Adult movie icon Nina Hartley does not appear to be insulted that Jack Layton doesn’t know her name and is unfamiliar with her body of work.

Of course, she’ll admit with a chuckle that the NDP leader is probably not the first married man to plead ignorance when it comes to keeping up on news from the world of pornography.

But the star of the film Bubbles Galore — which some 10 years ago drew fire for its mix of sex and tax dollars — says it’s refreshing to hear the leader of a national party is willing to chance an election to preserve artistic freedom.

‘I wish we had such a strong feeling here,’ she told Playback Daily, when reached on her cell phone in Los Angeles.

Last week, Layton renewed his party’s call to alter Bill C-10, which, through changes to the Income Tax Act, would give government officials the power to deny tax credits for films and TV shows ‘contrary to public policy.’

The NDP wants the clause extracted, even though Layton said that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made it clear that amendments to the bill will be viewed as a confidence vote.

However, given the Stéphane Dion-era Liberals’ history of abstaining from votes that could topple government, Layton admits he does not foresee the public going to the polls in the immediate future over the issue.

‘What they’re doing,’ he said, ‘is actually giving Mr. Harper an effective majority in the House… when their members don’t vote, Mr. Harper has the majority of the rest.’

‘[Dion is] allowing, and in fact I would say, encouraging Mr. Harper to go further and faster with his agenda that’s so wrong for Canada on so many fronts,’ Layton added.

Layton said he’s concerned the bill will stifle creativity, as filmmakers may feel the need to censor their work in order to appease bureaucrats using their own morals when determining which projects receive tax credits.

Alternatively, he said producers could be compelled to shoot their projects elsewhere, which would have an impact on sectors of the economy that benefit from the TV and movie industry.

Told his concerns echoed those expressed earlier in the week by the long-time porn starlet, he said ‘maybe I don’t study the right magazines or articles.’

But back in 1999, members of the Conservative’s previous incarnation, the Reform Party, constantly brought up her name when attempting to highlight what they perceived as poor management of taxpayer dollars.

Three years earlier, Toronto filmmaker Cynthia Roberts cast Hartley as the lead character in Bubbles Galore, in which a female pornographer sought her independence in a male-dominated industry.

The movie — which received more than $100,000 from funders including the Canada Council for the Arts, Telefilm Canada and the Toronto Arts Council — was denounced by Reform members as being little more then a skin flick.

Hartley, however, says they misconstrued the film, as she feels it carried a message of empowerment for women taking control of their own destiny.

Regardless of viewers’ interpretation, NDP heritage critic Bill Siksay feels it is important for government to play a role in helping members of the arts community explore and foster bodies of work that at times can be controversial.

He adds that the input of people such as Hartley is essential right now on Parliament Hill, as she is an actress who made a movie on Canadian soil that spawned debate over the artistic merit of a film.

It’s the kind of debate, Hartley warns, that likely won’t be resolved any time soon.

‘If your government is as ineffective as our government, you’ll be arguing about this for years,’ she says.