CCA Bulletin 4/11 - From the Desk of Alain Pineau: Members of Parliament return to the Hill

With January already behind us, politicians are back in Ottawa today to resume their legislative business. All this in the midst of increasing speculation that the life of this Parliament may come to an end as soon as the Minister of Finance stands up in the House of Commons to deliver the budget speech. Speculation will likely continue for the next eight to 10 weeks. 

As it happens, the CCA will be very active around the Hill this week with a number of events. Here are some key activities to look out for.

Copyright Bill C-32 hearing

The CCA will appear before the legislative committee on Bill C-32 tomorrow, February 1, at 11 am (EST) .  We will be on the same panel as Bill Freeman of the Creators' Copyright Coalition. Tune in on Parlvu to hear us discuss why we believe that as it now stands, Bill C-32 is not in the best interest of artists and creators and detrimental to Canada’s global competitiveness. The main criticism that will be raised by the CCA is that the bill proposes a “one-size-fits-all” approach which clearly satisfies the big players and international business interests, but which is totally irrelevant to the majority of Canadian musicians, writers, actors, painters and other artists and cultural creators.  In its current form, C-32 sets the stage for the destruction of the collective system of rights management. As an alternative, the bill offers an unworkable remedy of implementing digital locks and relying on litigation, two options artists neither want nor can afford. Worse still, the bill takes away recognized rights and revenue – over $ 126 million a year and counting - in exchange for vague promises of a better future. (more)