“You didn't answer the question. I'm asking you again: what did the government get for canceling the tax? I want you to say what the government got for giving up on collecting that money.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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A motion to debate the CRTC ordering online streaming services to pay more tax. The Conservatives argued this tax increase will be passed on to consumers. The Bloc argued the real issue is the government failing to implement a tax on digital products that would fund culture. The debate devolved into partisan bickering, with the Conservatives accusing the Liberals of controlling the CRTC, and the Liberals bringing up unrelated past statements by Conservatives.
“I'm filling time with unrelated sports talk. I'm not going to answer your question about the tax. Instead I'm going to pivot to talking about arts funding to make the government look generous.”
“I want more regulation. I'm going to talk a lot about Canadian content and culture to justify giving the government more power over online broadcasting.”
“The government is helping the film industry with tax credits. But more regulation and taxes from the CRTC will hurt that same industry. Companies might leave Canada. Then we lose jobs and talent.”
“I want taxpayers to spend more on my program. I'm filling time arguing over the word 'tax'. I want to regulate the film industry to make the content more Canadian.”
“I want you to say the bill I like will help francophones. I'm filling time with a friendly soft ball.”
“I want to cheer for a program that spends money in my riding. I'm learning French and I like cartoons. I think they're a central part of our identity.”
“You're learning French. That's nice. I'm talking down to you because you're new here. I remember black and white TV. If you really want streaming companies to hire more Canadians, here's a question to think about.”
“I suck up with kind words. I use nice words instead of answering. I want the government to make rules that help my friends. We should use government money to make things more fair. Everyone should watch Canadian shows.”
“I want people to know this decision will hurt our trade with America. The government is saying it's not their fault. They're hiding behind the CRTC. They're using a law they passed to make this happen. Everyone warned them it would cause trouble. Now it's making things worse. The CRTC tax has gone up even more, at the worst time. It makes it harder for our minister to negotiate with the US. I want the government to stop taking more taxes from these companies. It makes our relationship with the US worse. We can find other ways to help our own companies without causing trouble. We should stop wasting money on this rail project and use it to help our media instead. These American companies help our economy. They bring money and jobs to Canada. Hurting them will hurt us too. It will be bad for many people. We need to fix our relationship with the US. We need to plan for the future. It's important for our trade and our economy. We should get rid of this tax increase to help make things better.”
“I don't want to address specifics. I want to say the other side doesn't care about the arts. It's not fair to blame everything on this one decision. We should protect our own industries instead of worrying so much about what the US thinks. We're doing a lot of things to help people keep their jobs. I don't have time to list everything.”
“The US warned us this tax would start a trade fight. The government shouldn't have been so careless. I want to argue about big picture risks, not little distractions.”
“The Conservatives' motion insults Quebec and French speakers. It calls us an irritant to international trade. English Canada and America have the same culture. They watch the same movies and listen to the same music. French Canada is different. We suffer from US tariffs on aluminum and lumber. The Conservatives should be ashamed to call our culture an irritant.”
“I'm trying to change the subject to American films and TV shows. They create lots of Canadian jobs. More than steel and aluminum. I don't want to talk about how francophones feel insulted by our motion.”
“I want to compliment you so my attack sounds more convincing. The government is already spending too much. Now they want a new tax on streaming. That's bad. I don't like that. The government shouldn't make things more expensive for families.”
“I want the government to know I'm a very hard worker. I talk to people a lot. Tariffs are bad for some people in my riding. The government should do something about that. The minister should talk to people like Mexico is. I think I would be good at helping.”
“Canadians pay too much for everything. The government wants people to pay more to use Netflix. This is a tax. I don't like taxes. The government should not make people pay more. Big companies will just charge people more money. The government just wants to take people's money. The government should not make things cost more. The government makes bad decisions that hurt people.”
“I'm changing the topic to the United States. Maybe if I talk about the United States people will ignore how we are making everything cost more money in Canada. Canada should be independent. I don't want to make it easy for people to have nice things.”
“You talk about other countries. Who cares. It's not a good thing that other countries also overtax their citizens. The United States is our biggest trading partner. We should be making trade easier with them. This tax will make it harder. It will be very bad.”
“I don't like that you want to remove these protections for Quebec culture. That would be very bad. Quebec culture would be buried by American content. Is that what you want? For everyone to just consume American stuff? I want to keep these rules to protect Quebec culture.”