The court has dismissed a motion for leave to appeal by the Motion Picture Association-Canada targeting a portion of the federal broadcast regulator’s recent decision on Canadian content rules. The group represents such companies as Netflix, Disney and Amazon.

The court said it was convinced by the federal government’s argument that the appeal was premature.

The attorney general had argued the CRTC had only issued a statement on a general approach, not a final decision, and that no information has yet been designated as confidential.

"Until and unless any decisions on disclosure of particular designated information are finalized and released, any assessment of the Applicants’ arguments will be speculative, premature, and made in the abstract," the attorney general argued.

The CRTC’s new disclosure requirements would see the CRTC publish information about each large streamer’s broadcasting revenues and their spending on Canadian content.

The streaming companies said in court documents the new rule doesn’t give them a chance to argue the information should be treated confidentially.

The CRTC has a process allowing companies to make the case for treating the information they file in a confidential manner, but it would not apply to the new requirement.

The streamers also said that disclosing the information would be seriously detrimental to them.

The regulator said in the November decision on Canadian content it believes it’s unlikely that any harm caused by the disclosure of the data would outweigh the public interest.

Scott Shortliffe, the CRTC’s vice-president of broadcasting, said at the time that the CRTC doesn’t see the disclosure requirement as particularly onerous and it’s something Canadian companies have long been required to do.

The court also dismissed as premature a separate court challenge by the Canadian Media Producers Association targeting a portion of the decision that sets new copyright ownership criteria.

The decision states that in order for a program to be considered Canadian content, Canadians must hold at least 20 per cent of the copyright.

The group, which represents independent media producers, had argued the CRTC didn’t adequately consider whether copyright ownership actually "enables Canadians to control and benefit in a significant and equitable manner from the exploitation of the program," as the law stipulates.

It said copyright ownership alone isn’t enough to satisfy that requirement, noting the association argued in front of the CRTC there is a significant imbalance in bargaining power between Canadian producers and broadcasters, which is amplified when it comes to foreign companies.

A spokesperson for the group representing independent producers said it respects the court's decision, which "recognizes the CMPA’s right to seek leave to appeal once regulations outlining the updated definition of Canadian content have been finalized."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press

Gilbert Rozon, the founder of Just for Laughs, was ordered to pay a total of more than $880,000 to eight of the nine women who had accused him of assault and misconduct.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Chantal Tremblay awarded the damages in a written decision released Tuesday, following a civil trial that lasted 10 months.

The women suing Rozon were seeking $14 million in civil court for incidents that occurred between 1980 and 2004, during a period when he founded the international comedy festival.

The ruling ends a chapter in one of the province's highest-profile cases to emerge from the #MeToo movement.

Following the judgment, several of the women and their lawyers told reporters that the victory belongs not only to them, but to other women and to society.

"In her judgment, Justice Tremblay concluded that Gilbert Rozon is not only a liar, but a sexual predator," lawyer Bruce W. Johnston told a news conference.

"The judgments constitute a huge victory not only for the eight clients whose actions were maintained by the judgment, but also for the other victims of Gilbert Rozon who are not before the court, for victims of sexual abuse generally, for society and for accountability."

Annick Charette, who accused Rozon of sexually assaulting her in 1980 when she was 20, was awarded $95,000. “Today, for me, the word justice finally means something. My voice, our voices, which were lost in the long corridors of the (courthouse) … finally broke the wall of silence."

Rozon indicated in a news release that he and his lawyers would analyze the decision, which totals several hundred pages, before commenting further. "Mr. Rozon will make a decision at a later date regarding the action he intends to take in response to these judgments, including the possibility of appealing," he wrote.

Rozon had claimed he had consensual relations with three of the nine women, and had denied the other allegations against him, saying his accusers had formed a coalition against him with the aim of getting rich. He countersued four of the women for defamation, demanding $275,000 each in damages.

Tremblay rejected his four counterclaims, and also ordered that he pay the women's legal costs.

"This judgment therefore aims to bring this long trial to a close and to reaffirm that an infringement of personal integrity, when proven, calls for a legal response proportionate to the extent of the harm suffered," Tremblay said in her decision.

