OTTAWA – The creative community will be expressing their concerns about Bill C-10 to the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on April 10. Controversial Bill C-10 that includes provisions allowing the Canadian Heritage minister to deny tax credits to film and TV productions if they are deemed “contrary to public policy” amounts to censorship, claim most in the creative community.
Due to appear before the Senate standing committee are the Association des producteurs de films et de television du Quebec, the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, FilmOntario, the Writers Guild of Canada, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) and the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC). Representing ACTRA are actor Wendy Crewson and director and writer Sarah Polley.
“The DGC’s concerns are twofold: first, that this provision would have a dampening effect on artistic expression; and, second, that it would discourage investment in an already under-resourced sector. The DGC looks forward to discussing these and other related issues with the members of the Senate Banking Committee on April 10,” the DGC said in a statement Friday.
Canadian Heritage minister Josee Verner and her staff faced a barrage of questions about the bill when they appeared before the Senate standing committee on April 2.
At that time, Verner urged the film and production industry to lead the development of guidelines that will define what is contrary to public policy, including how they would be applied and administered.
She admitted to the standing committee, however, that the Canadian production industry is “hesitant” to get involved because it’s so opposed to the concept.
Bill C-10 proposes amendments to Canada’s Income Tax Act, including one that would give the Canadian Heritage minister the power to issue guidelines detailing the circumstances under which tax credit eligibility for Canadian film or television productions could be denied.
She also said Canadian Heritage would wait until a year after Bill C-10 receives royal assent to apply the “contrary to public policy” guidelines.
Verner also tried to reassure the standing committee by saying the guidelines would only apply to a handful of the more than 1,000 Canadian productions that receive tax credits each year.
“Are we trying to solve a problem then that doesn’t exist?” responded Liberal senator Wilfred Moore.
Liberal senator Pierrette Ringuette found fault with the bill because it doesn’t apply to American productions shooting in Canada. She argued American producers will thus have less onerous standards than Canadian producers for tapping Canadian tax credits if the bill is passed.
Others told the Heritage minister that they thought what constitutes “contrary to public policy” should be enshrined in the bill itself, rather than being spelled out in guidelines that the minister could set without going through Parliament.
Verner said Bill C-10 wasn’t about censorship, but about “responsibility, integrity and efficiency” and “accountability when it comes to managing public funds.”
She added the bill will close a loophole, because Canadian Heritage currently doesn’t have the means to deny tax credits to productions that could be potentially illegal under the Criminal Code because they contain indecent material, hate propaganda or child pornography.
