We have seen the enemy and he is James Moore.
“The government is committed to ensuring that foreign investments benefit Canadians. We will review Target’s proposal and make an announcement in due course,” James Maunder, director of communications for Moore, said Thursday in an emailed statement.
Target’s plans to sell cultural content such as books, CDs and DVDs will be subject to a net-benefit test under the Investment Canada Act. Cases are approved based on a commitment to Canadian content.
Sounds like he has been sipping too much water over at the CBC building.
Glad to see Kate mention this but…come on you only just noticed that the left has infiltrated the CPC? I’ve seen the enemy and it’s the HarperCons.
does target benefit the canadian consumer ? does wallymart,starbucks,apple ad nauseam benefit canadians ? does james moore benfit canadians ?
re:
I’ve seen the enemy and it’s the HarperCons.
Posted by: LAS at April 6, 2012 1:14 PM
I’ve MET the enemy and it’s leftover liebral appointees…
This is an obvious location to look for an excess of bureaucrats. More savings coming!
#Iveseentheenemy
I smell a trend here
isn’t there a law that requires them to do what “he’s” doing?
I smell the enemy and she is u.
More and more, Moore comes across as a leftist ideologue. What an idiot. Who care if Target carries any Canadian content. If there is a demand for such I’m sure Target will react and fill that demand, otherwise they won’t. That’s the world of commerce.
BTW, cabmins don’t see everything every assistant associate deputy assistant minister writes or sends out for press release…there aren’t enough hours in the day for a Minister to read that much drivel…and many, if not all senior bureaucrats at that level are highly politicized..that’s why they were appointed…especially the otherwise unemployable ones the liebrals appointed that now try to make end runs around Conservative cabmins to either negate their policies through regulation or to deliberately try to make them look bad when the public assumes that what the bureaucrats say and do is what the Minister means and wants…case in point was the ammunition regulations…written by a liebral quisling but blamed on a Conservative Minister…luckily that was quashed in time, but there are so many more moonbats with signing authority…
The bottom line is that if the “Canadian content” has any value it will sell without government interference. Otherwise it is just a lot of crap being imposed on us to which I object.
And… it will have to be pronounced “Tar-jay” in all advertising.
When HBC was bought by a US firm was any such review conducted? Anyone know? This act sounds like a great candidate for being repealed. Write your MP. My MP is a dipper so I won’t waste the stamp.
Where is the Canadian version of the ‘Commerce Clause’ in the Constitution?
When do we get free trade between the provinces and not just NAFTA?
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
No Canadian with real talent, requires so-called “Canadian Content” for their success.
James Moore proves that all Red Tories did not go away with Joke Lark.
And this with a majority.
Preston Manning was right when he said, “when you go to Ottawa, you become Ottawashed.”
Jimbob wrote: I smell the enemy and she is u.
————————————————
Is James Moore’s middle name Robert by any chance?
Posted by: Alain at April 6, 2012 1:29 PM
Just so. The whole idea of the federal government regulating, mandating and enforcing “canadian content”, is completely fascist.
Why should consumers or taxpayers be forced to subsidize second-rate musicians, writers and artists? If somebody wants to make their living drawing, or painting, then let them sink or swim commercially, and do whatever else they like on the side. If their “artistic” stuff has no merit, then tough: it won’t sell. There’s a reason “starving artists” starve. Ditto for worthless musicians; they get a free ride on canadian airwaves with enforced cancon requirements. How ELSE would the tragically hip ever get airplay?
I’m sick of the freeloaders sucking at the public teat in the name of their “art” and “canadian content”. If our culture is so frail or useless that it requires statist enforcement to survive, it’s not worth keeping.
mhb23re at gmail d0t calm
Canadian content is just another way to tell us that our artists suck. They are mostly inept and untalented and could not support themselves without government hand outs and programs. The really talented ones leave Canada and make the real money elsewhere.
How tough can it be to meet CANCON requirements?
Stock a small shelf with DVDs of Porky’s, Porky’s II, and Porky’s Revenge.
The Compleat Works of Pierre Berton.
Anne Murray’s Greatest Hits.
The Plouffe Family, Gordie Tapp and Stompin Tom.
And a few copies of “There’s one born every minute”, by David Suzuki.
Frank Q.: “Preston Manning was right when he said, ‘when you go to Ottawa, you become Ottawashed.’ ”
He oughta know.
How tough can it be to meet CANCON requirements?
Stock a small shelf with DVDs of Porky’s, Porky’s II, and Porky’s Revenge.