Following the allegations, Rozon stepped down from Just for Laughs in 2017 and later sold the company.

Nine women — Patricia Tulasne, Lyne Charlebois, Anne-Marie Charette, Annick Charette, Sophie Moreau, Danie Frenette, Guylaine Courcelles, Mary Sicari, and Martine Roy — went public with their allegations when they filed their claims against Rozon. All of them except Sicari were awarded damages in Tuesday's ruling.

Only one of a series of police complaints against Rozon resulted in a criminal trial. In that case, he was found not guilty on charges of rape and indecent assault connected to events alleged to have taken place in 1980 involving Annick Charette.

The prosecution declined to press criminal charges in 13 other complaints.

On Tuesday, Tremblay found that the burden of proof for a civil case had been met.

"With one exception, each of them has demonstrated on a preponderance of evidence that she suffered one or more sexual assaults at the hands of Mr. Rozon," her decision read. "In these circumstances, the opening of their right to punitive damages is beyond doubt, since he unlawfully violated their rights to security, integrity, and dignity, recognized by sections 1 and 4 of the Charter."

Johnston said Tuesday that his clients underwent a "marathon of difficulty" in their years-long battle against Rozon. After the criminal complaints were not prosecuted, many in the group were part of a class-action attempt that was initially authorized in 2018 but later rejected following an appeal.

He said the civil trial reaffirms a number of important legal precedents, including upholding new Civil Code restrictions on questioning in sexual-assault cases. The changes — adopted days before the trial started in December 2024 — prohibit questions from lawyers that suggest an alleged victim’s sexual past or their decision to stay in contact with an alleged abuser harms their credibility.

Martine Roy, one of the women who was awarded damages, said she silently carried feelings of shame and anguish for years around her alleged assault by Rozon.

"This victory doesn’t erase my past, but validating the truth allows me to reclaim the power I lost," Roy said.

Roy paid tribute to other women who have spoken up about abuse, as well as those who have not yet spoken up and those who see echoes of their own stories in hers.

"Beyond the legal conclusion, this will remain the moment when the women chose to speak out collectively," she said. "That alone is making a difference — our voices are being heard," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

Johns Hopkins global affairs professor Francis J. Gavin will take home the literary award for "Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy," published by Yale University Press.

The University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy hands out the prize for the world's best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs.

The jury of international journalists, scholars and practitioners praised Gavin's work as presenting a new framework for how to think about the world.

Jurors say the book encourages people to consider the complexities and uncertainties in the world, and leaves readers more empathetic.

Gavin will be awarded the $50,000 prize at a hybrid ceremony on April 15.

The other books on the short list for the award were "King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation" by Scott Anderson; "Capitalism: A Global History" by Sven Beckert; "House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company" by Eva Dou; and "How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation and the Fate of Nations" by Carl Benedikt Frey.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.

Craig Macrae, The Canadian Press

The Canadian folk icon was welcomed by Carney in a lionizing speech.

"Joni's music didn't just provide the soundtrack to our lives. She shifted culture, inspired generations and redefined what songwriting could be," Carney said.

Taking the stage to a thunderous standing ovation, Mitchell told the audience she was "so happy to be in Canada" with "our wonderful prime minister."

"I'm living in the States, and you know what's happening there," the 82-year-old said.

"This man is a blessing. You guys are so fortunate," Mitchell added as the crowd cheered.

She added that her life has improved since her brain aneurysm in 2015: “I went into a coma, which helped me to quit smoking. And my house filled up with the most wonderful nurses. I was on the road with men for years and years. Now I live with a house full of women ... so my life has changed for the better, out of a catastrophe, like a phoenix."

Mitchell then joined a musical tribute to her oeuvre with several Canadian artists, including Sarah McLachlan, Allison Russell, Jully Black, The Beaches and Alessia Cara.

She took the mic and joined a sing-along of her 1970 hit "Big Yellow Taxi," swaying along with the music and beaming, though slightly off rhythm.


Earlier in the night, Carney and Mitchell sat side-by-side at the ceremony. Host Mae Martin quipped that their "parents" were at the show, before the camera cut to the duo.

