It is stating the obvious to observe that 1995 was characterized by the largest reduction of spending by federal and provincial agencies in all aspects of the film and television sector than ever seen before in this country.

From the massive budget cuts to the cbc, as well as the smaller reductions announced for Telefilm Canada and the National Film Board, to say nothing of the concommitant staff reductions), to the freeze in Ontario film and television program spending and the cuts expected in Western Canadian provinces, it has been one hell of a year for producers in Canada.

There have been some slightly more positive signs, not least of which is the infusion of funds into the infrastructure made by the Cable Production Fund, but in terms of the public dollar, the present is grim and the future looks even more bleak.

Despite the massive impact these cuts are having on producers of all sizes as they scramble to complete financing for their productions, I believe that the most significant implication of these cuts is not the cuts themselves, but rather the sea change in public policy that is informing government’s actions with regard to our sector.

It is trite to say that the public attitude to funding for the arts sector is a pendulum that swings widely over a period of years.

Fifteen years ago, predeficit, Canadians had no question that support for the expression of indigenous voices was an appropriate use of tax dollars. From these roots grew the growth of the Broadcast Fund and the development of the Feature Film and Distribution Funds at Telefilm, as well as the birth a decade ago of provincial funding agencies dedicated to the development of indigenous expression, both qualitatively (cultural) and quantitatively (industrial).

It is not particularly controversial to say that the pendulum has swung away from that taxpayer willingness in support of the arts as the impact of deficit reduction expenditure cuts starts to hit taxpayers in the provision of basic services.

More importantly, though, funding support to our sector is not often nowadays characterized as funding for the arts. The combination of shrinking dollars and the increasing maturation of the industry itself has shifted government’s attitude towards the sector away from a cultural and towards an industrial framework. We are being evaluated in the context of our economic and industrial outputs rather than the public policy assumption of Canadian self-expression.

This shift in attitude has precipitated a spate of mandate reviews. The ill-fated Secor report never made it to the policy level, but did result in the much-awaited Juneau mandate review of the big three – Telefilm, the nfb and the cbc.

Ontario is working on formulation of a policy in respect of the appropriate role of government intervention into industry, which will likely have significant ramifications for the nature of support provided, let alone the dollars available.

British Columbia Film has undergone a major review and revision of its programming, and the Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation is trying to redefine itself in the context of the Alberta government’s policy towards industry and the infrastructure.

I was asked to try to predict what the future might hold for public financing in our sector over the next year or so. There are other massive factors at play here – the politics surrounding Canada’s inability to resolve conclusively its relationship with Quebec; the questions about the role of national and provincial broadcasters as we move towards fragmented channels; crtc decisions concerning access, exemption, cable pricing; questions surrounding Canadian content in a digitized era; the Internet’s relationship to program delivery; telephone company entry into program delivery – to name just the obvious ones. Any or all of these issues might change the political or market context, which in turn will affect government action.

However, politics and infrastructure changes notwithstanding, my guess is that we will see a continued move towards policies which encourage consolidation and growth in the industry. In other words, sector development as opposed to corporation or filmmaker development. Funding agencies will increase their reliance on revenue returns to offset cutbacks from the public purse, which will escalate the move towards commercial, exploitable programming with high potential of recoupment.

Expect to see tax incentives replacing direct dollar loans and investments – governments currently borrow to provide investment dollars for our sector, but tax changes don’t require either the cash outlay or incur the cost of borrowing.

And, needless to say, the quantum of dollars will continue to decline for the forseeable future.

alexandra raffe is ceo of the Ontario Film Development Corporation.