The showdown between rival technician unions in Quebec has led to the departure of the Doug Liman-directed feature Jumper (New Regency Pictures) from Montreal to Toronto – leaving AQTIS and IATSE blaming each other for the loss.

Montreal: A former Quebec culture minister is leading an inquiry into why $1 million in public funds went to the organizers of the now-defunct New Montreal FilmFest, in light of recent evidence that brings the decision into question.

London, ON-born Paul Haggis’ Crash may have claimed a major best picture upset over Brokeback Mountain at the 78th Annual Academy Awards, but Alberta is basking in the Oscar glow.

Robert Rabinovitch has announced he will not seek another term as president and CEO of CBC, and will step down from the public broadcaster at the end of 2007, according to The Globe and Mail.

The Hot Sheet tracks Canadian box-office results for the period March 3-9 and television ratings for the period March 6-12.

CBC scored an average of 827,500 viewers with its 2 x 120 Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story, its best rating for a miniseries since the pubcaster’s 2005 lockout.

ThinkFilm’s Spymate may have slipped on critical banana peels (see Critical Mass, p. 10), but it sold enough tickets to claim the top of the box office among domestic films for the week starting March 3.

Da Vinci’s City Hall may have left before its time, but its predecessor has found new life in the U.S.

Montreal: Flush with the success of recent releases such as March of the Penguins and Manners of Dying, Montreal-based Christal Films has expanded its operations and opened a Toronto office, to be run by former Telefilm Canada analyst Tony Wosk.

Producer and former head of l’Institut national de l’image et du son, Louise Spickler, died from cancer on March 7 in Montreal. She was 53.

The new architect of CBC’s primetime schedule says she wants to boost primetime ratings with smarter packaging and promotion, more coproductions with international public broadcasters, more international formats that are bought and produced locally, and more best-of-the-world shows like Coronation Street.

You can’t call it a merger, or a marriage, and many details are still forthcoming, but the Canadian Television Fund and Telefilm Canada became a one-board, one-administration entity on March 1, according to CTF president Valerie Creighton.