Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Film and Television Industry Support

Ms Blakeman:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. B.C. is enjoying a recession-proof $1.2 billion film industry that employs over 40,000 people. Compared to B.C.’s tax incentives and funding initiatives, Alberta can’t compete. With Alberta having only 3 per cent of Canada’s total production in film, we need a lot more than one Calgary film studio and tinkering done to the film development program to be competitive.

My questions are to the Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. When will the minister make Alberta competitive and match B.C.’s tax credit model?

Mr. Blackett:

Well, Mr. Speaker, funny enough, the hon. member hasn’t quite got it correct. Actually, Alberta is one of the most competitive regimes for film and television in Canada. We have a labour rate at 29 per cent. That is higher than B.C. That is higher than Ontario and higher than Quebec. We have a film development grant that is a leader in the industry, that Saskatchewan is looking at as a model. We don’t care about tax credits here in this particular government. We’re not in a race to the bottom. We’re not in a race to compete with other jurisdictions which are going in the wrong direction. I think we’re going in the right direction.

Ms Blakeman:

Back to the same minister. If the city of Calgary is providing the seed money for this new film studio, why was the minister making the project announcement? What is this government’s budget for this project?

Mr. Blackett:

Well, Mr. Speaker, the reason that this minister, representing this government, was making the announcement was because we took the initiative to work with three levels of government and the private sector and Calgary Economic Development. We took the initiative to go and find an area that we could build a purpose-built television, film, and digital studio. We negotiated with WinSport Canada to get 10 acres of land in Calgary. They gave them $30,000 of seed money to start this project. We gave them $75,000 last year to do a feasibility study, which we moved forward today. We haven’t yet finalized the funding levels for all three levels of government, and we haven’t finalized the commitment for the private sector. We’re doing our due diligence and making sure that we have a governance model and a not-for-profit entity that will be able to manage this facility.

Ms Blakeman:

Back to the same minister. Why is this special deal made to subsidize the declining horse-racing industry, but the minister won’t entertain a tax credit model for the film industry, an industry which has real growth potential and supports green economy sustainable jobs? You should be able to do better than 3 per cent.

Mr. Blackett:

Well, funny enough, I had a meeting, Mr. Speaker, with the Canadian Film and Television Production Association along with the president of CBC and some other production companies. I asked a simple question. Do you want cash, or do you want a tax credit? Do you want to get paid out in cash two months after production, or do you want to wait 12 to 18 months after you’ve finished production? Their answer was: we’ll take the cash two months after production.