CRTC hears debate on including a ‘cultural element' in new definition of CanCon
OTTAWA – The CRTC is considering whether it should include a 'cultural element' in its new definition of Canadian content.
A consumers' group says having a test that attempts to define who or what is culturally Canadian would be 'highly problematic.'
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre says the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission should stick to its current approach, which looks at whether Canadians are employed in key creative positions.
The broadcast regulator has heard from others during its two-week hearing who are in favour of including culture in the modernized definition of CanCon.
The National Film Board has argued that now is the time to include cultural elements in the definition of Canadian content.
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
It says the lack of a cultural element in the definition could result in harmful long-term consequences and risks erasing 'what makes us who we are.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2024.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
5 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Kendrick Lamar performs in Toronto for first time since explosive Drake feud. Here's everything to know
For over a year, Canadians have watched with anxiety as a brazen figure from south of the border, unconcerned with decorum, steadily gained momentum and trampled timid expressions of resistance. This figure is, of course, Kendrick Lamar — the Compton hip hop superstar with 21 Grammy wins and a Pulitzer — who handily vanquished hometown hero Drake in the most high-profile rap feud of the century last summer. The beef sparked a series of diss tracks, tested famous friendships and culminated with Lamar performing his chart-topping 'Not Like Us' at the Super Bowl.
Toronto Sun
7 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Juliette Powell, radiant MuchMusic host-turned-insightful tech critic, dies at 54
Published Jun 11, 2025 • 4 minute read Simone Denny, left, of the Love Inc. band poses for a photo with MuchMusic host and producer Juliette Powell. Powell, who once commanded attention as the host of MuchMusic's live dance party Electric Circus, has died at 54. Photo by Debbie Holloway / Toronto Sun Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Juliette Powell, who once commanded attention as the host of MuchMusic's live dance party Electric Circus and later as a respected commentator on the societal risks of advanced technology, has died at 54. The former television host, author and New York University faculty member was found dead at home on June 3, said Art Kleiner, the co-author of her 2023 book The AI Dilemma . He said the cause of death was acute bacterial meningitis. It came as a shock to many friends who say Powell's energetic personality and drive to shatter barriers defined her life up until the end. 'She was obviously brilliant,' Kleiner said Wednesday in a phone interview. 'And she had a charismatic personality.' Many Canadians will remember Powell's radiance, captivating smile and towering figure best from her role as ringleader on Electric Circus , where she mingled with the show's fashionable dancers as they moved and grooved to the latest '90s club hits. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Her experience in the spotlight actually began years earlier after she moved from her birthplace in Manhattan, N.Y., to Montreal with her French-Canadian mother. As a young adult, she entered local beauty pageants in hopes that she could challenge racial biases that were prevalent in the industry. She placed second in the Miss Montreal Pageant and became the first Black woman to win Miss Canada in 1989. Much Music VJ Juliette Powell, left, chats with rap superstar LL Cool J at the Much Music Snojob '98 show at the Sun Peaks ski resort in 1998 in B.C. Photo by Nick Procaylo / Postmedia Network The recognition opened doors to TV opportunities and Powell was eager to walk through many of them. In 1992, she joined Montreal music video channel MusiquePlus as a video jockey and the bilingual host of its weekly dance show Bouge de la! The station's founder, Moses Znaimer, said Wednesday in a post on X that he was struck by the young Powell's 'sass' and 'smarts,' though he couldn't recall if she challenged him for the job or he offered it to her first. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Powell held onto her TV gig while studying finance and business at McGill University. Eventually, she moved to Toronto, where Znaimer handed her the reins of Electric Circus , which had been hosted for years by Monica Deol. Both women were beauties suited for television, and many former Much staffers acknowledge Powell had big shoes to fill. She did it with her own trademark style, frequently wrapping her long arms around people she interviewed as she floated through the open studio in downtown Toronto with her wireless microphone. 'You have to be warm, you have to give of yourself,' said Tony Young, also known as Much VJ Master T. 'She came in there and handled it famously.' RECOMMENDED VIDEO When Nam Kiwanuka joined the MuchMusic team in 1999 as an intern on Rap City, Powell was already on a roll. Her weekly presence on Friday night TV, and the bilingual music video show French Kiss had made her a household name. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. So Kiwanuka was surprised to learn that her office desk would be right next to Powell's at 299 Queen St. W., which made her a frequent observer of her mentor's enigmatic appeal. 'She was one of those people that when you spoke to her, you were the only person in the room,' Kiwanuka said. 'There was an energy about her; she was very confident. Whenever stars came in, they seemed to be more enamoured with her.' Powell signed off from Electric Circus in 2000 by popping a bottle of champagne on-air as the dancers surrounded her. Together, they rushed onto the streets outside the studio, everyone bobbing to the groove of a disco beat. 