"I'm just kidding, those are not my parents," the comedian said. "I'm not a nepo baby."

The wholehearted vibes were in the air throughout the evening, as Drake suspended his years-long feud with the Junos to pay tribute to Nelly Furtado, who was being inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame.
The Toronto rapper moved Furtado to tears with his video speech toasting her.

Reading from a piece of paper while sitting in a studio, Drake said Furtado “showed us what was possible and what a Canadian artist could be.”

Drake has not shown up at the Junos since hosting 15 years ago, when he was infamously snubbed despite being up for several awards.

"To the Junos, because you are honouring one of my dearest friends tonight, I will spare you, even though I know you're still thinking about those six awards that you gave to Shad in 2011 when you snubbed 'Take Care' as I hosted the 40th anniversary of your award show," he said.

"But listen, that's neither here nor there. Tonight we'll let it go."

Speaking with reporters backstage, singer-songwriter Shawn Desman said he heard Drake was initially planning on attending in person.

"I'm not sure what happened. But Drake is a good dude," Desman said.

Furtado was feted by singers such as Cara, Black, Desman and Tanya Tagaq in a live medley of her greatest hits.

Kardinal Offishall, who also was on hand to celebrate Furtado, said he was proud to see how far she'd come, noting he was in the studio with Timbaland the day the American rapper and producer purchased a copy of her album.

"He was like, 'I think I wanna work with her,'" he told The Canadian Press on the orange carpet earlier in the night. "To see what's happened since then, it's just awesome."



Meanwhile, Rush opened the ceremony with their first performance at an awards show since 1978.

They performed "Finding My Way" with new drummer Anika Nilles, filling in for Neil Peart, who died in 2020.

"Music lives beyond tragedy, beyond anything that can happen in your life," frontman Geddy Lee later told reporters.

Toronto's The Beaches took home best group — marking the third year in a row they've claimed the prize.

"I also want to thank my ex who said, 'If you're going to write a song about me, at least make it good.' Well, I guess it was good enough," quipped guitarist Leandra Earl, referencing the track "Lesbian of the Year."

Daniel Caesar took home best R&B recording for his fourth studio album, "Son of Spergy," and was honoured with the international achievement award. The artist from Oshawa, Ont., performed a hushed set from the album after a moving speech from Mustafa praising him.

"He's always trying to interrogate what it means to navigate a working life, a life with purpose, a life with dignity," Mustafa said. "And that, I think, is what separates an artist and an entertainer; a writer and someone that I think operates like a heart surgeon when they're writing songs."

Caesar accepted the R&B award while standing next to his dad.

"Thank you to my dad, this is Spergy, right here … and to my mom, and to Mustafa, thanks for the kind words."

B.C. rapper bbno$ took home the fan choice award — voted on by the audience — for the second year in a row. He was not in attendance to receive the trophy, which was accepted on his behalf by R&B duo Majid Jordan.

Most of the awards were handed out at a livestreamed gala last night, where no-show Tate McRae emerged as the big winner.

The Calgary-born pop star took home four of the night’s biggest prizes, including best artist, single for “Sports Car,” and album of the year for "So Close To What," along with pop album of the year for the same project.

Cameron Whitcomb, the newcomer who took home country album of the year at last night's ceremony, won breakthrough artist Sunday.

Ahead of the ceremony, he said the opportunity to perform at the show left him speechless.

"From working on a pipeline to being here, it's just — I can't even, I don't even know what to say," he said on the carpet.

He noted that he flew his parents out to the ceremony in business class — a first for his family.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2026.

Alex Nino Gheciu and Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press

The prime minister will make his Junos debut at Hamilton's TD Coliseum on Sunday evening.

Also due at the ceremony are Joni Mitchell, who will receive a lifetime achievement award, and Nelly Furtado, who is being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Sarah McLachlan and Allison Russell will perform a tribute for Mitchell, while Alessia Cara, Jully Black, Shawn Desman and Tanya Tagaq will collaborate on a celebration of Furtado's music.

Leading nominees including Justin Bieber, Tate McRae and The Weeknd are not expected to attend.

