Las políticas públicas canadienses: entre proteccionismo y diversidad cultural

Abstract

The international dimension has always played an important role in Canadian public sector’s communications policies. The USA have been considered an unavoidable neighbour because of its geographic proximity and a threat because of its hegemonic cultural industries, one of the countries most important exporting sectors. In this given context, the policies implemented by Ottawa in economy and culture have been traditionally constrained by two principles: closure and openness. Since the 80s, the settlement of liberalising policies regarding exchange is to be seen, wether in continental scale, with the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), wether in global scale, with the World Trade Organization talks. Works about the concepts of isention, exception and cultural diversity were also to be seen, specially in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), which issued a convention in the Autumn of 2005. This article aims at observing if these policies where implemented with continuity or with ruptures, i.e., the multiplication of multilateral decisions. In order to achieve this goal, in first place the influence of free-trade agreements over public policies in the communications area will be explained. It will be verified that the magazines sector was the first matter of conflict between Canada and the USA, what brought the Canadian political authorities to change some the support mechanisms and at the same time maintain economical and cultural aspects such as openness and closure. Finally, the possibility of maintaining political tools that promote “Canadian content” will be examined in a more precise way, for the efforts in negotiations with the Unesco are always more strongly aimed at “cultural diversity”, since the convention of 2005 was settled.