Minister Lindsay Blackett should be congratulated for stating the obvious. Most Canadian TV shows and movies truly are digested waste as the minister stated in somewhat less diplomatic form.
What amazes me is that governments on federal and provincial levels fund those shows. I fail to see any benefits by funding Canadian films. Surely the argument by those who benefit will be that those films create employment and pump money into the local economy. What they forget to mention is that the governments had to fleece their fellow Canadian taxpayer to provide funding. It's a little bit like being happy that the government gives you a tax refund in April — it's only money which was yours in the first place that was returned to you. Why are the arts such a special case that they need protection and government funding? Now I am certainly not against building venues such as concert halls and museums and art galleries with public dollars because they benefit the general population as a whole. There is a difference to funding individuals for producing so called "art" which has absolutely no demand in the marketplace of ideas.
There are plenty of Canadian artists who became successful on the world stage without government grants. There were plenty of movies, which were made by unknown filmmakers at low budget, which became a tremendous commercial success. Sylvester Stallone produced Rocky on a low budget and won an Academy Award. Paul Hogan made Crocodile Dundee on a low budget. There are plenty more examples of great movies that were made by independent artists who never received a nickel of government funding.
I've been living in Canada now for 35 years and supporting with my tax dollars those filmmakers and I can honestly say that I have not yet seen one movie worth watching made in Canada in the English language. I must admit I’ve seen an English version of the movie Nouvelle France, which I guess was made by Quebec filmmakers, which I thought should have been rated as one of the top 20 movies of all time anywhere.
Canadian filmmaking will never amount to anything but digested waste as long as the objective is to skim the governments for funds rather than put a product of excellence on the market.
Reminds me of Harold Ballard of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who figured why put a competitive team on the ice when he could sell out Maple Leaf Gardens with minor leaguers. Same mentality, same results.
Abe Preisinger, St. Albert
