Tax Bill Fuels a Canadian Debate on Film Censorship
By IAN AUSTEN
Published: May 3, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/movies/03cens.html?ref=todayspaper
Most Canadian films and non-news television programs apply for a government cash payment, which is described as a tax credit, to offset some of their labor costs…Payments typically cover about 10 to 12 percent of a production’s budget…Filmmakers apply in advance for a certificate declaring their project sufficiently Canadian. The government’s payment, however, does not arrive until the film or television series is completed and it is again reviewed…It is that second review that the government hopes to expand. The change would allow the minister of Canadian heritage, an elected official, to “also certify that the public funding of the production would not be contrary to public policy.”…That broadness of the extra review is the chief concern of the writers, filmmakers, actors and free-speech groups who have visited the Senate over the past few weeks. They argue that it would allow the government to cut funds and, in effect, censor films that offend any number of moral, religious or political views…Heritage minister Josée Verner said that the measure was not an attempt at censorship but simply a way to block subsidies for films that are “potentially illegal under the criminal code, such as indecent material, hate propaganda and child pornography.” Ms. Verner did not explain why current guidelines that ban makers of pornographic films, among other things, from even applying for grants were inadequate..Finance minister .Jim Flaherty said that the proposed change represents “the will of the people” and that its defeat by the opposition parties, most of which are not ready for a campaign, would cause an immediate general election.
