OTTAWA – Canada’s independent producers on Thursday called on a Senate committee to amend Bill C-10 so that the Criminal Code becomes the standard for determining what’s “contrary to public policy.”
Currently, the bill includes provisions that would allow the Canadian Heritage minister to develop guidelines for determining which productions would not be eligible for tax credits because they were "contrary to public policy.”
Representatives of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Association des producteurs de films et de télévision du Québec (APFTQ) told the senators that employing the Criminal Code will “ensure the continuation of the objective nature of the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit program…”
“Canada’s producers put forward a simple and practical legislative amendment today that would include a reference to the Criminal Code of Canada in Bill C-10,” said CFTPA chair Sandra Cunningham. “From a business financing perspective, it would be devastating for the industry if subjective and arbitrary decision-making related to content is allowed to remain a part of Bill C-10.”
A producer who qualifies for the federal tax credit currently receives the money about 18 months after the production has been shot when they file their corporate tax returns. To shoot and complete a production, producers typically obtain a bank loan against the estimated tax credit, Mayson explained to the Senate committee.
“If passed unamended, Bill C-10 would entrench subjective criteria in the tax credit program that could be applied after a production has been shot,” he said. “Banks and other funding institutions will hesitate to finance a production that could be derailed after the fact by the cancellation of the tax credit.”
Appearing after the CFTPA on Thursday, representatives of the Directors Guild of Canada said the guideline provision was “of particular concern.”
“Our concern is twofold,” said guild national executive director and CEO Brian Anthony. “First, it will have a chilling effect on creative expression, and, second and possibly more important, it will create uncertainty and discourage investment in an already under-resourced sector.”
