Source : Globe & Mail

Health Minister Tony Clement was on TV yesterday, announcing a new Canada's Food Guide.

The guide tells Canadians to limit consumption of certain foods and recommends consumption of others.

As far as I know, nobody was complaining about Ottawa providing guidelines about healthy eating and living. Online newspapers and discussion forums were not inundated with people complaining about government interference in their lives.

And that reminds me of something. You've probably heard the phrase "nanny nation." It is widely used in Britain and Australia, and sometimes in the U.S., to sarcastically describe a situation in which the government overprotects its citizens through endless regulation, suggestions and guidelines.

It's not much used in Canada because we actually accept regulation here. We expect the government to provide certain services, protections and guidelines. We don't think of ourselves as a nanny nation.

Mind you, when it comes to our cultural industries, especially TV, what we are is a ninny nation.

If a government or a cultural group suggests that supporting the creation and consumption of Canadian TV is necessary, some people in Canada go berserk. It's all very peculiar and ninny-ish.

Canadians read Canadian newspapers, watch Canadian news programs, follow Canadian sports, buy music by Canadian musicians and read Canadian books.

What we don't do is go to movie theatres to see Canadian movies. Sometimes we watch Canadian TV drama and comedy, but we're choosy about it. A lot of Canadians feel that Canadian television just isn't as attractive, sexy and tasty as American TV. It's rather like the perceived difference between homemade and store-bought stuff.

So, when the cable companies Shaw and Vidéotron grumbled about contributing to the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) to support the creation of Canadian TV, a sizable number of people actually supported the cable companies. As if, you know, the cable barons were looking out for consumers and standing up for freedom of choice.

I get mail from such people. The experience is like getting mail from people who think Canada's Food Guide is crap, and somebody should stand up for those who want to eat Twinkies, French fries and cheesies all day, every day.

And so, in our ninny nation, once again Canadian TV is in a crisis situation. This week, various players in the Canadian TV industry will troop off to Ottawa and talk about the need for the CTF to be supported by both government and the cable companies.

Last week, Heritage Minister Bev Oda met with the grumbling cable guys. What happened is unclear, but the guy from Shaw seemed convinced afterward that the cable company wouldn't need to give money to the CTF. What he said was, "It's dead. Done. Gone."

It looks like Shaw and Vidéotron will get away with stopping their contributions. That means, I'm told by sources in the TV industry, that the money available for supporting Canadian TV will, ultimately, be reduced by 60 per cent .

The government has guaranteed to support the CTF over the next two years, but this is a cunning ruse. It isolates Canadian TV, putting it into a position where it appears to be supported only by government funds and regulation, and, therefore, must be an indulgence that should be wiped out in a free-market economy.

The ninny reaction is to support this. The ninny reaction is to forget conveniently that, once upon a time, the Canadian music industry was a fragile thing, supported largely by Canadian-content requirements on radio stations. The broadcasters, like the cable companies and broadcasters today, balked at the requirement. They claimed it infringed on "choice" and the free market of public taste in popular music. But the Cancon requirement worked well. It nurtured an industry that is now healthy and has an impact all over the world. And the radio broadcasters actually did continue to make vast profits.

In fact, there are clear similarities between the Canadian music and the Canadian TV situations, especially in the context of the current flap about the CTF.

For years, FACTOR (the Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Recordings) has distributed funds from broadcasters and the federal government to support and nurture Canadian music talent. It worked. It works now.

Finally, one complaint from Shaw is that it is forced to give money to the CTF, "to produce Canadian television programming that few watch and has no commercial or exportable value."

On the weekend, I learned that Intelligence, the CBC drama that has been well reviewed but hasn't gained a huge audience, has just started airing on a specialty channel in Britain. It's doing well. The Guardian reviewed it and concluded: "Not as metaphysically troubled as The Sopranos or stylistically swamped as CSI, it warrants attention." It's gaining an audience there and will probably end up being seen in dozens of countries.

Even a ninny would call that "exportable value."

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