After the government of Ontario announced that it would shut down all non-essential workplaces as part of the effort to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, it became necessary to define which workplaces were and were not “essential”. On March 25th the government of Ontario released its official list of essential workplaces. Included were two categories that are central to this course: “Telecommunications and IT infrastructure/service providers” and “Communications Industries”.
The first category is described by the government as follows:
– Businesses engaged in providing or supporting Information Technology (IT) including online services, software products and related services, as well as the technical facilities such as data centres and other network facilities necessary for their operation and delivery
– Businesses providing telecommunications services (phone, internet, radio, cell phones etc.) as well as support facilities such as call centres necessary for their operation and delivery
Nothing above is very controversial. We have seen how important ensuring the continued operation of telecommunications infrastructure is as work, school, and even socializing with family and friends has moved almost completely online as the world begins to shelter-in-pace.
What is more interesting is how the government chose to define the second category. Only three short bullet point elaborated what “Communications Industries” consisted of:
– Newspaper Publishers
– Radio & Television Broadcasters
– Telecommunications Providers
Given what we discussed throughout this class about what constitutes “communications” (i.e. almost everything) I would guess that you would all agree with me that this list represents a fairly limited conception of what “communications industries” consist of. This is yet another example of an official government definition that includes only the most traditional forms of media.
The publication of the Public Policy Forum’s “Shattered Mirror” report in January 2017, which found that one-third of journalism jobs in Canada had disappeared over a six-year span, led the Liberal government to eventually respond with a $600 million media bailout in the form of a tex credit for “journalism organizations”. The 2019 budget stated that an “independent administrative body” be created in order to determine eligibility criteria.
This eventually took the form of the Journalism and Written Media Independent Panel of Experts, who, in there report for Finance Minister Bill Morneau, outlined there proposed interpretation rules. eligibility for the tax credit would require accreditation as a “Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization (QCJO)”. The definition of a QCJO is extensive (I encourage you to check out the report linked below), but the main gist of it is that the organization “must devote its time primarily to the production of original written news content for Canadian audiences”. This definition leaves many non-traditional news platforms, especially freelancers and online video-journalism organizations, unable to access tax breaks that will save giant foreign-owned legacy media operations like Post Media millions of dollars a year.
We increasingly rely on non-traditional media as sources of news and entertainment, but we continue to see both federal and provincial governments fail to include them in their considerations of media or communications industries. the Ontario government’s limited definition of communications industries in their list of essential workplaces is yet another example of this and does not indicate that things will change anytime soon.
Sources:
Ontario Government’s list of essential workplaces: https://www.ontario.ca/page/list-essential-workplaces
The Public Policy Forum’s 2017 “Shattered Mirror” Report: https://shatteredmirror.ca/
Excerpt from the 2019 Federal Budget (page 173):
Supporting Canadian Journalism
A strong and independent news media is crucial to a well-functioning
democracy. Recognizing the vitally important role the media play in helping
citizens make informed decisions about important issues, in the 2018 Fall
Economic Statement the Government announced its intention to introduce
three new tax measures to support Canadian journalism:
• A new refundable tax credit for journalism organizations.
• A new non-refundable tax credit for subscriptions to Canadian digital news.
• Access to charitable tax incentives for not-for-profit journalism.
As previously announced, the Government will establish an independent panel
of experts from the Canadian journalism sector to assist the Government in
implementing these measures, including recommending eligibility criteria.
Given the importance of ensuring that media outlets are able to operate with
full independence, the Government proposes to establish an independent
administrative body that will be responsible for recognizing journalism organizations as being eligible for any of the three measures.
Report of the Journalism and Written Media Independent Panel of Experts: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/corporate/transparency/open-government/report-journalism-written-media.html
Kieran Delamont, “Canadian Media Is Getting A Bailout. Its Freelancers Aren’t.”: https://www.canadalandshow.com/no-media-bailout-for-canadian-freelancers/