MONTREAL — Prominent film producer Roger Frappier is calling on Conservative Heritage Minister Josée Verner to resign because her explanations for recent cuts to culture programs are ‘utterly vapid.’

‘It’s unimaginable,’ Frappier tells Playback Daily. ‘It’s like in Plato’s Republic, they are trying to get rid of the poets. The government has decided that culture is not important.’

The producer of the popular Seducing Doctor Lewis (2003) and Borderline — which will screen at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival — was responding to an interview with Verner published in Montreal’s French-language daily La Presse on Friday. The minister defended the cuts, saying that ‘culture is an essential element of the identity of a nation,’ and that her government was simply trying to make arts and culture organizations more efficient. The minister said the programs that were eliminated failed to provide sufficient returns for the dollars invested.

But, having met Verner and her predecessor Bev Oda on several occasions, Frappier disputes the minister’s claims that her government cares about the arts. ‘Talking to them is like talking to a brick wall. This isn’t the Conservative Party. [Tory MPs] Flora MacDonald and Marcel Masse were good culture ministers. This is the Reform Party, and they consider culture dangerous.’

Cuts to programs such as PromArt and Trade Routes, which have come to light over the past week, don’t make economic sense, says Frappier. ‘France invests millions in its image abroad, so people associate the country with great food and wine. Culture is a point of entry for trade. Without it, you close other doors,’ he says.

In a statement, ACTRA’s national executive director Stephen Waddell concurred, saying the cuts are ‘shocking and short-sighted, and they certainly aren’t business friendly.’

‘Support for arts and culture are among the most efficient investments a government can make. Government funding leverages other investments, markets Canada to the world and enriches our society here at home,’ said Waddell.

The Directors Guild of Canada also blasted Verner. ‘We are gravely concerned by these recent decisions,’ said DGC president Sturla Gunnarsson in a statement. ‘Given the size of our market and the current state of our industry, now is the time to strengthen, not abolish, such key programs.’

Culture is big business in Quebec, where the thriving entertainment and culture industry — much of it subsidized by the federal and provincial governments — employs thousands and pumps millions annually into the province’s economy.

Frappier says Quebecers who have been impressed with Harper thus far may change their minds, particularly since the artistic community has a great deal of visibility and clout in Quebec. ‘We were sleeping a bit because he recognized us as a nation. But that is now completely void of substance. The fiber of a nation is culture, language and economy,’ says the producer.

Calling the cuts a ‘continuation of Bill C-10,’ he warned that Canadian and Quebec cultural groups will form a common front this fall to fight the cutbacks. ‘The government will regret this. They are making a mistake,’ he says.

Calls to Heritage for further comment were not returned.