No form of cultural activity so clearly displays Canada's cultural dilemmas, and their implications for Canadian-American relations, as the field of communications. This critical and ever more important area is immensely complex. It encompasses such diverse aspects as transborder data flows, the transnational character of satellite footprints, and the implications of one country's being dependent on another with respect to computer hardware and software. More important still, it embraces the field of broadcasting, the

People who bought television sets before the inauguration of the CBC's service were able to watch United States shows, and this, in a sense, established expectations and patterns which could not be ignored later. Both the CBC and the private broadcasters realized that they would only win and hold viewers, so many of whom could receive signals from south of the border, if they themselves offered many of the most popular American programs; the appetite for these, therefore, became deeply ingrained. Free marketers argue that in commercial broadcasting it is the viewers' tastes which determine

television than in the presence of teachers. Dominant perceptions of ourselves, of others, of this country and its neighbours, of desirable lifestyles, of national and world affairs, of different ethnic, religious, and social groups - perceptions of all of these things are profoundly influenced by the programming available and watched on television. No wonder then this medium is a uniquely powerful force in the socialization of individuals and in the formation of collective attitudes, values, and aspirations. And television is, as it is well known, predominantly, overwhelmingly American. The fact is of absolutely central significance in the state and development Canada's culture, but also of the country's perception of, and relations with, the United States. It is, therefore, imperative that it is understood fully why Canadians are so dependent on the Americans and what can be done to ensure that the electronic media serve the best individual and collective interests of Canadians.

best American dramas without spending very large sums of money on them. But the size of the Canadian market does not permit the same investment in indigenous productions as is possible in the United States. It therefore makes very little economic sense for commercial broadcasters to try to program Canadian dramas.

There are at least six major factors explaining why Canada is so vulnerable to the television world of the United States. First, the physical proximity of so many Canadians to the United States border places a vast

The greatest threat to Canada lies in the possibility (some might even say probability) that, as the result of t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1513
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)