Village Gamer

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) celebrated the success of the Canadian television and digital media industries with an event in Ottawa that brought together the stars of Canadian television shows and the Members of Parliament and government officials who help bring these shows to life through their continued support of the Canada Media Fund.

The Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, spoke to the crowd which included representatives from the creative, broadcasting, and distribution industries, as well as senior government officials.

“Six months into the Canada Media Fund, we have come an incredibly long way and it’s gone incredibly well,” said Minister Moore. “We want to make sure there’s a broad diversity of Canadian content and Canadian culture available on the platforms that Canadians choose to consume it on.”

“Arts and culture, the creative economy represents $46 billion in Canada’s economy,” continued Minister Moore. “It is directly responsible for over 640,000 jobs across this country. And I can tell you that any government — municipal, provincial, territorial or federal — that says that it has a plan for strong economic growth but doesn’t have a plan for strong support of the arts is a government that doesn’t have a plan for economic recovery. I can promise you that as the Minister of Heritage, I will keep on fighting to make sure that we get this right, that we work together, and that the arts and cultural sector will be alive and well in the digital world ahead.”

Louis Roquet, Chair of the Board of the CMF added “The Canada Media Fund is pleased to be a part of the government’s digital economy strategy, and we will strive to be a leading example of public investment that supports innovation in the creative industries. As we complete the first year of the CMF and look towards the future, we will continue to foster innovation, support the development of jobs in the digital economy, and seek opportunities to increase export revenue through the sale of CMF-funded content to international markets.”

“The Canada Media Fund is the only fund of its kind in the world that supports the creation of convergent Canadian content and experimental content and software applications,” said Valerie Creighton, President and CEO of the CMF. “I would like to thank Minister Moore and the Government of Canada for their vision in establishing the fund, and Canada’s cable and satellite distributors for their continued support. I would also like to thank the wonderful, talented Canadian actors and actresses who took time out of their busy production schedules to come here today to show their support of the CMF.”

The entourage of Canadian television stars included FlashPoint (a show which we’re very partial to, by the way) cast members David Paetkau and Michael Cram, along with:

Ashley Leggat – Life with Derek
Debra McCabe – Degrassi, Life with Derek, Guns, The Border, Heartland, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, Lost Girl
Graham Abbey – The Border
Helene Joy –  Murdoch Mysteries, Durham County
Jacques Girard – Chabotte et fille
Jarrett Cale –  Pure Pwnage
Jocelyn Blanchard – Il était une fois dans le trouble
Joey Scarpellino – Les Parent
Lauren Collins – Degrassi
Marline Yan – How to Be Indie
Melinda Shankar – Degrassi, How to be Indie
Paula Brancati – Degrassi, Being Erica
Raphaël Grenier-Benoît – Les Parent
Rémi-Pierre Paquin – Les invincibles
Ron James – The Ron James Show
Roxanne Boulianne – Il était une fois dans le trouble
Siobhan Murphy – Men With Brooms
Stephen Arbuckle – Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
Zaib Shaikh – Little Mosque on the Prairie

The following are some of the politicians who were present at the event:

Carole Lavallée – Bloc québécois Heritage Critic, MP for Saint-Bruno – Saint-Hubert
Francis Fox – Honourable Senator
Pablo Rodriguez – Canadian Heritage Opposition Critic, MP for Honoré – Mercier
Peter Milliken – Speaker of the House of Commons, MP for Kingston and the Islands

You are invited to join fellow education and industry leaders for a one-day Summit opportunity to gain valuable knowledge from leading experts, network and re-define Canada’s Digital Blueprint to ensure our future leaders succeed in the 21st Century Global knowledge-based economy.

As part of MindShare Learning’s mission to push the 21st Century learning envelope in Canada and
strengthen the connection between education and business, MindShare Learning is launching its inaugural MindShare Learning Report EdTech Leadership Summit, generously sponsored by Epson, Pearson Canada, Discovery Education, Abelearn, Global Scholar and York University.

This one-day summit will focus on current hot topics in the K-12 and post-secondary education technology space, aiming to further engage stakeholders in shaping the future direction of a vital sector that most effectively prepares students with the essential skills to successfully compete in the global knowledge-based economy.

The Summit will take place on November 2nd at York University Research Tower, Conference Centre and will feature these speakers:

* Dr. Don Knezek, CEO, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education)
* Jennifer Corriero, Co-founder and Executive Director, TakingITGlobal
* Kathy Hurley, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, for Pearson School Companies
* Hall Davidson, Director, Discovery Educator Network

This event will be very beneficial to education leaders from K12 and post-secondary institutions, government and industry leaders who are globally minded and prepared to engage and champion a future vision in mapping a digital blueprint to support 21st Century student success.

Collaborative round table discussions will be held, and your input is welcome on the following hot topics:

* The emerging Digital Classroom
* Forging successful strategic partnerships between education and business
* Funding in education: Building sustainable learning environments
* Envisioning Canada’s Digital Blueprint for the 21st Century