Hahahahahaha. Good stuff.
Dystopian Optimist, you forgot Mr. Dress Up and his Tickle Trunk. I wonder if there’s a Chinese knockoff of Casey and Finnegan?
The ‘Canadian content’ shelves I’ve seen over the years can be easily identified by the ‘7 for 99 cents’ discount signs.
This guy Moore is no different than Marc Lalonde, who mastered the NEP, and stuck his nose in when there was talk of the NFL expanding into Canada, huffing and puffing that it would destroy the CFL.
Moore is also considered ‘one of ours’ as far as the CBC is concerned.
He’s the federal cabinet counterpart to Red Ali.
The hypocrisy of liberal media is gob smacking, they screech and scream that the new fighter jet projections aren’t the same as the AG but they think smothering new business with stupidity is progressive. Frankly Moore should be fired ASAP.
Mr.Moore should visit Wal-mart,Zellers,Princess Auto,Canadian Tire and Home Depot,where he will find very little Canadian content, but loads and loads of Chinese Content.
Why are “artists” entitled to special protection?
Is Margaret Atwood more important than five million “Joe the Plumbers”?
From the linked article: “Millions of dollars of direct federal investments in the cultural sector could potentially be undercut if Canadian publishers take a financial hit from the entrance of a large foreign retailer into the Canadian market. The federal government invests around $30 million annually in Canadian publishing houses.”
Well, there’s your problem right there. Cut the parasites loose.
andyc:
for years, status conscious middle class American wives have used the “tar-jay” pronounciation to avoid the declasse implications of “I’m going to visit wal-mart”. And, having visited them in the US, Target is, by a very narrow margin, slightly more up-market than the beast from Bentonville.
But seriously – do the miniminds in Oddawa really think that if I’m looking for a book by a Canadian author, and I can’t find it at Target, I’m going to throw up my hands, give up, and buy an American book instead? Yeesh.
I dunno guys, I feel a little lost sometimes and I rely on the government to guide me to show me what my culture is.
Otherwise how would I know what I like and appreciate?
It’s a big scary world out there, and without the government to tell us what our culture is it all falls apart.
If we all thought for ourselves we could end up with diversity!
Much better to have the nanny state gently steer us in the direction of correct thoughts…
Shaddup!
Uh….er…. but aren’t we supposed to be becoming more diverse culturally?
How does this work, we have whole government departments promoting cultural diversity and another pack of government loons like Moore promoting conformity?
Is there any way we could get the two departments together?
Maybe they would destroy themselves like a matter/antimatter explosion?
Or would they mate, and produce something even more bizarre?
And look at all the Canadian content at your friendly local Chapters/Indigo bookstore. Or at HMV (CD’s &DVD’s). Not.
My guess is that there were complaints made to the govt about ‘this evil American store moving into Canada’ and ‘taking our business away’.
As you can see from the link, the Canadian publishers also complained that ‘it’s hard to sell Canadian books’ (so what; tough for them). So, to show that ‘the govt cares about Canada’, they have to do this overview.
It’s all public relations. Harper is a smart economist, a promoter of free market capitalism, and doesn’t move into a statist authoritarianism. Remember, not all Canadians are rightwingers and the govt is their govt too.
So, Moore been in the sack with Barlowe or Peter C.?
Who said ‘both’?
James @ 1;31
You don’t need any postage to mail a letter to your MP
Do works by authors such as Levant, Steyn, Coren, Gavin McInnes, etc. count as Canadian content or does only progressive Canadian content count?
I start to agree, and then someone says “HarperCons.”
Attack Moore fine. He’s in the wrong. Attack us all… well that is personal.
That Which The Left Can’t Defeat, They Infiltrate
Uh, no. The truth is, the sda hive mentality is Liberal leftist. You all support big government, nanny state interventionist intrusion. The only difference lies in which big government you like and which you don’t. You’re not fooling anyone, except yourselves.
Walmart and Costco seem to have no trouble with these regulations (whether or not they’re still needed is another question), and I suspect that Target will not either.
When was the last time you bought any cultural content at a real store?
These CANCON things really irk me. I know some people who created a art/technical magazine. They worked like dogs for ten odd years to make it a success. When it was a success they decided to sell it and retire. They were in negotiations to sell it to a big American publisher. Some CANCON bureaucrat decided that they couldn’t sell it to Americans because it was a cultural product or some such crap. Since there was no one else to sell it to, it just died and the American publisher basically created there own version of the same magazine. All there hard work was down the toilet. The kicker is, even if you believe in this crap, the vast majority of their subscribers were American. There Advertisers were American, but just because they live in Canada they don’t own the fruits of their labour if a government official decides they know better.