'I will never, ever forget this,' Powell said while clutching armfuls of bouquets and stuffed animals. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She assured viewers she wasn't leaving TV entirely. Her next stop was as a business reporter at news channel CablePulse 24, now known as CP24, a role she insisted wasn't so different 'because money is very sexy, too.' Read More However, Powell would eventually drift away from her role as a TV personality, and friends say she became accustomed to a more private life. She founded media consulting company Powell International Entertainment Inc. and took advisory roles at the United Nations, World Economic Forum and the World Bank. In 2009, she wrote her first book, 33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business Using Social Networking . This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. By then, she had already found a new calling in the fast-evolving world of technology, eventually becoming a voice for the societal risks of a world dominated by artificial intelligence. In 2014, she met Kleiner through a mutual friend who felt they could be fruitful collaborators on the ethics of tech. Kleiner said the intellectual spark between them happened quickly and he saw an opportunity to work together. 'She commands the room just in the way she shows up,' he said, pointing to YouTube videos of her conversations about unconscious biases in technology, data ownership and privacy. The pair published the 2023 book The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology , which explored the risks and misuses of machine learning. It expanded on her interests in the intersection of media, technology and ethics, a topic she taught as part of NYU's faculty in the interactive telecommunications program. Last year, they founded Kleiner Powell International, an AI consultancy firm for business clients, one of several projects he said Powell was working on up until her final days. 'Everyone that I talked to had some future thing they planned with Juliette.' Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances! NHL Celebrity Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Editorials
Winnipeg Free Press
10 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Animated documentary bite-sized chunk of family life
At the close of the Hot Docs Festival in May, in a field of dozens of live-action films, it was the animated feature Endless Cookie that took home the $50,000 Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, a prize determined by audience poll. Endless Cookie • Directed by Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver • Dave Barber Cinematheque • 97 minutes • Opens Friday, runs to June 22 It was no small achievement for co-directing brothers Seth Scriver, 47, a seasoned artist and animator, and Peter Scriver, 62, a man of many talents, including carver, trapper and poet. Peter, who is of white/Cree lineage, lives in Shamattawa First Nation in Northern Manitoba, 744 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Seth, who is white, is based in the city of his birth, Toronto. The urban/wilderness dynamic between them yields material that is powerful and relevant. But still … a documentary? The film is, after all, a cartoon, and one that is flagrantly impressionistic when it comes to hard-nosed reality. Peter's daughter Cookie, for example, is drawn as an actual chocolate-chip cookie; his dog Nutty is portrayed as Mr. Peanut. The overall look of the film suggests an underground comic come to life. Seth Scriver admits, when the film — which debuted at Sundance 2025 and opened imagineNATIVE 2025 — was presented at Hot Docs, the brothers were surprised it was so fervently embraced by the documentary realm. 'It was funny. We weren't trying to make a (documentary) genre film. It was more like … What is this?' he says. But he and his brother grew to accept the classification. 'It's a documentary because it's real stories. It's like a real family portrait, even though it seems unbelievable. Most of it is based in some reality,' Seth says. Most of the action is set in Shamattawa, where Seth interviews Peter about his life, including their lives together, stemming from a shared coming-of-age in Toronto, where their white father ran a vintage clothing shop in Kensington Market. In contrast to the crazy streets of '80s-era urban Toronto, the scenes in Shamattawa are linked into a familial community, especially Peter's sizable brood of nine children. And therein lies the film's distinction. Supplied It took Seth Scriver nine years to animate the movie. Supplied It took Seth Scriver nine years to animate the movie. When Seth originally discussed the movie with his brother, the idea was to make a film that would just take a couple of years to finish. It ended up being nine years in the making. Part of the reason is that Seth animated the film almost entirely by himself. But also, the project transformed when Seth realized he couldn't make a conventional animation with typically pristine audio. 'Originally, when we started, it was going to be straight-up good recording with no interruption, but Pete lives in a four-bedroom house with nine kids and 16 dogs, so it's insane to try to record anything,' says Seth. Supplied Peter Scriver is a trapper, carver and poet. Supplied Peter Scriver is a trapper, carver and poet. 'So eventually, we gave into the insanity and let it go.' Endless Cookie presents a picture of Indigenous life that veers away from the sombre, serious depictions prevalent in most films that take on the subject. The kids are funny and, cartoon distortion notwithstanding, real. They even contribute their own creativity to the mix with both animation and music. 'It's not for everyone, but we've been really lucky that it's been embraced so much, and people can relate to it,' Seth says. 'Because everyone has crazy families.' Randall KingReporter In a way, Randall King was born into the entertainment beat. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
