Tax credits for film industry are a net gain for B. C.

Re: Film industry doesn’t need more tax dollars, Editorial, April 11

The film industry does not take money out of public coffers, it contributes.

For every tax credit dollar the Clark government claims to have diverted back to the industry last year, the province reaped four to five dollars more.

It is ridiculous to claim that the taxpayer is subsidizing the industry. The tax credit is an investment incentive.

The credits are only payed back after money is spent. This was conservatively estimated at $ 1.1 billion last year alone which was a depressed year.

And the number of people employed directly or indirectly by this industry is grossly underestimated.

That money not only went to industry workers, but also hotels, restaurants, equipment rentals, lumber yards, clothing stores, location fees, etc. That’s money into the local economy, not just industry’s pockets.

The editorial cites the discredited article by SFU professor Rhys Kesselman who used not a Canadian study but a U. S. study about subsidies to the industry.

The article neglected to mention that virtually every U. S. state that discontinued or even capped their tax credits, had the industry in their state tank, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.

And to cite Louisiana is a false argument since the B. C. government only allows a credit on labour, whereas the Louisiana credit is across the board for everything. Much like the Clark government offers the oil companies. F. BRAUN MCASH Maple Ridge