But they didn’t count on the cultural sensitivities of Parks Canada, a Canadian government agency, which clearly didn’t like the fact that one of the main characters is a mob boss who happens to be an indigenous person.

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“They objected to the fact that a First Nations person was a bad guy — not the bad guy, but one of the bad guys,” said Mark Voyce, a unit manager for the film who has worked for years finding cinematic locations across Canada. Voyce told The Washington Post that Parks Canada officials are often sensitive about possible environmental damage and don’t want to see the parks' reputation exploited for commercial reasons. But he’s never before encountered objections to the contents of a story, he said.

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“The government shouldn’t be censoring people,” said producer Michael Shamberg, whose Hollywood credentials include “Erin Brockovich” and “A Fish Called Wanda.” “It doesn’t make sense to me,” he added, saying he is “disappointed and frustrated” by what he called an opaque application process at Parks Canada that has no clear set of guidelines.

“Hard Powder” features Neeson as a snowplow driver whose son is killed by a local drug kingpin. “Fueled by an unwavering drive for vengeance and armed with heavy machinery, this unlikely hero sets out to dismantle the cartel with extreme prejudice, and he’s not stopping until he gets to the top of the food chain,” according to a synopsis of the film published in Variety.

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That quest for revenge sparks a turf war between the Viking, a vegan gangster in designer suits who drives a Tesla, and a native mob boss played by Tom Jackson, a Canadian TV actor and entertainer who has received the Order of Canada, the nation’s most prestigious civilian honor.

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Voyce said he started the application process a couple of months ago, with the hope of starting to film March 20. Initially, Parks Canada wanted to make sure that filming would not identify iconic locations in the parks. Then they asked if one of the gang members was a First Nations person, Voyce recalls: “They said it was a real concern and that it was really problematic.” The application to film was refused.

Parks Canada said in a statement said that several factors affected its decision to reject the request from the producers of “Hard Powder,” including concerns over safety and environmental mitigation as well as the film's content. Although not commenting on the censorship issue directly, the agency said that it "works to present Indigenous stories in a respectful way that is consistent with reconciliation," adding that for too long, "the stories of Canada's indigenous people were ignored or misrepresented." Instead, it wanted the role of indigenous people to be "celebrated."

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Jackson, who was born on a Cree reservation in Saskatchewan and frequently plays indigenous roles on film and TV, wrote a letter of support for the film to Parks Canada. “I don’t feel my culture is insulted even slightly by the script,” he wrote. “Admittedly there is gang violence in this script, but in true storytelling form and in life, gangs are around us.”

Shamberg said that arrangements are being made to shoot the film elsewhere in Alberta and British Columbia — but no national parks are involved.