Lobby efforts to boost the Ontario production tax credit have stalled despite promises made just five months ago by the provincial Tories that talks would continue with the CFTPA.

‘We’re a little disappointed,’ says exec VP Guy Mayson. ‘There’s been no decision. We’re continuing to press but so far there’s been no reaction.’

It’s been five months since the provincial government, in its most recent budget, dodged the hot-button issue of the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. Reps from across the industry – including the CFTPA and the Canadian Independent Film Caucus – had called for the government to hike the rate by 13 percentage points, up from 20%, in hope of bolstering the province’s sagging production business.

The rate remained unchanged in the March budget and the Ontario Tories told CFTPA to expect word on it and other proposed changes by April. But nothing came of those meetings and the two groups have not sat down together since May, says Scott Garvie, co-chair of CFTPA’s Ontario Producers Panel.

‘We haven’t had a lot of feedback. We’ve been trying to have a meeting with [them] but it hasn’t moved forward,’ he says.

The tax break is apparently no longer on Finance Minster Janet Ecker’s ‘radar’ adds co-chair Alex Raffe, despite vigorous support from Culture Minister David Tsubouchi. ‘We expected more,’ she laments.

A spokesperson for Minister Ecker denies that the tax cut has been forgotten, but did not say when further meetings or changes might occur.

The Ministry of Culture says they are still ‘very interested’ in the problem.

Garvie is now planning to go over Ontario’s head. ‘We’re moving the agenda forward on the federal side,’ he says, noting that Paul Martin, now a shoo-in for the Liberal leadership, is a ‘good friend’ of the industry. ‘My sense is, once the feds make their position clear, the provinces will follow.’

Andrea Nemtin, head of the Documentary Organization of Canada, formerly the CIFC, also thinks Ottawa will be more receptive. The Liberals have ‘calmed down’ considerably in recent weeks, she says, and will likely meet with DOC by late summer.

Ontario’s modest tax break is thought by many to be the main reason production has slowed in the province since 2000. One of five media development credits currently on the books, the OFTTC takes 20% off certain labor costs for Ontario-shot and -posted projects by Canadian prodcos with permanent offices in the province. But shoots have left Ontario for provinces with more lucrative tax breaks – 40% in New Brunswick and 35% in both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, for example.

The March budget did, however, remove the ‘grind’ on equity investment, meaning eligible labor costs are no longer reduced by funds from government agencies.

‘Ontario was one of the first provinces to get into the act in terms of tax credits,’ says Mayson. ‘But since then all the others have jumped in with more competitive rates, which is fair ball, but I think the Ontario government has to be realistic and realize we’re playing in a competitive environment and to ensure their tax credits remain competitive. It’s as simple as that.’

The cause has also been taken up by the Ontario Film and Television Consortium, a new group made up of high-ranked pros, which last month announced plans to lobby all three levels of government for more ‘film-friendly’ policies.

Boosting Ontario production is important to Canada’s overall industry, says Mayson. ‘Ontario has been a big engine in the country and Toronto is huge. It’s very important to our industry that Toronto is seen as a key centre of excellence.’

He says that the province has, however, been cooperative on other issues and could go along with requests to speed up the tax return process, again with support from Tsubouchi and the Ministry of Culture.

‘We’ve raised it several times and [Finance] has made some nice noises,’ says Mayson. ‘The longer it takes to get a cheque, the less value it has… the interest is costing you a fortune, so the value of any tax credit will diminish over time.’ *