Discussion · Oral Questions
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Québécois
“The Prime Minister is giving up billions of dollars from big American streaming companies. That money should go to our cultural sector. Instead, he wants taxpayers to cover the loss. How can he justify helping big tech companies while everyone else loses?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister previously abandoned the digital services tax without any concessions from Washington; there was nothing at all. As a result, he deprived the cultural sector of $1.4 billion. Today, he is asking the CRTC to backtrack on the 15% levy imposed on large online streaming platforms. That would mean once again giving up on $2 billion that would essentially come from the United States. He is depriving the cultural sector of billions of dollars, while saying he would spend $600 million of taxpayer money to make up for that. How can he justify the fact that everybody is losing, except for the web giants?”
Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister previously abandoned the digital services tax without any concessions from Washington; there was nothing at all. As a result, he deprived the cultural sector of $1.4 billion. Today, he is asking the CRTC to backtrack on the 15% levy imposed on large online streaming platforms. That would mean once again giving up on $2 billion that would essentially come from the United States. He is depriving the cultural sector of billions of dollars, while saying he would spend $600 million of taxpayer money to make up for that. How can he justify the fact that everybody is losing, except for the web giants?