“Community Living Month, Ontario”: See www.communitylivingontario.ca.
“National Asian Heritage Month”: See the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/asian/index.asp.
“National Asthma Awareness Month”: See the Asthma Society of Canada www.asthma.ca
“National Car Care Month”: see the Automotive Industries Association of Canada www.aiacanada.com.
“National Celiac Awareness Month”: See www.celiac.ca.
“International Doula Month”: See www.doulacare.ca
“MS Awareness Month”: Multiple Sclerosis is unpredictable, affecting vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility. See www.mssociety.ca.
“Museum Month, Ontario”: www.museumsontario.com
“National MedicAlert Month”: www.medicalert.ca
“Speech and Hearing Awareness Month, North America. See www.caslpa/english/resources/maymonth.asp.
“Vision Health Month”: To inform the public that preventative eye care is important because eye conditions, diseases and injuries that can rob a person’s vision can strike at any time in life. Call CNIB 1-800-563-2642. See www.cnib.ca
May 1 “May Day”: Observed as a holiday since ancient times with Spring Festivals, Maypoles and celebrations. But the political importance of May Day has also grown since the 1880’s when it became workers day in the U.S. Observed as Labour Day in many countries. Bermuda, Canada and the US are the only countries that observe Labour Day in September.
May 1-7 “Emergency Preparedness Week”: This is an annual event coordinated by the provinces and territories. This year’s theme is Plan, Prepare, Be Aware. See www.getprepared.gc.ca.
May 2-8 “Children’s Book Week”: An annual event sponsored by the Children’s Book Council to encourage the enjoyment of reading for young people. Call 1-800-999-2160, email info@cbcbooks.org. See www.bookweekonline.com.
May 4 “Star Wars Day”: May the Fourth be with you.
May 5 “Belonging: National Day to End Bullying”: This annual event is put on by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. See www.bgccan.com.
May 5 “Cartoonists Day”: To honour all those who use their imagination and a few pens to bring their ideas to life and give us a laugh via the daily paper, magazines, TV and the movies. Call Polly Keener 330-836-4448 or e-mail hamsteralley@aol.com.
May 6 “No Diet Day”: A day to stop dieting and stop hazardous weight-loss attempts. Find out the 10 reasons not to diet by emailing Francie Berg at fmberg@healthyweight.net (please put “Berg-No Diet Day” in subject line). Web www.healthyweight.net.
May 7 “Free Comic Book Day”: Each year, independent comic book stores around the world give out free comic books to children. Call Diamond Comic Distributors 410-560-7100. See www.comicshoplocator.com.
May 7 “National Babysitter’s Day”: To give babysitters appreciation and special recognition for their quality child care. Call Barbara Baldwin 210-695-9838, email bbaldwin@satx.rr.com. See www.safetywhys.com.
May 7 “National Child and Youth Mental Health Day”: see www.familysmart.ca
May 8 “Mother’s Day”: The second Sunday in May. The first celebrations in honour of mothers were held in the spring in ancient Greece. They paid tribute to Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. In 1907 Anna Jarvis in Philadelphia, PA asked her church to hold a service in memory of all mothers on the anniversary of her mother’s death. She later began a letter-writing campaign to create a Mother’s Day observance.
May 8 “World Red Cross Day”: A day for commemorating the birth of Jean-Henri Dunant, the Swiss founder of the International Red Cross Movement in 1863, and for recognizing the humanitarian work of the Red Cross around the world. For info on activities in your area, contact your local Red Cross chapter. See www.redcross.ca.
May 8-14 “Salute to 35+ Moms Week”: Motherhood is challenging at any age, and if you become a mom when you’re 35 or older, it can be quite an adjustment. For info, email Robin Gorman Newman at rgnewman@optonline.net. See www.motherhoodlater.com.
May 10 “Stay Up All Night Night”: A night when people are encouraged to stay awake through the night, reliving the excitement of staying up late as a child. There is something incredibly satisfying in staying up to see the sunrise – and everyone should do it at least once a year. Annually, the 2nd Saturday in May. For info, email George Mahood at george@georgemahood.com.
May 12 “Canada Health Day”: See www.cha.ca.
May 12 “Limerick Day”: Observed on the birthday of a Limerick champion called Edward Lear. He published a book of Limericks in the 18th century call Edward Lear’s Book of Nonsense. Lots of limericks at http://home.earthlink.net/~kristenaa/.
May 12-23 “Canadian Tulip Festival”: The world’s largest festival with more than 3 million tulips in bloom in Ottawa. The event grew out of a thank-you gift of bulbs from the Dutch Royal Family. Call 613-567-5757 or 1-800-66-TULIP. Email info@tulipfestival.ca. Web: www.tulipfestival.ca.
May 15 “MS Walk”: The WALK is a critical part of the MS Society’s fundraising efforts and is a significant program in funding research towards a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. Takes place in cities across Canada. See www.mswalks.ca.
May 18 “International Museum Day”: To pay tribute to museums of the world. Observed annually on May 18 since 1977. For info call Canadian Museums Association 1-888-822-2907 or email info@museums.ca.
