Petition to reinstate Sask. film tax credit gathers more than 3,500 signatures

A new petition is calling on the Saskatchewan government to reinstate the film tax credit and bring a major industry back to the province. 

The tax credit, which was eliminated in 2012, helped entice major projects like Corner Gas, Little Mosque on the Prairie and Just Friends to the province. 

Filmmaker Alyson Ford of Milestone, Sask., said it's time to bring it back. She started a petition which has garnered more than 3,500 signatures since April. 

"I think everybody misses film in Saskatchewan," she said.

Ford said the industry benefits a lot of people beyond the main crews. Locals can be extras, provide catering and more.

"It brings so much excitement to the province."

Ford said reinstating the film tax credit would make good economic sense, citing a study commissioned by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce and Sask Film in 2012. It found, while the tax credit was in effect between 1998 and 2012, the film industry generated a total of $514.6 million of economic activity after government expenses. 

"Even just a slight incentive to draw [film companies] here will bring them here," she said. "Because that's dollars in their pocket. But that's millions of dollars in our pocket as well."

Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Gene Makowsky said there are better ways for the province to be spending money, and that support for the arts remains strong in Saskatchewan even without the credit. 

"In 2012, we made the difficult decision to end the refundable tax credit, which acted essentially like a grant," he said. "However, we replaced it through other mechanisms, [including] a granting program through Creative Saskatchewan. … The money didn't just disappear from the film tax credit. It went into other priority areas, such as schools [and] patching highways."

Last year, Creative Saskatchewan granted nearly $2 million to television projects and feature films. 

Makowsky said the granting program, coupled with the province's distinctive landscapes and generally low cost of doing business, is enough to keep the film industry alive in Saskatchewan. 

"These folks [in the film industry] make our province better and we've supported them, I argue, pretty well," he said. "It's important to our economy and it's important to our quality of life."

Regina-based cinematographer Layton Burton disagrees. He said he doesn't see a way forward for the film industry in Saskatchewan without the tax credit or something like it.

"I mentor a lot of young filmmakers, and they always ask me 'at the end of the day, what should I do?' " he said. "The very first thing I say to them is 'get out of this province.' Because you can go somewhere else — anywhere else in the world — and make a great living."

Burton also thinks the argument that money from the film tax credit needed to be moved to other important areas is disingenuous. 

"That isn't true. There was only money to refund if there were productions coming into the province and working. If there's no productions, there's no money."

While Ford remembers the days when the film industry was booming in Saskatchewan, she said she doesn't want to dwell on the past. Instead, her focus is on the future. 

"The other night, I was talking to my daughter and her friend … and I told them 'a long time ago, big movies were filmed here,' " she said. "Their eyes just got wide and excited. Right away, my daughter said 'I want to design the costumes' and her friend said 'I want to be an actress.' And I told them, if we get this [tax credit] back in Saskatchewan again, we're going to need people like you."