The Junos, hosted by comedian-turned-musician Mae Martin, will air on CBC TV, CBC Gem and other CBC platforms at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2026.

The Canadian Press

The tech company says it will serve as a Platinum Partner at this weekend’s Junos, marking its first return to supporting Canadian cultural programs.

Earlier this month, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said TikTok was allowed to continue its operations in Canada, reversing a 2024 order for the company to close its offices in Canada due to national security concerns.

Due to the looming shutdown, TikTok pulled out as a sponsor of several Canadian arts institutions, including the Juno Awards, the Toronto International Film Festival and MusiCounts.

Joly said the government’s turnaround, made after completing a national security review, hinges on key conditions, including for TikTok to introduce stronger protections for minors and the personal information of all Canadians.

Hosted by comedian Mae Martin, the 55th annual Junos take place in Hamilton this weekend, culminating with the main broadcast on Sunday.

TikTok says as part of its renewed support for homegrown artists, it will give select Canadian creators a "curated behind-the-scenes experience” at the Junos, including backstage tours, access to artist rehearsals and invitations to walk the red carpet.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., sided with the newspaper and ruled that the Pentagon policy illegally restricts the press credentials of reporters who walked out of the building rather than agree to the new rules.

The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the credentialing policy violates the journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

The current Pentagon press corps is comprised mostly of conservative outlets that agreed to the policy. Reporters from outlets that refused to consent to the new rules, including from The Associated Press, have continued reporting on the military.

Friedman, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said the policy “fails to provide fair notice of what routine, lawful journalistic practices will result in the denial, suspension, or revocation” of Pentagon press credentials. He ruled that it violates the First and Fifth amendment rights to free speech and due process.

“In sum, the Policy on its face makes any newsgathering and reporting not blessed by the Department a potential basis for the denial, suspension, or revocation of a journalist’s (credential),” he wrote. “It provides no way for journalists to know how they may do their jobs without losing their credentials.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

It has argued that the policy imposes “common sense” rules that protect the military from the disclosure of national security information.

“The goal of that process is to prevent those who pose a security risk from having broad access to American military headquarters,” government attorneys wrote.

Times attorneys claim the policy is designed to silence unfavorable press coverage of President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The First Amendment flatly prohibits the government from granting itself the unbridled power to restrict speech because the mere existence of such arbitrary authority can lead to self-censorship,” they wrote.

__

Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press

Experts worry the proposed legislation the government announced Friday will be unenforceable, drive up the original price of tickets and lure people into riskier transactions.

The province positioned the move as a way to tamp down on resellers who profit off fans by selling tickets to the hottest shows and games for several times their original price, but it's "purely symbolism," said David Clement, the North American affairs manager with the Consumer Choice Center.

"It actually doesn't help consumers because it means that it caps prices in the regulated market and regulated platforms like Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek, but it doesn't cap prices outside in the unregulated market," he said.

"What we see in jurisdictions to enforce these caps is there's just a flood of ticket sales in the unregulated market on things like Facebook Marketplace and the consumer risk there is that you have no guarantees in the unregulated market."

In Ireland, where a ticket cap has been around since 2021, the fraud rate for concerts is around 14 per cent and for sporting events it's almost 11 per cent, found a March 2025 study reseller StubHub commissioned Bradshaw Advisory to conduct.

While the research didn't track what the fraud rates were before the cap, it uses the U.K., which had no cap at that time, as a comparison. The overall ticket fraud rate was about 3.8 per cent in the U.K., but 13.6 per cent in Ireland.

When resellers are hit with caps, Clement said, they move off ticket platforms that often offer guarantees of a refund or different ticket if there's a problem with the seat you bought.

Instead, they shift to selling tickets where they can get a higher price: through informal online channels or outside stadiums, where sellers are hard to trace or hold accountable when something goes wrong.

For the province's cap to be enforceable, authorities would need to patrol outside arenas and sites like Kijiji, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.

"One, that is just a completely silly misuse of law enforcement resources and two, it's entirely impractical," Clement said.

The cap is also unenforceable because the government hasn't promised a mechanism to compel Ticketmaster or other box offices to share the original purchase price of a ticket with resellers, said Brian Berry, executive director of Ticket Policy Forum, a group representing ticket resale firms StubHub, Seatgeek, TickPick, GameTime and more.

