“I’m one of two people who own a [Canadian] publishing company… and as we approach retirement it would be nice to be able to sell to absolutely anybody for a fabulous sum of money,” said Marc Côté, publisher and owner of the small press Cormorant Books in Toronto. The problem with that dream, he added, is that there is a history of Canadian publishers being sold to non-Canadian companies that have then dropped Canadian books and authors in favor of publishing whatever books are most profitable. The example he cited was when McGraw-Hill bought the Ryerson Press and then dropped Canadian writers who included Alice Munro and Carol Shields. But that was in 1969, and for those two writers at least, there was a happy ending when they went to other publishers and built stellar careers.

What would happen if Côté sold Cormorant to a non-Canadian company now? That was part of a panel discussion hosted by the Book and Periodical Council (BPC) called “Our Cultural Borders: Barrier or Bounty?” Côté was joined on the panel by David Kent, president and CEO of HarperCollins Canada, Jack David, publisher and owner of ECW Press, and Sheila Koffman, owner of Another Story Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Toronto. The panel was moderated by Carolyn Wood, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP).

The discussion was prompted by the Canadian government’s current and ongoing review of its long-standing policies of protecting the country’s cultural industries from high levels of foreign ownership and control. Many people feel that these policies have been essential to building and supporting the Canadian publishing industry and providing opportunities for Canadian writers over the past few decades. Reviews of these policies make many in the Canadian industry nervous, and this one has triggered more jitters than usual.

In spite of a recent high profile rejection of an Australian bid to take over the biggest potash company in Canada, the current Conservative government is generally seen as favoring the removal of trade barriers. This spring, the federal government gave Amazon.com permission to open a distribution center in Canada, which upset independent booksellers and prompted questions about whether Canada’s largest book retail chain, Indigo Books and Music, could be sold to a non-Canadian buyer, a move which had been prevented by foreign ownership rules in the past. And as Côté put it, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper “hasn’t exactly demonstrated great faith or support of Canadian culture.” Harper infamously commented during the last election campaign that “when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people at, you know, a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren't high enough, when they know those subsidies have actually gone up – I'm not sure that's something that resonates with ordinary people."

So far, however, the government has only asked for input on the policies. Publishers and other organizations such as the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Canadian Publishers’ Council submitted written responses to a discussion paper, Review of the Revised Policy in Book Publishing and Distribution. Those responses were then posted on the government’s website for comment. The panelists at the BPC event highlighted some of the concerns and differing perspectives on the policy.

From a bookseller’s perspective, Koffman said having Canadian based sales reps who know her store and understand the kinds of books she wants to sell is important to her, so she wants to see the policies that limit foreign ownership remain in place.

Côté, too, wants to see the policies remain, but he said the government needs to enforce those policies and not allow the kinds of exceptions to the rules that meant that Random House of Canada and McClelland & Stewart could move their distribution to the U.S.

ECW’s David underlined the need for more transparency in decisions about ownership. “The problem is that when someone wants to buy a Canadian company, whether it is a cultural company or Potash, the Investment Canada Act asks that there be a net benefit for Canada, and that net benefit is negotiated between the federal government and the acquiring company. The problem we have is we don’t know what stipulations are then agreed to. … [Secondly,] we don’t have any information about whether or not those stipulations are being lived up to and over what period of time.”

Kent came to the panel prepared to be painted as the bad guy, or “Satan” as he put it, because HarperCollins Canada is a part of a multinational company. He suggested the theme of ‘Our cultural borders: barrier or bounty’ was similar to debating ‘Marriage: is it a good thing or a bad thing?’ “It kind of depends on who you are married to and how the marriage goes,” he said. Kent was able to point to numerous ways in which HarperCollins Canada’s relationship with Canadian publishing is a good one, including the fact that the company employs 260 Canadians and publishes many Canadian authors. He suggested companies should be judged according to questions such as: “What do you do? What do you contribute? How do you invest? How much do you give back vs. how much you take?” Kent said HarperCollins Canada has made corporate donations of C$300,000 to things like writers festivals and scholarships…. “We’re not required to do that…so if you want to talk about net benefit to Canada, come and get me.”

The other panelists agreed that HarperCollins has been an exemplary corporate citizen, but pointed out that happens to be under his leadership and there is no guarantee that another CEO or that other companies would follow those practices.

Another issue of concern to many publishers is how a change in policy might affect government subsidies currently only given to Canadian-owned publishers for Canadian-authored books. “The concerns are a) is it possible that companies like HarperCollins and Random House may get national treatment, which means that we would have an Australia-like model where Random House and HarperCollins could receive grants for their Canadian publishing programs?” said Côté, who said it would be disastrous if they did because there would not be enough money left over to support other publishers.

The government is currently in the third phase of its review, a series of roundtable discussions. No date for a decision has been set.