What we need is a Heritage Minister who will ban Muslim immigration, not worry about so-called Canadian content at Target stores.
It is extremely important for conservatives to insist on ideological purity. We have two terrible examples of infiltration in the last 60 years in Canada: the first was the Canadian Liberal Party – Louis St. Laurent was more conservative than Stephen Harper, but then came Lester Pearson, who always had a dubious reputation as a covert Commie; the second is the PC Party of Alberta. The infiltration destroyed the old Liberal Party, and looks to be doing the same with the PC Party of Alberta.
Just remember: the only good leftist is a dead leftist; the only safe leftist is a dead leftist.
Why does anyone have a problem with the display of Canadian content. If no one buys it goes back to the publisher. The consumer gets the final say. If the corporation doesn’t display then they have the final say. The buyer will decide but needs to see the product to have the chance. I agree with dmorris that we should at least have the opportunity to decide Canadian vs. Chinese or for that matter American on a wide variety of products. The consumer can’t demand a product he or she has no exposure to!!
Harper is a smart economist, a promoter of free market capitalism, and doesn’t move into a statist authoritarianism.
Your Laugh of The Day.
The requirement being placed on Target is fundamentally ridiculous. Does any such requirement for shelf-stocking exist for existing Canaddian retailers? If it’s a universal condition of business in Canada, that’s one thing. If it’s something imposed by whim on a foreign company takeover of a retailer, that’s something entirely different. Seems to me, any such requirement would fail to survive a NAFTA challenge, should Target be so inclined.
And any such stocking requirement, once allowed, will be subject to all kinds of creeping additional amendments. Must stock at the front not the back, must be the first to get preferential pricing, etc. Next thing you know, just like the former USSR, the government will be telling us what to buy and when to buy it.
I would remind that some on this board opposed the takeover of a Saskatchewan potash company because it didn’t want to be part of the Canadian collecive potash marketing organization. And that little bit of “CanCon” requirement was successful in blocking a sale which would have meant a large return for Canadian shareholders.
“It’s smart business to sell Canadian content in Canada,” he said.
Ever heard the groans of intense pain, when a Movie starts & the audience knows its a Canadian production just by the look?
People by Music because they like the sound, not the Nation. Same with books or Video.
Maybe 4 % of people buy things for patriotic reasons. The above quote from the article shows you how far gone these gnomes for a different universe are coming from.
jake:
You apparently have no knowledge of how sophisticated modern retailing is. If you are labouring under some delusion that stock boys just pull things out of boxes and toss them on the shelves willy-nilly, let me assure you that is not the case. Each shelf is meticulously planned. The size, shape, and content of each package is put into a computer program, which generates a “Plan-O-Gram” – a detailed diagram – that shows exactly where to place each one.
Consider mouthwash. Do you put all the products from one family (e.g. Listerine, Scope) together? Do you put all the like flavours next to each other? What about different size packages of the same flavour? What if you have a house brand you want to position next to the national brand? Do you put the most popular products at or near eye level so they will be seen, or is that where you place new products? Each inch of shelf space is valuable, and no retailer wastes any of it. (In general, the allowance for space between packages is 3mm – a little more than your credit card.)
So it’s stupid to suggest that Target, or any retailer, has acres of shelf space to devote to products that don’t sell. There is a real cost – stocking, restocking, and removing unsold product – and an opportunity cost. Why any government, let alone a Conservative one, would wish to saddle retailers with such unnecessary and additional costs is beyond me.
I think Jimmy is trying to justify a “Heritage Minister” portfolio. I think it’s laughable.
He’s a big-time progressive.
Please, PM Harper. You have a majority. There’s no need for crap like this.
CANCON is just the artistic progressive’s security blanket. Just like the notion that unless the government has a grant for it, anything Canadian must be inferior and somehow need sanctioned assistance to exist in the world.
Moore can be fired … no loss at at all.
Target should just ignore the government. What’s the government going to do? Send in the Mounties? Think of the publicity! And think how stupid the government will look on the evening news. The political cultural elite in this country have way too much power for their numbers. The average Canadian citizen is hip to their shtick and don’t need to have Can-Con shoved down our throats any longer. Art of any kind, that is sanctioned by government committee, is not real art. As previous posters have commented, it just ends up in the delete bin where it belongs.