Films depicting graphically or sexually violent situations could be excluded from federal tax breaks under a proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act which is being spearheaded by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Robert Soucy, head of the Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office, the department which administers tax credits for Heritage, says some details, such as a mechanism for judging unworthy content, have yet to be worked out.

One form, he suggests, could be a review board made up of representatives from the production community, government and private sector.

‘What we’re discussing right now is how best to implement this type of public policy,’ he says.

‘I want to stress,’ he adds, ‘that it’s not in any way, shape or form an exercise in censorship. All we’re saying is go ahead and make the films you want to make, nonetheless, we would decide whether or not to fund such a production.’

Soucy could not say when the changes would take effect.

Critics have already begun to publicly condemn the policy, saying it could have a chilling effect on avant-garde filmmakers such as David Cronenberg, whose films have been known to offend audiences.

But Richard Paradis, president of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters says he understands why the government would want to implement such changes. ‘If it’s getting public assistance, it probably should reflect the values of society as a whole,’ he says.

As long as the parameters are not so rigid that artistic expression is stifled, he says, and the government seeks input from producers associations, he sees no problem with such as policy.

Indeed, several associations have already been consulted, including the cftpa and the apftq, Soucy says.

Elizabeth McDonald, cftpa president and ceo, says because most Canadian film producers depend on tax credits, it will prove a very complicated issue for the government.

Soucy, however, is quick to point out that while specific details are still under review, he does not expect films that use sexual or violent situations which express important themes to lose tax credits.

‘Obviously hard-core [pornography] is an area we don’t want to fund. There are other areas, of course, where you can be sure decisions would be very difficult to make. These include films that are very violent, but have redeeming qualities [such as] some kind of artistic or social message,’ he says.

cavco administers two tax credits. The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (cptc) allows producers a break of 25% on labor expenses, up to 12% of the cost of production. For a production to qualify, it must meet certain Canadian-content criteria such as hiring Canadians to key creative positions. The Film or Video Production Services Tax Credit (pstc) offers credits equal to 11% of salary and wages paid to Canadian residents for services provided in Canada.

The new proposal, which must go through the Department of Finance, could exclude other ‘objectionable’ subject matter from tax credits under the Act.

These issues were outlined last month in a letter to advocacy group Canadians Concerned About Violence in Entertainment.

The letter, signed by Robert Fry, a senior policy advisor to Heritage minister Sheila Copps, says that along with pornographic productions the new policy ‘will further preclude access to tax credits by productions that contain other objectionable subject matter, including undue violence or violence of a sexual nature, hatred or contempt and the depiction of persons in a demeaning manner.’

Rose Dyson, c-cave chair, welcomes the new policy, but says the federal and provincial governments should go further to eliminate ‘questionable’ productions from the public trough altogether.

‘Funding for gratuitously violent films, or films with other questionable kinds of content should not be encouraged through the public purse. In other words, these people should be left to find their own funding in one way or another,’ Dyson says.

c-cave was very vocal recently in its opposition to the production of American Psycho, which reportedly received tax credits.

The new policy comes as Heritage prepares to release a new feature film policy that could revamp the way films are funded and the kinds of tax breaks allowed. This policy, which is expected to be outlined in the 2000 budget speech in March, is unrelated to the tax credit amendments, says Jean-Francois Bernier, director of film, video and sound recording policy at Heritage.