BATHURST, N.B. – Three New Brunswick mothers have asked the province’s auditor general to investigate the granting of a $250,000 film tax credit to the makers of a proposed movie on the Bathurst High van crash.
Isabelle Hains, Ana Acevedo and Marcella Kelly made the request Monday in an email to auditor general Kim MacPherson.
Dream Street Pictures of Fredericton and CBC Television are planning a movie on the true story of how the Bathurst Phantoms were able to win a provincial basketball title a year after the crash that killed seven players.
The mothers, whose sons died in the January 2008 accident, said in the email that they believe the tax credit was given without consideration to the sensitivities of the parents.
The seven players and one adult died when their school van collided with a transport truck during a snowstorm.
Since then, the mothers have pressed for provincial and national changes in the rules governing student travel, including the kinds of vehicles and tires used on vans.
They have also pushed for changes that would require that only qualified bus drivers can transport students, instead of coaches or volunteers.
Hains and Acevedo recently filed a complaint with the provincial ombudsman in an effort to reverse a decision by school officials to allow filming of parts of the movie at the high school.
Acting ombudsman Francois Levert has agreed to look into the complaint and determine whether his office has jurisdiction to make any recommendations. That could take several months.
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