Discussion · Government Orders
Mario Beaulieu Bloc Québécois
“Our debt costs are very high, but the government is giving up a lot of money. It dropped the tax on big American tech companies, which hurt our culture and media. It also stopped our broadcast regulator from collecting fees from them, and used public tax dollars to make up the difference instead. I want my colleague to explain why the government did this.”
“Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague defends French and culture, and we all agree that debt servicing costs are huge. In this context, we find it hard to understand why the government is forgoing considerable revenue by eliminating, for example, the digital services tax on American tech giants, which are a threat to our culture and our media. Furthermore, the government refused to allow the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to collect levies from these same tech giants, which would have brought in considerable revenue for culture. Instead, it dipped into people’s taxes to try to compensate for the cancellation of the levies. What does my colleague say to that?”
Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague defends French and culture, and we all agree that debt servicing costs are huge. In this context, we find it hard to understand why the government is forgoing considerable revenue by eliminating, for example, the digital services tax on American tech giants, which are a threat to our culture and our media. Furthermore, the government refused to allow the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to collect levies from these same tech giants, which would have brought in considerable revenue for culture. Instead, it dipped into people’s taxes to try to compensate for the cancellation of the levies. What does my colleague say to that?