- Category:
- Common Interest - Politics
- Description:
- "The film and television industry fought Bill C-10 last year, which would have allowed the Heritage minister to decide which television and film productions were worthy of a tax credit.
The Tories dropped the issue quietly in the fall, saying they would not re-introduce the bill if they were re-elected."
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2009/01/24/film-credits.html - Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
Emm
Keep your censoring hands off of Canadian film and TV! No to Bill C-10!
Join- Name:
- Keep your censoring hands off of Canadian film and TV! No to Bill C-10!
- Category:
- Common Interest - Politics
- Description:
- "The film and television industry fought Bill C-10 last year, which would have allowed the Heritage minister to decide which television and film productions were worthy of a tax credit.
The Tories dropped the issue quietly in the fall, saying they would not re-introduce the bill if they were re-elected."
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2009/01/24/film-credits.html - Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public.
- News:
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41,000 members and counting!
The top priority remains to contact members of the Senate Banking Committee; the relevant addresses are here http://facebook.com/topic.php?uid=9036150977&topic=4407
Please also write Letters to the Editor, and cc. your emails to officials to your local media as well.
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● WHAT IS BILL C-10?
Bill C-10 is a long, omnibus Bill of technical changes to tax laws; but hidden away in there is a provision that would allow the Heritage Minister to withhold tax credits if a production was considered 'contrary to public policy'. We are opposed to this part of the legislation because:
* It is undemocratic: This controversial new provision to screen the content of productions in awarding tax credits was never debated in the House of Commons, because it was hidden away in a long, technical piece of legislation.
* It gives tremendous discretion to the Government of the day to shape the content of Canadian film and TV. Tax credits are a central part of the film and TV funding system in Canada, and C-10 lets the Heritage Minister write (and rewrite) guidelines to determine what gets tax credits. Some believe that the current Government has a moral/religious agenda that they're looking forward to imposing, but even if this isn't true, C-10 opens this door to all future Governments.
* It will badly hurt the Canadian film and TV industry: Films and TV programs apply for tax credits late in the game, after scripts have been written and principal photography completed. They use the predictability of tax credits to apply for federal subsidies, loans, and Telefilm Canada grants. With the proposed new guidelines, films and TV programs with even a whiff of controversy will become risky for funders, and artists will be under strong pressure to self-censor. Indeed, all productions will find it more difficult to secure financing due to this uncertainty. See these discussions for details: http://facebook.com/topic.php?uid=9036150977&topic=4369 and http://ualberta.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=9036150977&topic=4388
See Items Posted for links to news stories that will tell you much more about the Bill.
● WHAT YOU CAN DO TO FIGHT THESE PARTS OF BILL C-10:
Please take five minutes to do three things:
(1) Write to members of the Senate Banking Committee; their addresses are here: http://facebook.com/topic.php?uid=9036150977&topic=4407 You can also print out your letter and send it as a hard copy, since these are taken more seriously; no stamp needed!
(2) Write to a wider range of politicians: (i) Members of the Senate beyond those in the Banking Committee; (ii) your local MP: find him/her at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC. -- and include your postal code in this letter so your MP knows you get to vote in their riding ; and lastly (iii) The PM and the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Cut and paste the various addresses easily from here: http://facebook.com/topic.php?topic=4341&uid=9036150977 You can find sample letters here:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=4337&post=15976&uid=9036150977
Given how many letters we're sending, yours is likely to be counted but not read in detail; so no need to go on at length. Hard copies are still good, though, and don't need a stamp.
(3) Tell your friends about the issue and about this Facebook group. There's a link at top right to invite friends to join the group; or if you want to use ordinary email to let them know, the link to send is http://facebook.com/group.php?gid=9036150977
● WHAT THIS GROUP IS FOR:
This group is for people who are *opposed* to the provisions in Bill C-10 relating to tax credits for film and TV production, and who want to work together fight the Bill. Purposes of this group include writing letters of protest about these parts of Bill C-10, organizing demonstrations and other forms of action to oppose these parts of the Bill (see Discussion Board), and keeping track of the progress of Bill C-10 through the legislative process, so that our activism can be well directed.
** Against C-10 en français?? **
go to: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12854111313
● WHAT THIS IS GROUP NOT FOR:
This group is not for arguments against public funding of the arts in Canada. It is not for bashing people who oppose Bill C-10. It is not for talking about other issues that people should be concerned about instead of Bill C-10. If you are not sure whether this is the group for you, please see the Terms of Use below.
● TERMS OF USE FOR THIS GROUP:
The purpose of this group is to organize against provisions in Bill C-10. We found, in the first few days of the group (in which 10,000 people joined!) that some people signed on to rant against the purpose of this group rather than to pursue the purpose for which the group was created. And a lot of our energy was going into defending and re-defending the purpose of this group, rather than writing letters, organizing demonstrations, etc. These repetitive arguments pushed relevant postings off the front page of the site, and diluted our attention and energy.
Broader arguments about public funding for the arts, about the upside of C-10, etc. are important: that's why we've created another group called "What's so bad about Bill C-10?" at
http://facebook.com/group.php?gid=8184619495
But our group is for people who want to work together to oppose the relevant parts of C-10. Posts that change the subject, and that belong in the other group we created, will be deleted. So if you see that your post has been deleted, please refer back to these Terms of Use to understand why. Members who repeatedly post off topic, and who need to be deleted repeatedly, will be excluded from the group.
We're not interested in facile accusations of censorship: it's free and easy to set up Facebook groups (unlike the resources needed to make a film, say), and we created this one for a specific purpose that we have the right to pursue in our way. If you wanted to think of these Terms of Use in terms of rights, then freedom of association is more relevant, under the circumstances, than freedom of speech.
● THE DISCUSSION BOARD:
Please click through to look at the many Discussion Board threads: there's important stuff there about C-10 and mobilization against it. Please post to the discussion board too, with these tips in mind:
* Ideally, the Discussion Board will have a set of ongoing conversations; you'll help this if you post to an existing thread where this makes sense rather than starting a new one.
* If the thing you want to talk about doesn't fit in an existing thread, please start a new thread, and *name it in a way that makes absolutely clear what it's about*!
