I won't censor films: Alberta culture minister

Alberta's culture minister insists he is not going to censor films that are made in the province.

Lindsay Blackett is backtracking on some comments he made to the CBC last week that he would deny funding to films critical of Alberta.

His comments were a reaction to the documentary Downstream, which got funding from the Alberta Film Development Fund although it takes a stand against the oilsands.

Critics accused Blackett of censorship, saying he was only interested in films that put Alberta in a positive light.

The minister now says a film's content will not bar it from getting provincial money.

"We can't do that any more than I can tell what kind of sculpture somebody can go and create or what you can say or what you can't say," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

"I don't have to like it — none of us have to like it — but I respect the opportunity and the right for everybody to have their own opinion and do it as they see fit," he said.

Documentary critical of Alberta oilsands

Last week, he told CBC News he would prefer not to fund a film such as Downstream, and would look into ways to prevent provincial money from flowing to films critical of Alberta.

"If I'm going to invest money on behalf of Albertans into a film the whole idea is to show Alberta in a better light," he said on Thursday.

But Blackett now says he realizes it's his job to protect free speech and trying to exercise creative control over movies would be hypocritical.

"I can't protect us from every criticism out there, nor should I try, and if I gave that impression then I was wrong," he said Tuesday.

Blackett said he wants to encourage producers to shoot more films in Alberta.

Earlier this year, he increased the pot of money in the fund from $20 million to $34 million.

Council of Canadians spokesperson Andrea Harden-Donahue said she's skeptical of the minister's about-face.

"That is a good thing, but we also have to remember what he said originally, in which he said something very opposite to what he's saying now — that definitely still raises questions," she said.  

Harden-Donahue said she's worried films funded in Alberta will be more harshly scrutinized as a result of his comments.

She said the comments will also make more people want to see Downstream, the documentary looking into health problems caused by pollution from the oilsands that sparked the controversy.