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Wilson opposes publishing safeguards
Year Published: 1992Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX4433 Abstract: Trade Minister Michael Wilson strongly opposes Canada's current policy of attempting to strengthen Canadian ownership and distribution in book publishing. The policy is "contentious and costly", Wilson wrote last year in a memo to the Communications minister. Wilson opposed a provision requiring publishing firms bought by foreigners to be brought under 51 per cent Canadian control within two years. "This requirement runs counter to the government's open-for-business philosophy... and could pose a continuing irritant to our relations with the United States", Wilson wrote in a letter obtained by the Toronto Star newspaper. As Trade Minister, Wilson is supposedly responsible for defending Canadian cultural industries in the current round of free trade negotiations with the United States and Mexico. Americans lobbyists are pushing hard for the removal of remaining Canadian cultural protection policies. At present, Americans control 93 per cent of Canada's movie and video business, 90 per cent of the recording industry, and 92 per cent of book publishing. They receive about $350 million a year from TV program sales in Canada. Cultural products are the United States' second largest export, after arms sales. |