Village Gamer

Recent evidence shows Canada faces increased cyber threats both from within and abroad. But is the country prepared to protect itself and what will this protection look like? In a report (PDF) published yesterday by The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, author Ron Deibert argues that Canada has potential to be a global leader in cyber security, but this opportunity is being squandered because of the lack of a clear strategy in this area.  Read the rest of this entry »

On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Paul Calandra, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Member of Parliament (Oak Ridges-Markham), has announced the implementation of Canada’s policy on coproductions. The new policy takes steps to deepen Canada’s audiovisual production partnerships with markets around the world. Mr. Calandra also announced the continuation of coproduction negotiations with foreign partners. The announcement was made during a speech delivered at the Canadian Media Production Association Prime Time in Ottawa conference. Read the rest of this entry »

Telefilm Canada has announced that it is supporting the production of four new French-language feature films through the Canada Feature Film Fund. The four films are Ghost(s) (Stéphane Lapointe), Les Loups (Sophie Deraspe), Le Relampeur (Martin Talbot) and Tu dors Nicole (Stéphane Lafleur). Read the rest of this entry »

On March 12, FCAC will be participating in “2 Good 2 Be True” Day, during which Canadians will be encouraged to talk about fraud on Twitter using the #2good2Btrue hashtag and share tips for recognizing, reporting and stopping it. They can also share experiences they’ve had and scams they’re aware of. To educate the public about financial crimes and fraud, a one-hour forum on Twitter called “#Fraudchat” takes place every Thursday, from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST. This live online chat, moderated by the Financial Crimes Unit of the Toronto Police Service and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), seeks to educate and exchange ideas with the public about financial crimes and fraud through the use of social media. Read the rest of this entry »

The Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board, celebrated International Open Data Day yesterday by participating in a Speed Dating session with Vancouver Open Data developers and city officials. International Open Data Day is a Canadian-inspired event created by Vancouver-based Open Data speaker and public policy entrepreneur, David Eaves. The event, which this year was celebrated in over 90 cities around the world, brought together Open Data enthusiasts to brainstorm about how to turn raw, government data into user-friendly applications. Read the rest of this entry »

The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry, will be representing Canada at the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain from February 24 to 26, 2013. The Minister will promote Canada as an attractive destination for foreign investment, champion the world-class capabilities of Canadian companies and underscore the concrete actions that the Harper Government has taken to position Canada as a leading digital economy. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has announced a mechanism for officially recording data on gross sales for all television and digital media projects supported in the CMF Convergent and Experimental streams. As announced last April, when the new guidelines were published, each project funded by the CMF in 2012–2013 must provide a report on gross sales from now on. The purpose is to help the CMF compile statistics on sales concluded nationally and internationally in order to better promote the success of funded projects. The data will also serve for discussions on a potential incentive to stimulate international sales. Read the rest of this entry »

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has announced a significant Government of Canada investment that will support 24 innovation projects in the Greater Toronto Area. This funding supports business innovation with projects and companies that are developing software and digital media technologies, completing research for medical treatments and diagnostic tools, improving food production and processing, and encouraging Ontario entrepreneurs through mentorship and business incubators. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) applauds the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue, for her latest effort to reduce the impact of the “taxman” on Canada’s small businesses. Earlier this morning, Minister Shea held a joint roundtable with CFIB in Toronto to hear from small business owners on what the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is doing right and wrong. CFIB’s recent report card on the CRA’s Call Centre Business Helpline, released during Canada’s annual Red Tape Awareness Week^TM in January, gave the agency a C- on its performance. While accountability of CRA agents has improved, service standards and agent professionalism have declined. Read the rest of this entry »

ICTC has recognized Toon Boom Studio and its curriculum as one of the best vehicles to teach 21^st century business and technology skills to Canadian students. Montreal-based Toon Boom Animation Inc., the two-time Emmy award-winning digital content and animation creation software provider, has been approved as an official educational resource and curriculum to support the learning of 21^st century skills among Canadian students through one of ICTC’s youth and education initiative programs, Focus on IT (FIT). Read the rest of this entry »