Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner appeared yesterday before a Senate committee on C-10, acknowledging that there are only two films (which she could not name) that would not have received funding over the past five years under the proposed plan to grant her discretion to deny tax credits for "offensive" […]
Post Tagged with: "verner"
Bill C-10 and the Non-Existent Problem
When I posted my comments on Bill C-10 last week, I noted that Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner "says this will 'affect a very small number of the over 1000 productions that receive tax credits annually.' Can she name these productions?." The Toronto Star's Peter Howell has the answer – […]
The Battle over C-10
I've been rather quiet on the remarkable public outcry over Bill C-10, the legislation currently before the Senate that would give the Minister of Canadian Heritage the power to veto tax credits for films or television productions deemed objectionable. This afternoon I received an email urging me to "write your Government and support restricting or banning funding from the taxpayers for 'pornography'." Given this nonsense, it is important to urge everyone to lend their voice to this issue by contacting their elected representatives and the Senate Banking committee to ask them not to pass the legislation with the film provision. Much like the outcry against DMCA-style copyright reform, there has been a huge online protest with a Facebook group now over 21,000 members.
I believe there is a place for government support for culture. While that support is not unconditional, neither is it appropriate for government to reserve for itself a veto power over content it finds objectionable (the loss of tax credits could effectively kill some film productions). After the Prime Minister's Office apparently pulled Canadian Heritage Minister Josee Verner away from the media, late last night she issued a press release claiming that the provision is designed to stop tax credits from being issued to films that include content that may be subject to prosecution under the Criminal Code. This raises a couple of issues.
Canadian Heritage Committee Seeks a Say in Copyright Reform
Howard Knopf points to a Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recommendation that calls on the government to establish a Special Joint Committee to review the copyright bill once it is introduced. As Howard notes, this represents some pushback from the Committee that fears that it will be marginalized in the […]
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 200: Colin Bennett on the EU’s Surprising Adequacy Finding on Canadian Privacy Law 
Debating the Online Harms Act: Insights from Two Recent Panels on Bill C-63 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 199: Boris Bytensky on the Criminal Code Reforms in the Online Harms Act 
AI Spending is Not an AI Strategy: Why the Government’s Artificial Intelligence Plan Avoids the Hard Governance Questions 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 198: Richard Moon on the Return of the Section 13 Hate Speech Provision in the Online Harms Act
