ACTRA has welcomed new Heritage Minister Joseé Verner and called for her to take immediate action to fix the drama crisis in Canadian television and to protect our cultural industries from foreign domination.
 
"Minister Verner must make it clear to the CRTC that private broadcasters must be required to show real Canadian programming on Canadian airwaves. We are being inundated with U.S. production," said Richard Hardacre, ACTRA National President.

ACTRA has consistently called on the CRTC to reverse their disastrous 1999 Television Policy changes that led to the collapse of Canadian programming.
 
"Thanks to the CRTC, the broadcasters have a lucrative monopoly over Canadian airwaves, yet they don't even attempt to meet the spirit of the Canadian Broadcasting Act," added Hardacre. “Canadians deserve to tell their own stories and see them reflected on our film and television screens."

ACTRA is also calling on the government to protect Canada's broadcast industry from potential foreign takeovers.  

"This is our country and our culture. We will not give it away. Cultural sovereignty is an essential part of nationhood, and our broadcast industry must be protected from foreign takeover," Hardacre stated.