Cultural Protectionism, CanCon Style

What do the Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida, Dave Bidini, Billy Talent, John K. Samson, Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash, and Bob Wiseman have in common?

They're all founding members of the new Canadian Music Creators Coalition, which is looking like a rather radical (and simultaneously very Canadian) sort of organisation. Its chief tenets are:

1. Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
2. Digital Locks are Risky and Counterproductive
3. Cultural Policy Should Support Actual Canadian Artists

Moreover, they believe that "[i]t is the government’s responsibility to protect Canadian artists from exploitation," which seems to me to be a very rational thing to believe, especially in a Canadian context where the US media juggernaut always vaguely looms on the horizon, and so, if the government doesn't protect Canadian artists (who often essentially have no power against their own labels), who will? The labels themselves? Don't make me laugh.

Do check them out. They have a spiffy, fast-loading bilingual website, and a place to sign up for a newsletter, if you are so inclined, and if you yourself are a Canadian artist, you can lend your support too.