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It's Tuesday, March 4th,
The federal government is pushing a controversial new bill that would reduce tax credits for any TV or movie production deemed to have offensive content.
Currently ... and yet somehow the daily broadcast of Question Period from the House of Commons will continue to be fully-funded.
This is The Current.
Bill C-10 - Critic
The annual Genie awards were held on March 3, 2008 in Toronto, with actors, directors, writers and producers hitting the red carpet.
But what is normally an evening to celebrate Canadian film was overshadowed by a controversial new bill before the Senate that could change the way movies are made in Canada. Bill C-10 includes an amendment that narrows the guidelines producers must fulfill before they are eligible for government funding in the form of tax credits. It calls on films to be vetted by a committee set up by the Justice and Heritage departments, and it would deny tax credits to films deemed offensive or not in the public interest.
For a sense of how those in the Canadian movie making and television business felt about the regulations, The Current went out to the red carpet at the Genies.
And for his thoughts on what Bill C-10 could mean for Canada's filmmakers, we were joined in Toronto by Atom Egoyan, the Oscar-nominated writer-director of films such as Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter and Where the Truth Lies.
Bill C-10 - Film Producers
The debate over Bill C-10 is about more than morality and creativity. It's also about the economics of how movies and television get made in Canada.
To give us the A-B-Cs on the business of Canadian filmmaking, we were joined in Toronto by Sandra Cunningham, Chair of the Board of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association.
Bill C-10 - Government Response
For a sense of the government's view of Bill C-10, we were joined from Ottawa by Pierre Poilievre, a Conservative MP and the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board.
Listen to The Current: Part 1
The Current: Part 2
Presidential Candidates and Foreign Policy - McCain
For Americans, the Presidential Primary season is about setting the stage to choose a national leader. For the rest of the world, it's about who's getting the keys to the most powerful office on earth.
The supporters of Senator John McCain say his consistent willingness to follow his conscience makes him the only candidate with the moral authority to be President. His critics say he's been known to sing "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... Bomb, bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys, "Barbara Anne." And they say that's just scary.
Gary Schmitt, one of Senator McCain's foreign policy advisors, spoke with The Current about those two, divergent views.
Don Abelson has been watching Senator McCain's career for years. He's a professor of political science who specializes in United States foreign policy at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
Presidential Candidates and Foreign Policy - Democrats
On the Democratic side, the the differences between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton can be a little hard to sort out.
Ari Berman is a contributing writer with The Nation magazine who spoke to us from New York City.
Listen to The Current:Part 2
The Current: Part 3
Residential Schools - Reconciliation
On March 3, 2008, aboriginal and church leaders gathered on Parliament Hill for what they hope will be a prelude to a historic reckoning.
Words of regret and reparation are becoming more common in Canada ever since the announcement of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as part of an out-of-court settlement with 75,000 former students of Canada's Indian Residential Schools.
The commission, along with a formal apology from the federal government, is reportedly in the works, after which commissioners will spend three years traveling the country, finding some way of coming to terms with a horrible chapter in Canadian history.
But Marlene Brant Castellano, who joined us in Toronto, isn't waiting. Even as she was part of the process to help choose commissioners, a book she has edited was released. It's called From Truth to Reconciliation: Transforming the Legacy of Residential Schools. [website has book available for download]
Last Word - Kaya
As a way of paying tribute to the 2008 Genie Awards, we closed this episode of the show with a song by Valanga Khoza and David Hirschfelder called Kaya from the film, Shake Hands With The Devil. It was nominated for best original song last night.
Note: song is not commercially available
Listen to The Current:Part 3
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