#macleans

[sammaggs]

3x08 Spy vs. Spy | Protection

So this is the true story of how Sports Illustrated came to Canada, and it was such a problem that the government shut it down.

Here’s the thing about being this close to America, and this small by comparison: Canada is at constant risk of having its culture entirely dominated and obliterated by the States. All of our music, movies, TV, magazines—we don’t have the money or the manpower to compete, so it’s all American.

It sounds kind of silly, but in 1991 Canadian magazines were operating on a profit margin of TWO PERCENT. It’s impossible to compete with glossy, expensively-made magazines from America. The government subsidizes our magazine industry now; that’s how magazines like Macleans can continue to exist.

In the ‘60s, to try and stem the cultural hemorrhaging, the government established what we now call “CanCon” mandates, or our Canadian Content laws.

Basically, about one-third to one-half of all the media we consume has to be written, shot, produced, published, created, etc. by Canadians, in Canada. That goes for music on the radio, books on the shelves, shows on the screen, magazines on the rack—everything.

It was codified into NAFTA in '92: Free Trade includes everything except cultural exports.

I mean… they barely tried

The Americans obviously think this is stupid, and also not their problem. We are a huge export market for them culturally—almost all media we consume is American, and that’s big $$$ for American companies. They would love to swallow us whole.

So on April 5, 1993, American publication Sports Illustrated rolls in and slaps the word “Canada” on the end of it. They include some references to Canadian sports teams (even getting some wrong) and try to call it a legal day, even though it was foreign-produced and really did not hit the CanCon marks at all.

And the Canadian. Government. Got. Furious.

The government basically tried to litigate and tax them out of existence entirely. It was a massive controversy through the '90s, which is why they're still bringing it up in this 1997 episode of due South.

And uhhh... yeah Canada fuckin super lost. We lost as fuck. Deeply unsurprising.

Many scholarly articles came out about this at the time, as you can see above, and if you want to know more you can read a great one for free here. But yeah, this is a real thing that happened.

Dave Cole, who wrote Spy vs. Spy, also wrote Perfect Strangers, which includes that perfect bit about the human tragedy that is the lack of arts opportunities for filmmakers in Canada so, he was obviously a big supporter of all this (and rightfully so).

Bonus treat! Because Canada is not real, here's how music qualifies as CanCon: It must fulfill two of the following four conditions:

M (music) — the music is composed entirely by a Canadian

A (artist) — the music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian

P (performance) — the musical selection consists of a performance that is: Recorded wholly in Canada, or Performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada.

L (lyrics) — the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian

That's right... it has to fulfill two of the four...

MAPL conditions.

Quiet Canadiana in due South [more]

[d0gmeats]

ok

[ladiemars]

okey dokey 👍

[quibbs]

just had SO much fun with the fallout tv show... i love you missus okey dokey

[spooky-daggers]

The Fallout show is pretty fun so far. I still have 3 episodes to go. Everytime Lucy said "Okey dokey", this was all I could picture.

[jules-and-rue-and-lexi-too]

Ella Purnell as Lucy MacLean - Every Single 'Okey-Dokey!' Fallout (2024)

[pignk]

[ladyzirkonia]

There are 3 types of Fallout players.

Oh my sweet babygirl husband let me protect and cherish you.

I know he has some strong opinions but poor man was raised by a cult and I can make him better.

What the hell did you think I hoarded all the RadAway for, bitch?!

[exhalcyon]

I can’t wait to see Lucy realize who this jackass actually is 🤣

based on the meme in the read more section by @flam-kish

[dunyun-rings]

It’s all over but the crying ☢️

[jmojellybae]

Ella Purnell plays characters who have no idea what the fuck is going on

We have a huge development

[nickbn26]

[loneleeghost]

TELL ME IM WRONG, I DARE YOU

[novakiart]

something something red thread of fate

[midaskey]

And remember... don't lose your head!

[phana-banana]

Had tons of fun making this Fallout GIF with a mid-century Hanna-Barbera-ish vibe. Look at these lil'goobers, makin' their way down town, walkin'fast...