The B.C. government says it will work with the movie and TV industry to review the film tax credit as the lower Canadian dollar already offers a discount.
According to Peter Leitch from the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C., that might not be such a bad thing.
In an interview with BC1’s Sonia Sunger, Leitch says the industry sees the government as a partner as they try to find a solution that benefits both sides.
“We want to make sure that the tax credits are sustainable for the long term,” said Leitch. “We’re happy to work with government to make sure that we’ve right-sized the tax credits and that they’re doing what they expect them to do in terms of creating thousands of jobs and dumping millions of dollars in to the economy.”
Leitch says he’s not worried about the credit going away because it influences B.C. based labour.
“British Columbia credits are based on labour and B.C. labour so this is going to employ B.C. labour right in the province and we’ve got some of the best creative talent anywhere and I think that’s an important part of it also,” he says.
“When one of these big shows comes up here or television series, half the money gets dumped in to the economy with small businesses benefiting anywhere from hotels to lumber yards to dress shops. So we think it’s a great industry for the province, a great way to diversify the economy here.”
Leitch says they will work with the government to see if there are any adjustments they can make that won’t change the impact they have in the industry while also allowing the government to maintain a balanced budget.