Maple Leaf Rags

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IN THE 1960S, Premier Pierre Trudeau increased Canada's already generous public support for the arts and instituted strict "Canadian content" rules for all TV and radio broadcasters. In part Trudeau was hoping to promote a stronger Canadian identity in a marketplace flooded with American television, music, and movies; in part he was hoping to head off the threat of secession by restive Quebecois separatists. To this day, 60 percent of the TV broadcast schedule must be made up of programs that deal with subjects of Canadian interest or that are written, produced, or performed by Canadians.

This public support goes a long way toward explaining why Toronto's independent press is so vital. In 2000 the government launched the Canada Magazine Fund, which doles out over $10 million (Canadian) a year to some 170 publications ranging from the mainstream national newsweekly McLean's to feisty independents such as This Magazine, a 39-year-old mainstay of progressive political and cultural commentary.

In 2003 the Canada Council for the Arts granted $1.6 million (Canadian) to 107 arts and literary magazines. Nearly a third of the publications that were funded are published in Toronto, including such gems as Broken Pencil, a lively review of Canadian zine culture and independent arts; POV, a professional journal for documentary filmmakers; and Fuse Magazine, a provocative forum for art and media criticism.

The Canadian Magazine Publishers Association has an aggressive government-backed campaign to promote "genuine Canadian magazines." Many of the association's member publications display the campaign's red maple leaf logo on their covers, and the Web site (www.genuinecanadianmagazines.ca) provides descriptions and ordering information for more than 150 titles.

Toronto may have North America's hottest independent magazine scene right now, but its future is not so certain. Canadian magazines are heavily dependent on government support, and trade negotiators in Washington, at the behest of giant media and entertainment conglomerates, have targeted cultural protectionism (local content requirements, government media subsidies) as a new area for deregulation in upcoming negotiations at the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Their hope is to force governments to privatize valuable state-run television and radio properties, which are protected under current trade rules. That could spell the end of Canadian-content rules (imagine Rupert Murdoch or TimeWarner buying the CBC), as well as national subsidies for private media, including magazines. To keep abreast of the issue, check out Public Citizen's Global Tradewatch (www.citizen.org/trade). And, when you're at the newsstand, don't forget to buy Canadian.

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