The Conservative Party’s Bill C-10 calls for further regulation of content in Canadian film and television productions, suggesting that if content is morally grey or “contrary to public policy,” then the tax credits necessary to fund the productions should be revoked. The religious right loves Bill C-10, praising its potential to correct the moral ruin that has befallen our country’s art in recent years. But independent film and television producers aren’t quite as thrilled, citing Bill C-10 as a limit to their fundamental rights and freedoms as artists. They question the qualifications of public bureaucrats to assess the quality or morality of a piece of art.
But here’s the bottom line: we already regulate the content of film and television in Canada. Federal funding bodies like Telefilm and the NFB receive and review pitches, allocating money based on the quality of the content. The cash rewarded by the Canadian Television Fund is entirely determined by broadcasters in advance based on content. Bureaucrats already control what we see on our airwaves, and based on audience turnout, they’re not doing a very good job.
Do we really want Canadian networks overflowing with lame ripoffs of American variety shows? The whole purpose of publicly funding our image arts industry is preservation of Canadian culture. In my mind, preserving culture is the job of citizens, not bureaucrats. The last time I checked, David Cronenberg, for all his amorality, received more international acclaim with more bums in seats than Ben Mulroney ever could. If we start regulating what makes content “moral,” where do we draw the line?
Migrating further into the regulation game will make Canada an international laughingstock. No other democratic nation in the world regulates their cultural sector so heavily. However, plenty of not-so-democratic nations do. Do we really want to draw further comparisons?
Moreover, you can kiss our runaway production industry goodbye. Technicians, gaffers, best boys, and everyone else who make movie magic a reality in Canada, rely on foreign productions for their bread and butter. The tax credit system in Canada has traditionally served as an inviting incentive for foreign productions, which infuse our economy with millions of dollars annually. If we regulate who qualifies for these credits based on content, we can kiss that industry, and the jobs it provides our economy, goodbye. It will disappear overnight.
If the Canadian government has such a strong desire for regulation, maybe they should start with the environment—seems far more critical to the voting public than messing with our public airwaves—and leave the art to the artists.
