So, it has only to pass the senate and then the government of Canada will be able to retroactively remove tax credits from movies it finds “offensive.” In their statement to the press they said that they want to make sure our money isn’t going to hate propaganda, porno or violence. I know Canada has recently been producing a glut of federally funded violent hate porn, but do we really want a bunch of uncultured hick MPs from Alberta to tell us what films Canada can make?

The worst thing about this new policy is that it will take away the tax credits AFTER the film is done. So now film makers will have to guess what will be appropriate to the censor’s eyes, and nothing helps the creative process like having to guess what you will be penalized for. At least let people know what you don’t want with some sort of rigified code so they can make fun of it.

It also makes film making, an already complicated financial process, even more dicey because now the tax credit cannot be counted on even if approved. If your movie has even a whiff of something that might in someway, somehow offend that redneck MP from Alberta you may as well not budget for it. I know as an investor I would want to hear that sort of thing going in.

Canada has an international reputation for edgy and provocative films. They win us awards. They make us respected as artists. No one says everybody has to like them but they are among the few things left that make Canada culturally relevant on the world stage. We have already sold out on our medical isotope production, our space robotics, our environmental reputation, our peacekeeper function, our diplomatic respectability, why not screw up what little we give our cultural sector too. Hell, let’s just continually remake Men With Brooms just to be on the safe side. I know that’s what I want the world to think of Canada.