advocacy

DOC Celebrates The Passing of Bill C-11 in the Senate

April 27, 2023

 Toronto – Thursday, April 27th, 2023 – The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) celebrates the passing of Bill C-11 in the Senate after important revisions in the House of Commons last month. After years of effort to update the broadcasting system and address the concerns of Canada’s production sector, Canadian MPs and Senators have finally agreed and Bill C-11 will now receive Royal Assent. 

DOC congratulates and thanks Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and MP Peter Julian for their important work to modernize the Broadcasting Act, and the Heritage Minister’s staff whose attentiveness to the cultural sector’s needs has resulted in important progress for our industry, including language ensuring that Canada’s most diverse group of creators – documentary filmmakers – have protections within the Bill. 

Documentary filmmakers are one of the most socio-economically, culturally and racially diverse creative communities in Canada, deeply committed to a genre of filmmaking that has never been more important to understanding the world around us. Ensuring that the CRTC has the tools to protect and promote documentary films is a clear pathway to achieving the objectives of Bill C-11. 

Adds DOC’s Executive Director Sarah Spring: “The passage of Bill C-11 marks an incredible milestone in modernizing our broadcasting system, and we look forward to working with the CRTC to ensure the longevity of Canada’s cultural autonomy. DOC encourages the Heritage Minister to issue a policy direction that points to the important role of documentary films, the importance of Indigenous, Black and racialized content creators in shaping our cultural output, and the importance of holding all companies to the same regulatory standard be they foreign owned and controlled or Canadian. These pillars can ensure that a diversity of Canadians will continue to be able to develop, produce and share our own stories.” 

 

About DOC 

The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) is the collective voice of Canada’s independent documentary creators. Founded in 1983 to represent the interests of Canada’s growing community of indie doc filmmakers, today DOC has over 1300 members across six chapters from coast to coast. DOC conducts valuable research and advocacy work that strengthens the ecosystem for documentary production, and runs National programs that support our community. DOC’s mandate as a member-driven organization is to advocate for an equitable, sustainable environment for documentary production and to strengthen the sector within the broader cultural industry. 

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