Without a way to know the original price of every ticket, resale marketplaces will have no reliable way to determine how much a buyer paid and thus, wouldn't be able to impose a cap, he said.

Catherine Moore, an adjunct University of Toronto professor specializing in the music business, pointed out the cap is also limited because Friday's announcement said it would apply to anyone who resells a ticket and to any platform that facilitates a resale to events in Ontario.

"It might not be enforceable if the resale happens outside of Ontario," she said.

And if anyone is caught within the cap's jurisdiction, the up to $10,000 fine the government is pitching may not be much of a deterrent either, said Moore.

"For the level of profit that secondary ticketing businesses make — whether it's big established businesses like StubHub or Ticketmaster's secondary platform or whether it's smaller brokers — that probably is pretty meaningless for them," she said.

Moore, Clement and Berry also all believe companies could decide to increase the face value of tickets to make up for not being able to resell seats later for several times the price.

"Make no mistake: under this proposal, ticket prices will continue to rise and scams will increase," Berry said.

Ontario’s move toward a cap comes months before the World Cup will be hosted partially in Canada and in advance of major tours from BTS, Bruno Mars, Rush and Hilary Duff.

While the rising price of concert and sports tickets has been topical for years, it was the World Series that put the issue on Ontario Premier Doug Ford's radar. The Toronto Blue Jays' run to the finals over the fall had resale prices soaring to exorbitant levels most fans couldn't stomach and spurred Ford.

But Vass Bednar, co-author of "The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians," pointed out Ford was also the one to scrap a law from the Liberals in government before him. It would have capped ticket resale prices at 50 per cent above the original face value.

In the meantime, other jurisdictions bounded ahead. The U.K. tabled legislation last year that would make it illegal to resell tickets above face value.

"So while Ontario seems like a leader in a federalism context, it's kind of a follower in terms of an international policy domino context," Bednar said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

The legislature is set to resume sitting Monday after a 14-week break and the government announced Friday that it plans to table proposed changes to the Ticket Sales Act in the coming days.

"We are taking action to help ensure Ontario fans have access to fair resale prices and are not exploited by price gouging when they buy resale tickets for their favourite events," Stephen Crawford, minister of public and business service delivery, wrote in a statement.

"With these new measures, consumers would no longer need to worry about being ripped off in the ticket resale market, and more families and fans would have the opportunity to see their favourite band or sports team perform live."

The changes would make it illegal for tickets to concerts, sports and other live events in Ontario to be re-sold for more than their original cost.

Ford's government in 2019 scrapped part of a law from the previous Liberal government that would have capped ticket resale prices at 50 per cent above the original face value.

But the issue caught Ford's attention during the Blue Jays' World Series run last year, when fans complained about sky-high resale prices for tickets soon after they went on sale.

"People shouldn't be gouged, and that's what's happening right now, no matter if it's the World Series or a concert comes in," Ford said in October.

An executive at SeatGeek, which operates as a primary ticket seller and has a secondary resale marketplace, said the proposed measures could have unintended consequences.

"Controls won't eliminate consumer demand — they shift costs in ways that are harder to see, whether through higher base prices or fees buried elsewhere in the transaction," vice-president of government affairs Joe Freeman wrote in a statement.

"And they consolidate power in the hands of dominant players like Live Nation-Ticketmaster, who benefit most when independent resale platforms are pushed out of the market."

The executive director of the Ticket Policy Forum, a coalition of ticket sites including StubHub and SeatGeek, said the proposed measures would crack down on the resale market while leaving primary sellers to increase prices without oversight.

"This terribly flawed proposal will reduce access to tickets for popular events on reliable platforms that come with guarantees and protections," Brian Berry wrote in a statement.

The rules would be unenforceable and built on a false premise, the Ticket Policy Forum statement said.

"Legislating around high-demand outlier events — like World Series games or Taylor Swift concerts — is poor public policy," they wrote.

"The overwhelming majority of events do not sell out, and consumers already have abundant options at accessible prices through both primary and secondary markets."

Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of Ticketmaster, said it supports the proposed measures.

"We are in favour of measures that promote fair, transparent ticketing and curb exploitative resale practices," the company wrote in a statement.

"We welcome ongoing conversations with the government to continue safeguarding artists and fans while keeping live events accessible."

NDP critic Kristyn Wong-Tam said Ford should have made the changes long ago.

"Blue Jays fans had to pay ridiculous prices to see the World Series, and now FIFA World Cup attendees face the same reality," Wong-Tam wrote in a statement.

"The Ford government must take meaningful action, and provide a solution that can't be circumvented by ticket resellers. Ontarians deserve a government that will protect them from exploitative pricing."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2026.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

Tamara Deverell won the Academy Award for production design along with Dartmouth set decorator Shane Vieau over the weekend for the pair's work on director Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

Her win comes a few weeks after the province tabled a budget with more than $130-million in grant reductions, including the scrapping of millions of dollars for the arts and culture sector. After public backlash, Premier Tim Houston’s government reversed more than $50-million worth of cuts to programs impacting people with disabilities, African Nova Scotians and Indigenous groups, but reductions to arts programs remain in place.

Cape Breton-based Deverell said tourists flock to the island to go to concerts, attend festivals and see artisans at work, all of which boosts the economy.

“If you want to look at it economically, the tourist trade in our province is huge and we should take advantage of that and welcome visitors,” Deverell said Wednesday in an interview from Toronto, where flight delays have kept her for two days on her way home from the Oscars.

“And how else do you welcome visitors? By sharing your culture and your arts.”

Deverell said that part of the reason she and her husband moved from Toronto to the Inverness area eight years ago was due to Cape Breton’s arts and culture scene. She’s the co-chair of the Inverness County Centre for the Arts, which she says saw about a quarter of its core funding cut in the provincial budget. The organization has already cancelled a concert series and won’t be moving ahead with planned programming for youth and seniors.

Deverell said Cape Breton arts groups and non-profits are banding together to fight the cuts and find new funding sources, including from the federal government.

While Deverell can now say she’s an Oscar winner, she noted how she established her career after working on films that depended on government funding.

“I look at the young people today who want a career in the arts, maybe they want to go into film and television, maybe they want to go in theatre, maybe they're musicians, maybe they are artists, and they're not going to have the funding and the backing and the support that they need to have these careers,” she said.

Deverell spent countless hours toiling over the film’s central set, a massive laboratory perched atop an old Scottish stone tower, with a massive round window letting light in on a workshop full of ornate apparatus and a malformed body splayed out on the operating table. del Toro has said he wanted a handmade movie of epic scale. All the props, design and wardrobe were handcrafted.

One program to get the axe was the $700,000 fund to help Nova Scotia book publishers. In a statement, the government said publishers can still apply for support under the Creative Industries Fund. Along with publishers, it also supports fashion, screen, music and performing arts. Its budget was reduced by about $800,000 to $1.1 million in the budget.

“Publishers in Nova Scotia play an important role in telling our stories and sharing them with readers across the province and beyond,” the culture and tourism department said in a statement.

Deverell isn’t the only prominent Nova Scotian artist criticizing the government. Rachel Reid, the Nova Scotian author of the “Game Changers” series of novels which are the basis for the "Heated Rivalry" TV series has spoken out.

“Whether we are creating or consuming it, art is how we connect with others and find ourselves. It’s also how we represent Nova Scotia on the world stage,” she wrote in a social media post earlier this month.

“The proposed cuts would be devastating, and would drive even more talent out of the province. Please don’t do this.”

Heather Fegan, executive director of the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association, said the funding cuts won’t make much of a difference to the provincial budget, but they're devastating for the sector and will mean less books published by Nova Scotian authors. She said having high profile artists like Reid and Deverell take up the cause will hopefully help.

“We're seeing it on a global stage repeatedly, how folks from Nova Scotia have been successful and yet (Premier) Houston is ready just to obliterate it all by taking away the support, again, which is such a tiny drop in the bucket of the overall deficit. But the damage will be so, so great,” Fegan said in an interview.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2026.

- With files from the Associated Press.

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press