The CRTC’s recommendation that the Canadian Television Fund lower its Cancon requirement for primetime projects, if instituted, would open up more options for producers, but the regulator shouldn’t expect the dramatic spike in audiences for Canadian shows that it seeks.

The CRTC task force on the CTF came out June 29 with a number of suggestions for improving the beleaguered funder, with the biggest button-pusher being the number of CAVCO points needed for a qualifying program dropping to eight from 10.

Whereas eligible programs currently must have a Canadian director, writer and lead actor – each worth two points on the scale – the change would allow one of these to be foreign. It would be a bold move, and it has the industry divided.

Soon after the task force released its recos, ACTRA, the WGC and the DGC warned of a dire future for Canadian talent, with the writers accusing the commission of merely trying to ‘placate Shaw and Videotron,’ the cable twosome that months ago protested the current CTF system by temporarily suspending their monthly payments to the fund.

The talent groups can’t be blamed for being up in arms over loosening Cancon requirements. After all, a minority of their members is working, and this change would mean that even fewer of them would be getting jobs.

But there has to be an upside, right?

There is no question that, of the genres in question, Canadian drama series are having the hardest time reaching audiences, which is why so few of them currently grace the airwaves. They could use whatever push they can get, so the idea of opening up the vast Hollywood talent pool – one that is far deeper than Canada’s – must look appealing to local producers.

At first blush, one might think it could only be better for global sales, especially for shows featuring recognizable Hollywood performers.

Shawn Williamson, producer with B.C.’s Brightlight Pictures, tells Playback that reducing Cancon criteria would make it ‘easier for us to package things that are going to be more palatable, if we can attract talent that’s already known internationally.’

File that under prevailing wisdom. But is it true?

Let’s look at the two top-rated Canuck dramas, as listed in the CFTPA’s Profile 2007: Degrassi: The Next Generation and Instant Star, both from Toronto’s Epitome Pictures and both made with CTF cash. Both are 10 out of 10 shows, and both continue to enjoy successful runs at home and abroad. In the eyes of U.S. broadcaster The N, these entirely Canadian-made shows can do no wrong. If we jump over to comedy, CBC’s CTF-supported Little Mosque on the Prairie has had no problem garnering international attention, which, more recently, has translated into international sales.

Opening up CTF-supported projects to foreign lead actors is a concept that makes more sense for the cinema. Name actors are almost always needed for a film to open in foreign markets. Just look at this year’s rare English-Canadian feature success story, Sarah Polley’s Away from Her – a hit here, in the U.S., and in the U.K.

Without a doubt, the main driver of the film’s commercial success is the presence and performance of Julie Christie. As brilliant as 77-year-old Canuck lead Gordon Pinsent is in the film, he is being treated as an overnight success in the U.S., and the Oscar talk has U.S. distrib Lionsgate throwing most of its weight behind Christie, who won the prize 41 years ago.

But that is cinema. Cinema needs stars. TV makes them. Top U.S. shows like CSI and Grey’s Anatomy came out of the gate with no real stars and have dominated the ratings. It is the writers and showrunners of these and other hit series that are the true behind-the-scenes stars of TV.

If Canadian shows require Hollywood talent, they don’t have to look very far, because Hollywood is full of working Canucks who straddle the border, whether it’s the directors of Degrassi or Little Mosque thesp Carlo Rota, who pulls double duty on 24. Sure, if a Canadian show could land a star of the caliber of say, George Clooney, or one of Hollywood’s top scribes, no doubt that would lead to a boost in a show’s ratings. But how many shows reliant on CTF cash could afford them?

CTF-supported shows could only bring in mid-level foreign talent on par with so many Canadians who are currently not working.

All of which makes one wonder who is pushing this agenda, because it’s not the cure-all it might initially seem.