May 21 “I Need a Patch for That Day” They have patches for nicotine and they have patches for heart patients. How about a Patch for “bad hair day” or “runny noses. Phone 717-279-0184 or email: info@wellcat.com
May 22-25 “Aboriginal Awareness Week”: www.pc.gc.ca/agen/aa/saa-aas.aspc
May 23 “Victoria Day”: Commemorates the birth of Queen Victoria on May 24th 1819. It is a national holiday in Canada. Observed on the first Monday preceding May 25th.
May 24 “Brothers Day”: Celebration of brotherhood for biological brothers, fraternity brothers, brothers bonded by union affiliation or lifetime experiences. For info: Daniel Rhodes. Phone 205-908-6781, email rhodan@charter.net.
May 25 “National Missing Children’s Day”: To promote awareness of the problem of missing children. Toll Free Hot Line Number 1-800-387-7962. See www.childfind.ca.
May 30 “Memorial Day (US)”: Legal public holiday in the United States, in honour of those who have died in battle.
Last week the Minister of Heritage Mélanie Joly announced there will be a review of the Broadcast Act., and even the C.R.T.C. itself. Could this mean the end of the C.R.T.C. as we know it? Could it mean a reduction or elimination of the MAPL system to enable Canadian radio stations to more evening compete against all the other services that operate outside of these out dated rules? Here is the article that appeared in the Globe and Mail over the weekend (23 April 2016).
The Heritage Minister announces the launch of public consultations with consumers and content creators with an aim to bring Canada’s cultural properties – everything from the Broadcast Act to the C.R.T.C. – into the digital age. Ottawa is ready to blow up the rules governing Canada’s $48-billion broadcasting, media and cultural industries, arguing that decades of technological changes and government inaction have left a broken system in need of a revolution. “Everything is on the table,” Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly told The Globe and Mail.
Announcing the launch of consultations with consumers and creators of cultural content, Ms. Joly said she is willing to change laws such as the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, modify the mandates of the C.R.T.C. and the CBC, and create new laws or agencies, as needed. The scale of the coming upheaval hasn’t been seen in 25 years, since the Mulroney government revised the Broadcasting Act in 1991 at a time when no one could foresee the arrival of YouTube, Netflix and iTunes.
Ms. Joly said her ultimate goals are to foster the creation of Canadian content across the country, but also increase the international audience for Canadian creators.
“I think the current model is broken, and we need to have a conversation to bring it up to date and make sure we harness its full potential. For a long time, politicians have been afraid to deal with these difficult issues, but I don’t understand why it wasn’t done.… The issue is how can the government be relevant today, instead of being left behind,” Ms. Joly said.
The review of Canada’s cultural policies was not part of the Liberal platform in last year’s election, and wasn’t mentioned in the Prime Minister’s mandate letter to Ms. Joly in November. Instead, the Liberals simply focused their arts and cultural promises on boosting the budgets of the CBC, the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada and the National Film Board, with no mention of deep structural reforms.
Still, Ms. Joly said the urge to tackle the root of the problems came naturally to her as a 37-year-old politician who grew up with digital technologies. She added that in the first five months in her position, she has had a series of conversations with key players in Canada’s cultural industries who complained about Ottawa’s inability to respond to ongoing changes.
“I’m a Heritage Minister who thinks about digital technology first and foremost, that’s how I consume information and music. I’m a product of my generation,” said the rookie MP from the Montreal riding of Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
Ms. Joly pointed out that her 2013 mayoral race in Montreal – in which she finished in second place behind Denis Coderre – was run mostly on social media. “All of my career was built outside of traditional models,” she said. “For me, all of these reflections on digital technologies and the model that we will build after these consultations, that will be the cornerstone of my mandate at Heritage.”
The government is guaranteed to hear widely diverse and contradictory views during its consultations. Common complaints these days include musicians and artists who can’t make a living selling their creations on the Internet, Canadian cable and television firms that are riled by foreign Internet rivals that don’t charge sales taxes, and media firms that decry the publicly funded CBC’s unfair advantage at selling advertising.
At the same time, an agency like the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which enforces federal legislation over broadcasters and telecommunications firms, has had a hard time forcing media giants to offer flexible and affordable cable packages to consumers.
Canada’s cultural industries account for more than 600,000 jobs and generate 3 per cent of Canada’s GDP, or $47.7-billion a year. As Canadian Heritage likes to point out, that is double the size of Canada’s agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors combined.
The cultural sector is facing an unprecedented level of upheaval, as foreign websites that offer everything from movies to music to information shake up Canada’s broadcasters, producers, publishers and video-game developers.
There is a growing consensus that Ottawa’s “cultural-policy toolkit” can’t keep up. Here are the four major federal levers over the industry, which are now up for review:
Source: Department of Canadian Heritage
Read more about this on the Canadian Heritage website here. The Minister of Canadian Heritage has launched a pre-consultation process designed to get public feedback on the issues of importance to Canadians surrounding content creation, discovery and export in a digital world. Following the pre-consultations, the Department of Canadian Heritage will develop a scoping document to guide the consultations. You are being asked to help develop the framework for the consultations by completing an online survey which is open until 20 May. Expect public hearings later in 2016.