Editorials - Jan. 5, 2024

The year kicked off on a high note with the inaugural match of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) on Jan. 1, 2024. From the stands, a capacity crowd in Toronto cheered on the players as they skated out to much fanfare. Hundreds of little girls looked down, sporting new PWHL toques and beaming with the knowledge that they, too, could make a career out of their favourite sport. The dream of getting paid to play hockey is no longer exclusive to little boys.

 

With a back-to-basics, six-team league, the PWHL looks like it is off to a winning start. The league is bringing an exciting, physical game to the fans. Toronto is even back in the former Maple Leaf Gardens on Carlton Street (now the Mattamy Athletic Centre, owned by Toronto Metropolitan University). Toronto has sold out its entire 12-game season before ever taking the ice, and, despite being on the wrong end of a 4-0 score, looks poised to be competitive in a promising professional league.

 

New York defender Ella Shelton from Ilderton, Ontario will go down in the annals of hockey history, after scoring the first goal ever in the league. The puck was whisked away quickly, to be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. We’re looking forward to many seasons of great hockey from these professional athletes. – DS

The coming year will be one of uncertainty in the North American political landscape. South of the border, in all likelihood, incumbent President Joe Biden will take on criminal bozo Donald Trump to be the leader of the free world. Here, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears determined to weather a political storm rarely seen in Canada.

 

Trump is actively engaging in some pretty scary rhetoric and, even if his behaviour didn’t have some comparing his tactics to those of Adolf Hitler, there’s another cause for concern, which is that, on the day of the election, Trump will be 78 years young, while Biden will be days away from turning 82. With a four-year term ahead of the winner, whoever it may be, it’s understandable that young voters of all political stripes wonder what’s in it for them, while reporters may be wondering how many times they’ll have to shout their questions at a loud volume.

 

In regards to Trudeau, Canadian media was awash at the turn of the calendars with stories about what’s next for him. Why is he holding on so tight? What will be his next move? How will he combat the ever-growing hate directed at him? Many Canadians think Trudeau’s well is poisoned. Will he eventually resign? And if so, who will replace him? Will an early election be called? Will the NDP maintain its support of him? When Ontarians hate-voted against the Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne tag team, we got Doug Ford. Could the same happen with 2023 Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year Pierre Poilievre?

 

With all of the international unrest, stability at home would be nice, but, at this point, it seems like a luxury we can’t afford. Though, say what you will about Canadian politics, but, regardless of the outcome, our next leader will still have to pay full price for a movie ticket. – SL 

Canadian filmmaker Matt Johnson takes the Canadian part of his job pretty seriously. His 2023 film, BlackBerry, depicts the real-life rise and fall of Waterloo-based tech company Research in Motion. Filmed on location in Ontario, the film had a largely Canadian cast, and its post-production was handled entirely by Goderich-based Faux Pop Media. BlackBerry has made its way onto many year-end top 10 lists - including Barack Obama’s - a big win for Canadian content, aka CanCon.

 

But Johnson recently penned an essay for Maclean’s magazine that points out a major flaw in the CanCon system. The laws of CanCon are governed by organizations like Telefilm Canada, and define what film, television and music can be officially designated as “Canadian”. These laws, crafted before the advent of streaming services, were originally laid out as a way to protect and respect Canadian creators by promoting homegrown work within the country. Johnson highlights a paradox that this has caused in the Canadian film industry - successful works by Canadians don’t count as CanCon if funded by American studios, which decreases their contribution to Canada’s cultural identity and economy. Johnson posits that Telefilm Canada’s overly restrictive funding criteria limits the industry’s growth. American streaming services like Netflix are excluded by CanCon restrictions, meaning that one of the largest production companies operating in Canada is unable to create CanCon - even when filming in Canada with an all-Canadian cast and crew.

 

Johnson advocates that the focus should be on national investment in successful films by Canadian filmmakers, even ones backed by American studios. This could generate revenue that would then be reinvested in smaller, wholly Canadian projects. This would foster talent, retain filmmakers within Canada, and prioritize creative ownership over financial ownership - a novel concept that could inject a whole lot more “Can” into CanCon. – SBS