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Use of public funds for TIFF screening of Russian soldiers doc 'not right': Freeland

  • The Canadian Press

  • Canadian Press

  • September 10, 2024

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland speaks to reporters at the Liberal caucus retreat in Nanaimo, B.C., on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. The Trudeau government is proposing changes to mortgages aimed at helping more Canadians to purchase their first home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the use of public funds to support the screening of a documentary about Russian soldiers at the Toronto International Film Festival is "not right."

Freeland says she shares the concerns Ukrainian diplomats and Ukrainian-Canadians have expressed about "Russians at War," which depicts some soldiers' disillusionment with the military action.

Freeland says Russia is breaking international laws with its invasion of Ukraine and Canada as a country must make it clear that there is "no moral equivalency" in that war.

Ukraine's consul general in Toronto has called on TIFF to pull the documentary from its schedule, saying the film whitewashes the responsibility of Russian soldiers committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Spokespeople for the festival have not commented on the consul general's letter to TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. The film is set to screen Friday.

The film's Russian-Canadian director, Anastasia Trofimova, has said the documentary is not propaganda and was filmed without the permission of the Russian government, putting her at risk.

The Toronto International Film Festival runs through Sunday.

This report by was first published Sept. 10, 2024.