It’s a chilling thought given their existing track record: the federal government is reviewing its broadcast rules to try and see where the new digital arena fits into things like Canadian content.
 
And there are real fears that the powers-that-be, who as we all know love to over-regulate everything, will try and force companies like Netflix to spend big bucks on Canadian content – the kind of stuff that almost no one watches right now. That, in turn, could send your Internet and streaming service bills up even higher than they already are.
 
This article, somewhat ironically on the CBC’s website, tries to lay out the arguments for both sides.
 
But it’s this other story that has me even more concerned. It posits that Canada might try to order search engines like Google to force some Canadian content options to the top of any search list, which I see as a rather frightening “Big Brother” intrusion on a company that isn’t even based here.
 
What’s next – tell CBS to air a certain portion of Canadian shows on their networks or we’ll jam their signals coming across the border from Buffalo and Detroit? (It can be argued they already partially do this with their simsub policy, but that's for another thread.)  While all the usual suspects are in favour of strengthening Cancon rules, this in my frequently addled mind would simply be taking things a step too far.
 
Which is why it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that’s exactly what they do. 

Stay tuned. The decisions on all this are expected sometime later this year. 

New Cancon tax proposals would stick Canadian consumers with the bill