The American influence in Canada has become prominent through the television. In fact according to a report conducted by the CBC in 1979-1980, 76% of total programming viewed is foreign content. The high majority of that content being sent over the longest unprotected border in the world. The major result of those statistics? Canadians knowing a lot more about Americans than our southern allies know about us.
The Canadian government has made steps to preserve what little programming is produced with Canadian blood, sweat and tears. For example, Canadians who invest in Canadian feature films are able to deduct practically all of their investment from their taxes. Additionally, there are also tax laws that persuade foreigners to invest in Canada and Canadians not to invest outside the snowy boundaries of this great country. Although the intentions of the government are in the interest of the people of Canada, they are missing the entire point of entertainment.
A maple leaf painted on a sidewalk using a stencil...
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English: A map of the United States and Canada wit...Television, movies, and radio are all forms of entertainment. Entertainment is defined as: "Something that amuses, pleases, or diverts, especially a performance or show."ÃÂ It does not specify what religion, race, or nationality the entertainment must come from in order to be entertaining. With the exception of sports, (mainly hockey "ÃÂ e.g. glowing puck) the Americans produce better forms of entertainment than Canadians. That is the reason why the ratings for American programs is so alarmingly high. People do not watch those shows, because they are American, or because they are not Canadian, they watch them because they are entertaining.
The biggest source of media in the world in the United States. They have one advantage that Canada doesn't, when they produce television, they pay for it with an American dollar, we don't. Like almost anything in life, the more money you have, the better off you are. The value of the Canadian dollar has gone steadily down the last 30 years, coincidentally, so has the Canadian to American ratio ratings in this country.
Although there is a clear American influence, it has not disintegrated Canadian identity, or sense of nationalism in this country. We are still as distinctly Canadian as we were 50 years ago. The American presence is felt in this country, but it isn't always accepted. A lot of people I have talked to resent Americans for various reasons, possibly because they are bombarded with American media on a daily basis. The statistics only prove that Americans make better quality programs, that's all. I don't believe that they pose a problem, if anything it educates Canadians on what's going on in the world around them. Isn't that are essential part of being Canadian anyway, Knowing more about Americans than they know about us?
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English: Political cartoon. Title: "The next favor...
American Logo for American-Canadians