Source : Globe & Mail

It's all happening in the Ottawa area.

This is no surprise to the vast army of MPs, their staff, the civil servants, the lobbyists and the media there. People who toil in Toronna are accused of believing they're at the centre of the universe, but they're in the outer reaches of the stratosphere as far as the crowd in Ottawa are concerned. And, yep, for the past few days, Ottawa is where the action is.

Question Period has become glorious TV to watch this week. Honestly, it has. I wouldn't lie to you about a thing like that.

Stéphane (Da Dynamo) Dion has been up on his feet and asking pesky questions. Our Glorious Leader has been trying to adjust to having a Leader of the Opposition, and the gestures, expressions and body language have been fascinating to watch. It's like a new TV drama drawing you in, such are the twists and turns as the dynamics and characters of the narrative are established.

On Tuesday, Da Dynamo got up and asked a provocative question about RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli and what the government was going to do about his weirdly scrambled testimony about the Arar affair. In turn, OGL got up and, after ostentatiously buttoning up his jacket (oh boy, the body language — talk about a defensive gesture, putting on your armour), prattled for a bit, and then threw an insult at Da Dynamo, claiming that the Liberal Party was notoriously hostile to the RCMP.

It was a loaded, below-the-belt blow, suggesting all kinds of unsavoury shenanigans that the cops might be interested in. Da Dynamo was gloriously oblivious to this stuff as he got up to further his questioning. It was, and fair due to him, a masterful performance. Focused, unflappable and incognizant of the insult, he just kept hammering at the issue. I'm not sure OGL understands what he's up against, with Da Dynamo asking the questions. Button-up, mister. Bring on the same-sex marriage debate. Bring on the Wheat Board arguments, for that matter.

Meanwhile, down the road in Gatineau, Que., the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission hearings rumble on, as the agency continues its review of the regulatory framework for Canadian over-the-air television.

In recent days, various groups representing the creative people who perform in, or write and direct, Canadian TV shows, have been making their pitch to the CRTC. Bluntly, they want the expenditure requirements for Canadian programming, particularly drama, reinstated. Specifically, it is the joint position of all the creative groups that over-the-air broadcasters must spend at least 7 per cent of their gross ad revenue on Canadian drama.

None of this drama has been on TV, but portions could be seen on the CRTC website. You can also read the transcripts of the session on the CRTC's website, as I did.

It makes for surreal and disheartening reading. It appears the pitch made by the creative groups isn't taken seriously by the CRTC. In particular, it is dismaying to read the comments and questions of Commissioner Richard French, a person widely expected to be the next chair of the CRTC. From his remarks, it seems that to call him a skeptic about Canadian-content regulation would be an understatement.

Responding to suggestions from Tim Southam, an excellent, skilled director, who represented the Directors Guild in asking that the 7-per-cent minimum be imposed on broadcasters, French replied with apparent irony: "We are going to require them to invest a minimum of their revenue in Canadian drama. We are going to require them to produce a minimum amount per week. We are going to tell them when they have to schedule that drama. We are going to require them to pay an unspecified amount for an unspecified source to promote the drama. We are going to require them to take a percentage of the total moneys and invest them in the development of scripts and projects. We are going to regulate the entertainment shows so that only real, legitimate, bona-fide Canadians get built into stars in our star system promotion machinery. You know, I know the purposes for all those recommendations and, you know, I see the happy coincidence between your members' interests and the Canadian public interest, but I submit to you that there is not a hell of a lot left for a programmer to do after you or we have told them to do all those things, is there?"

Oh dear. Those poor broadcasters, being stuck with obligations and responsibilities. It would be so much easier if they only had to mosey off to L.A., buy some U.S. shows and simulcast them.

Cry me a river, Commissioner. The vastly profitable commercial broadcasting racket in Canada doesn't need a break. It needs regulation and a sharp reminder about cultural responsibility. Later, they can cry all the way to the banks. These days, the CRTC's policy is to pamper the pampered and let everyone thrive except the creative community in Canadian TV. And yes, it's a disgrace.

Finally, and happily, it wasn't all dour drama in Gatineau. The distinguished actor R.H. Thomson, appearing as part of an ACTRA presentation to the CRTC, began with this bit of fun: "I am R.H. Thomson, thank you for having me here. I am sorry I am 'R.H.' My name had to be approved through New York when I joined the union ... there is a Robert Thomson who lives in Chicago. So I am 'R.H.,' but I am also RH positive, which, in fact, is my blood type. So there you go, I come by it honestly."

Give him his own show. Mind you, the CRTC is unlikely to let that happen. That's Ottawa for you.

© Globe and Mail