Source : Hollywood Reporter

The Canadian film and TV industry breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday following an election that saw the right-of-center Conservatives take control of the government, but with a limited minority mandate.

Despite winning 124 of 308 seats in the House of Commons, the victorious Conservatives, under Prime Minister-elect Stephen Harper, will need support from political rivals to push through an agenda that includes the deregulation of domestic broadcasting and possibly allowing first-time foreign control of Canadian cablecasters, phone giants and other content carriers.

Canadian industry players insist the Conservatives appear to have backtracked on previous pledges to gut the taxpayer-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corp., the nation's public broadcaster, and allow other changes in the broadcasting and media sector.

"There weren't a lot of details in the Conservatives' election platform, but there's nothing that stands out immediately to say they will cut and destroy," said Pamela Brand, national executive director of the Directors Guild of Canada.

Ian Morrison, a spokesman for the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, which represents about 50,000 TV viewers here, said the Conservatives appear to have put previous publicly stated antipathy to the CBC behind them to help build their election win over the departing Liberals.

Conservative culture critic Bev Oda, a former broadcaster and Canadian TV regulator, voiced support for the CBC during the recent election campaign, while calling for a review of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the country's TV watchdog.

Oda was re-elected to her rural Ontario electoral district and is expected to become Canada's next federal heritage minister, responsible for culture and broadcasting.

Private Canadian broadcasters were coy Tuesday about the Conservative victory, with Canadian Association of Broadcasters CEO Glenn O'Farrell offering only his congratulations to the Tories with no additional comment.

Private broadcasters stand to gain handsomely from the Conservatives as the political party's election platform talked about deregulating the Canadian broadcast system and making private broadcasters more "businesslike" in an increasingly fragmented market.

The Writers Guild of Canada urged the incoming Conservatives to strengthen Canadian-content regulations for private broadcasters, which could limit the ability of private networks to air lucrative U.S. network series in primetime.

"We will push the Conservatives to put minimum Canadian drama spending requirements in place when broadcast licenses come up for renewal over the next two years," WGC executive director Maureen Parker said Tuesday.

She said private broadcasters currently enjoy regulatory protection from U.S. media players, and receive generous subsidies from Ottawa.

Parker said that government coddling came as private broadcasters were spending more on acquiring U.S. network series for primetime and less on original dramas written by Canadian screenwriters.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, Canada's performers union, said it will oppose possible moves by the Conservatives to relax rules barring foreign control of Canadian media interests, and also will urge the next Parliament to re-impose spending and drama content obligations on private television broadcasters abandoned in 2000.

"This new government cannot ignore 700,000 jobs, and a $26 billion industry," ACTRA national president Richard Hardacre said.

In addition to Oda, other former broadcasters fared well in the federal election. Author and well-known British TV presenter Michael Ignatief was elected as a Liberal in a Toronto district, as was actress Tina Keeper, star of "North of 60," who will represent the Liberals in Canada's north.

Controversial Quebec radio shock-jock Andre Arthur also was elected and will sit in the House of Commons in Ottawa as an independent.

Among those going down to defeat was Conservative candidate Peter Kent, a veteran Canadian broadcaster and brother of Arthur Kent, NBC News' one-time Gulf War "Scud Stud."

In addition, outgoing heritage minister Liz Frulla, herself a prominent Quebec broadcaster before entering federal politics, lost her seat in Quebec City.

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said he will step down as leader of the Liberals after that party came away Monday night with 103 seats. The opposition Bloc Quebecois picked up another 51 seats, while the NDP grabbed 29 seats in the next Parliament.

© Hollywood Reporter