Disturbing legislation
April 16, 2008
If the Conservatives get their way we will see alot more of this.
And alot less of this. 
I find myself wondering if Canada’s ruling party, the Conservative Party is trying to restrict what “types” of films and television shows receive federal support out of sheer ignorance or to assign nefarious motivations. Bill C-10 as proposed would allow the Heritage Minister to determine criteria or guidelines for film and television producers if they wish to receive tax credits. The minister could withdraw tax credits for productions deemed to be “contrary to public policy.” These guidelines remain nebulous but here is a description from this story on the CBC website.
The guidelines have not yet been established but would cover violence, hatred and sexual content in film and TV productions, or anything else the minister believes should not be financed by Canadian taxpayers. Committees within the heritage and justice departments would be charged with vetting productions and implementing the guidelines. Any film or television program found to have contravened the guidelines could have its tax credits withdrawn and might be asked to repay funding given through Telefilm, the federal film funding agency, or the Canadian Television Fund, the federal funding agency for TV.
This will have a chilling effect on productions who may not find outside funding without these tax credits. The federal government is well aware of this fact and may be relying on a lack of publicity about this change to longstanding policy. Sarah Polley, director of “Away From Her” has suggested that her own film would likely not have received this support under such guidelines. The legislation has passed through the House of Commons and is being debated in the Senate, where if there are thinking members not currently sleeping through sessions, it may expire from exhaustion. The real kicker is that foreign productions who don’t benefit from the tax credits obtain an indirect benefit through government support of the Canadian film industry infrastructure.
Tenure, now what?
April 9, 2008
As an academic librarian we are told from day one that we need to be working towards a very specific goal. This goal seems very far away and often times unattainable. Its mythical nature is both mysterious and entrancing. The goal? Tenure or your library’s version of same. We often realize in talking to faculty how much thoughts of this goal dominate their lives. They publish when, where, and how often they are told to and this process provides much impetus to their publication and research agendas. Academic librarians are often evaluated on different criteria than faculty. Service rather than publication, professional development rather than research.
Having recently applied for this mythical status myself I turned in my portfolio and then thought “now what?” So much of my career to this point has focused on achieving this goal, what is there after the fact? Tenure for librarians is a measure of accomplishment but it can also be a paralytic. I was reading an interesting article in Inside HigherEd about faculty salary compression and there was a comment that tenure can also be handcuffs holding you someplace. If I choose to leave MPOW my tenure may not be recognized by the new institution. If I had been thinking strategically I should have left my current position after two or three years and continued this tenure process elsewhere. However, strategic thinking is not my forte and I am happy that I may achieve this goal at my first workplace. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this goal without their support and guidance.
As I think about leaving librarianship and eventually joining the ranks of faculty, tenure is something I need to ponder yet again. Am I better prepared having achieved this as a librarian? Will I have unrealistic expectations of support structures that will be available to me? Am I doomed to scale this same wall in different contexts in perpetuity? All questions that will not be easily answered or resolved but as my family will attest I never take the easy road. Once my tenure is “official” perhaps I will post a video like this KU faculty member celebrating his achievement of attaining tenure.
