OTTAWA — The Department of Finance is supporting Canadian Heritage’s bid to keep Bill C-10 vague, and on Wednesday argued before the Senate’s banking committee exact criteria for ‘offensive’ film and TV productions should not be included in the proposed law.

If the criteria were included in regulation, the courts could void them due to vagueness, but the ‘courts are more lenient if guidelines are used,’ said Sandra Hassan, general counsel and director of the tax law division of Finance Canada’s law branch.

The comments came after Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner faced an onslaught of questions about why her department should have the power, as this legislation proposes, to withhold federal tax credits from projects deemed ‘contrary to public policy.’

Liberal Senator Francis Fox complained the guidelines could amount to censorship.

‘I’m more at ease with regulation rather than guidelines,’ Fox added, since regulations would have to go through Parliament.

Verner said Heritage would not apply the ‘contrary to public policy’ provision until 12 months after Bill C-10 received royal assent. She also invited the film and television production industry to lead the development of the guidelines, including how they would be applied and administered.

She repeated arguments that C-10 isn’t about censorship, but about ‘responsibility, integrity and efficiency’ with taxpayer dollars.

She told the Senate standing committee that the guidelines would apply to ‘only a small number of productions — likely only a handful of the over 1,000 Canadian content productions that receive a tax credit annually.’

‘Are we trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist?’ asked Liberal Senator Wilfred Moore, when he was told that there was only one production in 2002 and a second in 2007 that weren’t certified for tax credits under existing regulations.

Verner also came under attack because the ‘contrary to public policy’ provision applies only to Canadian productions, and not to foreign productions shooting in Canada.

Tax credits for foreign location shoots are aimed at drawing investment into Canada and are based on spending in Canada, not on content, explained Canadian Heritage assistant deputy minister of cultural affairs Jean-Pierre Blais.

Liberal Senator Pierrette Ringuette noted that American producers will have less onerous standards for tapping Canadian tax credits under this approach.

After more than an hour before the committee, Verner had to leave for a vote in the House of Commons, but Heritage and Finance officials remained to answer questions.

Senate committee chair David Angus said the committee would decide by the end of next week if it will call Verner again.