Film distribution and exhibition are set to change in Ontario following a court ruling that has stripped the province of its power to ban movies. On April 30, the Ontario Superior Court struck down the provincial Theatres Act, ruling that the censorial powers it granted to the Ontario Film Review Board and to the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services violated freedom of expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The ruling will take effect in 12 months, time for the province to rewrite the Act. The province may also appeal by the end of May, but as of press time had not reached a decision.

The ruling ends a four-year legal battle between the province and Glad Day Books, a gay-aimed Toronto bookstore that in 2000 was charged with selling movies that had not been classified by the OFRB. Glad Day owner John Scythes was convicted in 2002 but appealed with help from the Canadian Civil Liberties Union.

‘This brings movies in line with books, music, dance and all other visual art, in as much that none of those require the prior approval of a government censor,’ says Scythes’ lawyer Frank Addario. ‘The Ontario board has used its power most aggressively… the very existence of that power discourages people from offering films for sale or distribution in Ontario.

‘European and American filmmakers are unaccustomed to this sort of censorship. They say ‘Why the hell should I go through that?”

If the law is rewritten, it will be easier to distribute, sell and show explicit movies in Ontario.

The OFRB has been loudly criticized for some of its decisions, drawing fire in 2001 by refusing to classify, thus effectively banning, Catherine Breillat’s acclaimed but sexually graphic Fat Girl. The board also objected to Baise-moi by directors Coralie and Virginie Despentes and to Ron Mann’s 1999 documentary Grass over a scene that showed a monkey smoking marijuana. All three were eventually released, although Baise-moi had footage cut. The OFRB is thought to be the most strict censor board in Canada.

The board’s power is closely tied to that of the ministry. All films must be screened by the OFRB before they may enter the province, a process known as prior restraint, but enforcing the system is handled by Consumer and Business Services.

Neither the ministry nor the board had any direct comment on the ruling, although OFRB chair Bill Moody feels the OFRB has been unduly criticized.

‘It comes with the territory I suppose,’ he says. ‘We live by the Theatres Act and we die by the Theatres Act.’