Reay Jespersen

There’s a new Bill being pushed by the Conservative government here in Canada which, in short, gives the government the right to deny publically-funded tax breaks to Canadian-made movies and television programs which are deemed not morally suitable. Ostensibly, this is in order to prevent overtly obscene or exploitive movies from being made here; or at least doing so while taking advantage of tax breaks for the production.

Aside from the blatant censorship of the proposal - what else could it be when any governing body takes it upon itself to approve or deny the merits of art and the benefits that its creators should receive as measured by a self-determined system? - what’s odd about it is the fact that the Bill only extends as far as Canadian-made productions go, as per the proposed change to Section 125.4 of the Income Tax Act. Meanwhile, a Hollywood production, under Section 125.5 of that same Act, could very realistically shoot a movie on Canadian soil which would be deemed obscene or exploitive by those same standards, but the company would still be within its rights to request - and receive - tax breaks for filming here.

Canadian-made films being scrutinized under a microscope for arbitrarily determined qualities when other countries are free to film what they please here at the same time makes no sense at all. In either case it’s censorship so shouldn’t happen, but if you’re going to claim something’s being done for the greater good, at least propose it apply equally to everyone involved and not just to a select group.