Questions for Discussion:
To what extent do you think the U.S.-Canadian magazine dispute was motivated by genuine desires to protect Canadian culture?
I believe the greatest concern was raised by those who made a living based on a purely Canadian periodical. I also believe they are primarily motivated by the potential loss of income and not by threat to Canadian culture. With only 11% of all magazine sales represented by domestic publications, the Canadian readership offers a definitive answer with their purchasing choices. (Culture, n.d., p.17) Additionally, I believe Canadian companies would prefer to advertise in Canadian publications if they were fundamental to preservation of Canadian culture.
To what extent do you think the government of Canada was pressured to seek to protect its market because of the financial interests of the Canadian magazine industry?
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I believe that individuals and companies, that relied heavily on Canadian based publications for their livelihood, fought to preserve said livelihood by lobbying for taxes and regulations on foreign competition. To me, this is evidence of a very small minority manipulating the government to become sympathetic to their struggle, in staunch disregard of popular public opinion, evidenced by consumer purchasing choices. This struggle is not exclusive to Canada or the magazine dispute. Countries involved in free trade love to export their domestically produced good to other countries, thereby stimulating growth in their own economy, but this growth is not realized without cost. The trade off being made is that some domestic products and businesses will fall to competition from imported foreign products and businesses. I believe the cultural argument is often used as a last ditch effort by those who are unable to, or unwilling to, adapt to the changing