genuinely Canadian industry.

PA&E: In view of many financial difficulties facing small Canadian publications, what do you propose to do?

Minister Copps: Small Canadian publications are facing many serious challenges, most of them financial. I see Bill C-55 as a crucial first step in supporting those publications.

However, once the bill is passed, and that essential base of advertising revenue is secured and the industry as a whole is on better footing, I think we should focus on other challenges faced by Canadian magazine publishers, including helping them to adapt to new technologies and expand their marketing and distribution efforts.

PA&E: What measures will be instituted to obtain adequate bank loans at low interest rates for magazine publishers?

Minister Copps: Loan programs have worked well for other cultural industries in Canada and could conceivably work well for the magazine publishing industry. The Cultural Industries Development Fund, administered by the Business Development Bank, provided $6.9 million to Canadian magazine publishers between 1991 and 1998 in term loans. In addition, Canadian Heritage has recently established a partnership with the Royal Bank to provide working capital lines of credit to Canadian book publishers. I hope that this will become a model for other cultural industries.

PA&E: As we enter the new millennium and face the rapid development of the world wide web, do you see any real opportunities or real hope for printed media?

Minister Copps: I don't believe that people will abandon books and magazines for the computer screen. People who love reading don't just love the information they are getting, they love the experience of reading. Even with the very rapid increase of Internet use, we are still seeing the launch of new magazines and a steady stream of new Canadian books.

I am also of the view that the World Wide Web offers publishers new opportunities in terms of market access. Many traditional publishers are offering new services or reaching new readers through the Internet. There is always fear and adjustment with new media, but there are also tremendous benefits.

Dr. Stanley Haidasz, P.C. a forty-year veteran parliamentarian was Canada's first Federal Minister of Multiculturalism. Janusz J. Uiberall, publisher, photojournalist, is the founder of DigitalJournal.com on the Internet, and associate publisher of Performing Arts magazine.