I for one do *not* welcome our new cultural overlords

So I'm very politically frustrated lately. The latest evil to come from the Harper regime was a couple of a tiny clauses embedded in an innocuous amendment to the income tax act called C-10 -- a resurrection of the bill from previous session known as C-33.

This ponderous bill should have triggered some suspicion because the 568-page amendment was stuffed like a turducken with amendments to close tax loopholes for corporations. A couple of tiny, vaguely-worded amendments, though -- separated by several pages -- clarify that the Heritage Minister has the right to refuse tax credit certificates to films that do not, in her judgement, suit government policy.

I'm not at all surprised that none of the opposition parties spotted them. I missed them several times searching for them -- they're on pages 352 and 356 of this document.

This detail only came to light after the bill had made its way halfway through the Senate. If it makes it through -- and the Senate only rejects a bill very rarely -- the Heritage Minister will essentially be able to decide which films get the tax credit and which don't. And since it's pretty much impossible to make a feature film in Canada without this tax credit, that amounts to deciding what films get made and what don't.

Fundamentalist Christians are already declaring victory. The rest of us are just waiting to see what the Harper government decides is acceptable art and what isn't.

I no longer want an election for this government. I want an exorcism.