Canada’s producers on Thursday called for changes to the controversial Bill C-10 that would see ‘contrary to public policy’ defined by what’s unlawful content under the Criminal Code.

Bill C-10, an amendment to Canada’s Income Tax Act, includes a provision that would give the Canadian Heritage minister the power to issue ‘contrary to public policy’ guidelines detailing the circumstances under which productions could be deemed ineligible for production tax credits.

‘If left as is, this would effectively provide any minister of Canadian Heritage in the future with the power to unilaterally decide the public standard in terms of content,’ Sandra Cunningham, chair of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, said Thursday before the Senate banking committee considering the bill.

The creative community unanimously told the committee that if the minister retroactively could disallow tax credits, it would create such uncertainty in the market that bank loans would be difficult to get and insurance could rise.

The senators seemed somewhat star-struck by actress/filmmaker Sarah Polley and actress Wendy Crewson, who, appearing on behalf of ACTRA, blasted the bill for restricting freedom of expression.

Polley said she was ‘stunned by this blatant attempt to censor our work,’ while Crewson talked about the need for a ‘free flow of ideas or images.’

‘We want to create work that will inspire dialogue,’ added Polley, who noted that many of Canada’s most popular filmmakers, such as David Cronenberg, Atom Egoyan and Anne Wheeler are known for their dark and controversial works.

Liberal Senator George Baker joked that the bill was an attack on Bubbles and Ricky, characters in the Canadian comedy The Trailer Park Boys. ‘I suppose they want Mr. Lahey to drink tea and his sidekick to put on a shirt,’ he said.

Maureen Parker, executive director of the Writers Guild of Canada, complained because the ‘contrary to public policy’ provision would apply only to homegrown productions and not foreign location shoots in the country.

‘Like the service productions, the purpose of the tax credits for Canadian productions is also to encourage work in Canada; it is not related to content,’ she said. She noted that the tax guidelines are all based on labor and budgets spent, and no scripts or content are reviewed by the government in determining if the tax will be granted.

In her appearance before the committee last week, Canadian Heritage Minister Josée Verner noted Bill C-10 would close a loophole, as the government currently doesn’t have the means to deny tax credits to productions that could be potentially illegal under the Criminal Code because they contain indecent material, hate propaganda or child pornography, and that it would also be used for other projects that shouldn’t get public funding.

Conservative Senator Tommy Banks, who said he was an ACTRA member, asked the creators if there were any limits between the going-to-jail option (the Criminal Code standard) and an anything-else-goes approach.

‘No,’ replied Polley. ‘If it’s not against the law, you get to say it.’

Many of the senators, particularly the Liberals, said they thought Bill C-10 should be sent back to the House of Commons for a rethink. It has already passed three readings in the House.