I’m Mark Musselman: film industry veteran, recovering lawyer, and PhD researcher exploring one of the biggest unresolved questions in this country — what does it mean to be Canadian, and who gets to decide?

For over three decades, I worked inside Canada’s film and television industries — a front-row seat to how cultural policy gets made, gamed, and sometimes weaponized. From boardrooms to funding fights, I saw how certain voices get elevated, others sidelined, and how cultural institutions have long served as battlegrounds in the struggle over Canada’s national identity.

Now, from an academic vantage point, I’m digging deeper into how Canada’s cultural policies have shaped not just what we produce, but who we imagine ourselves to be. Because behind every content quota and funding guideline lies a deeper question about belonging, narrative, and the politics of identity.

At White Paper Black Coffee, we’ll consider questions, like:

· Are we funding creativity — or just feeding the machine?

· Do our cultural regulations build identity — or just bureaucracy?

· What happens when cultural policy starts to serve producers more than audiences?

· How do we define “Canadian” in a world where borders blur and platforms dominate?

· In a diverse, digital Canada, does CanCon still reach — or resonate with — its audience?

This space is where questions like these get some airtime — sometimes through policy analysis, sometimes through storytelling, always with a sharp eye and a steady pour of curiosity.

If you’ve ever wondered not just what Canadian culture is, but how it got that way — and what it could be — subscribe below and pull up a chair.