Canada and culture, can current cultural policies be sustained in the global trade regime?

by Gottselig, Glenn A.

This thesis examines certain examples that are representative of the Canadian federal government's current fiamework supporting the Canadian cultural industries with a view to deterrnining whether these policies can be maintained with the global trading regime- These policies are examined in light of the relevant provisions of the GATT, the GATS and the NAFTA, as well as the proposed Multilaterai Agreement on hvestment. Three cases are investigated including : the provisions of the agreement between Canada and the United States resolving the magazine dispute; the CBC proposals to the CRTC conceming the fiiture of the CBC; and the recommendations regarding the Canadian film industry put forward by the Feature Film Advisory Committee. The investigation of these cases reveals that current Canadian cultural policies may be coming perilously close to violating Canada's commitments to trade under the international agreements. Prior to the analysis of the above cases, current policies and programs within the periodical publishing, film and video and public television broadcasting industries are examined so as to provide a context for the analysis of the above cases.