Until recently, due to a light-skin bias embedded in colour film stock emulsions and digital camera design, the rendering of non-Caucasian skin tones was highly deficient and required the development of compensatory practices and technology improvements to redress its shortcomings. Using the emblematic "Shirley" norm reference card as a central metaphor reflecting the changing state of race relations/aesthetics, this essay analytically traces the colour adjustment processes in the industries of visual representation and identifies some prototypical changes in the field. The author contextualizes the history of these changes using three theoretical categories: the 'technological unconscious' (Vaccari, 1981), 'dysconsciousness' (King, 2001), and an original concept of 'cognitive equity,' which is proposed as an intelligent strategy for creating and promoting equity by inscribing a wider dynamic range of skin tones into image technologies, products, and emergent practices in the visual industries.

As a symbolic demonstration of the Government of Canada's attitude toward minorities' communication rights, the Multiculturalism Act (1988) and the Broadcasting Policy Reflecting Canada's Linguistic and Cultural Diversity (1985) are paradigms of state intervention which encourage the public production, programming, and protection of certain forms of ethnicity. After critically outlining the content and historical struggle around these two policies, this paper focuses on how multiculturalism and ethnic broadcasting privilege ethnocultural and racial "diversity'' as an integral aspect of Canadian society. "Colour-balanced'' media requires the actual implementation, supervision, and monitoring by the CRTC of section 3(1)(d)(iii) of the Canadian Broadcasting Act by people whose minds are open to the recognition, in practice, of equality rights for minority ommunicators in Canada. Résumé: La Loi sur le multiculturalisme canadien (1988) et La Politique sur la radiodiffusion reflétant la diversité linguistique et culturelle du Canada (1985) démontrent de manière symbolique le point de vue du gouvernement canadien sur les droits de communication des minorités. Ce sont des paradigmes d'intervention de l'état qui encouragent la production, la programmation et la protection publiques de certaines formes d'ethnicité. Cet article présente d'abord de manière critique le contenu de ces deux politiques et la lutte historique sous-tendant celles-ci. L'article se penche ensuite sur la manière dont le multiculturalisme et la radiodiffusion ethnique mettent en valeur la "diversité" ethnoculturelle et raciale comme aspect intégral de la société canadienne. Le CRTC met à exécution la section 3(1)(d)(iii) de la Loi sur la radiodiffusion canadienne et surveille son application pour s'assurer que les médias sont représentatifs des diverses ethnies du Canada. Les administrateurs du CRTC ont les esprits ouverts et reconnaissent, en pratique, les droits à l'égalité des communicateurs minoritaires au Canada.

This paper closely examines the phone-in community radio service of Kahnawake as it emerged and evolved during and after the Kanehsatake and Kahnawake/governments' confrontation in the summer of 1990. Reflecting on an incident in which a community group in LaSalle attempted to appropriate the Kahnawake airwaves for their own political ends, the paper raises questions about constituency-group control, ownership, and cross-cultural sharing of First Nations community radio airtime and cultural content. Résumé: Cet article examine en profondeur le service de ligne ouverte offert par la radio communautaire de Kahnawake tel qu'il a évolué pendant et après la confrontation entre les différents palliers gouvernementaux d'un bord et Kanehsatake / Kahnawake de l'autre durant l'été 1990. Analysant une tentative de la part d'un groupe communautaire de LaSalle de s'approprier les ondes à Kahnawake pour ses propres fins politiques, nous soulevons des questions en rapport avec le contrôle, le partage et le droit de propriété qu'auraient différents groupes d'intérêt et / ou culturels.

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Canada has played a leadership role in the development of multiculturalism and its use in ethnic and minority television broadcasting as an integrative tool for cultural and racial constituency groups. Canada has mainly opted to emphasize private ethnic broadcasting as the means by which to integrate minorities, along with the support of the public broadcasters’ progressive initiatives. After historically differentiating and framing ethnic/multicultural research and programming initiatives in Canada, this article identifies some lessons and best practices that have emerged from this experience. Using policy analysis from a historical perspective, the authors analyse the enabling mechanisms and strengths, as well as the obstacles and failures that have been experienced in an effort to build an integrated, cohesive and transformative television system in which all members of society are recognized as having a right to both fair portrayal practices and employment opportunities.