Canada should not ignore filmmakers in the Prairies or the Maritimes if it is to boost the overall health of domestic movie production, according to Minister of Canadian Heritage Liza Frulla.

‘We can’t abandon the rest of the country. I’ve been to Halifax and the Maritimes and there’s a lot of creativity, a lot of ability there and in Alberta and Saskatchewan,’ says Frulla. ‘You have to reach out, you have to have real balance.’

Frulla was in Toronto for the opening of the Toronto International Film Festival and for a series of meetings at CBC and other production outlets. She spoke with Playback during a photo op at the National Film Board’s Mediatheque, stressing the need for more cross-Canada cooperation among movie producers, and for greater independence from Hollywood.

‘It’s nice to have people come here and shoot, but the day the dollar goes up or [California Governor Arnold] Schwarzenegger gets his way…,’ she said, trailing off with a shrug. ‘We’re dependent on others.’

A few days earlier in Montreal, the newly minted minister had remarked that U.S. culture is smothering the efforts of other countries to develop their own. The comment drew fire from the Tories and was softened the next day by Frulla’s press secretary.

Frulla has been talking with the provincial ministers of finance in hope of improving the various tax credits for film and TV production, but she admits it is going slowly. She believes credits are not enough, however, and wants to see more rules in place so that companies do not ‘make themselves strong and after that, sell themselves off.’

Companies like Alliance Atlantis Communications?

‘That’s one example,’ she says.

AAC was criticized when, earlier this year, it shut down its production efforts after years of government support.

Frulla also suggested that Canada could do more to capitalize on the success of TIFF, but did not offer specifics.

-www.canadianheritage.gc.ca