To what extent do you think the U.S.-Canadian magazine dispute was motivated by genuine desires to protect Canadian culture?
The media plays a critical role in the dissemination and preservation of cultural values in any nation. When the US entertainment industry invades and dominates Canadian media, I am not surprised to see defensive reactions from the Canadian government in an attempt to preserve its culture. After conducting some research to see how severely the US entertainment industry has invaded Canadian market, I found out that, during the time of the magazine trade dispute between Canada and the US, “between 60 and 95 percent of film, television, music, and publishing markets [in Canada] are controlled by Americans, [and] four in every five magazines sold in Canada are foreign publications” …show more content…
In this case, Canada’s domestic magazine industry is an important representation of Canadian culture, and this cultural representation is at risk of being outrun by foreign competition. Therefore, in order to preserve Canadian culture, a subsidy is called for. In this case, I believe it is fair to use taxes to subsidize local publications, even when parts of these taxes come from Canadians who only read foreign magazines. After all, domestic producers are the ones who create wealth for the nation as a whole, and this economic wealth in turn supports all Canadians. Meanwhile, foreign magazine publishers who sell within Canadian markets only pull wealth away from Canada. The money that is earned from foreign magazines do not cycle back to support Canadian economy. Therefore, it is only fair that these foreign competitors pay extra taxes if they want to compete against domestic producers. These extra tax rates would ensure that foreign producers do not drain too much wealth from Canadian
The media plays a critical role in the dissemination and preservation of cultural values in any nation. When the US entertainment industry invades and dominates Canadian media, I am not surprised to see defensive reactions from the Canadian government in an attempt to preserve its culture. After conducting some research to see how severely the US entertainment industry has invaded Canadian market, I found out that, during the time of the magazine trade dispute between Canada and the US, “between 60 and 95 percent of film, television, music, and publishing markets [in Canada] are controlled by Americans, [and] four in every five magazines sold in Canada are foreign publications” …show more content…
In this case, Canada’s domestic magazine industry is an important representation of Canadian culture, and this cultural representation is at risk of being outrun by foreign competition. Therefore, in order to preserve Canadian culture, a subsidy is called for. In this case, I believe it is fair to use taxes to subsidize local publications, even when parts of these taxes come from Canadians who only read foreign magazines. After all, domestic producers are the ones who create wealth for the nation as a whole, and this economic wealth in turn supports all Canadians. Meanwhile, foreign magazine publishers who sell within Canadian markets only pull wealth away from Canada. The money that is earned from foreign magazines do not cycle back to support Canadian economy. Therefore, it is only fair that these foreign competitors pay extra taxes if they want to compete against domestic producers. These extra tax rates would ensure that foreign producers do not drain too much wealth from Canadian