“The government passed a law to make American streaming services pay fees to support our culture. Now the government is telling the regulator to ignore that law and drop the fees. I want the government to follow its own law.”

“Mr. Speaker, the Broadcasting Act is among the many laws that the Prime Minister intends to break. It was the Liberals themselves who legislated for the CRTC to impose levies on American online streaming platforms. However, they are breaking their own law by asking the CRTC to disregard it and cancel the levies. That is unbelievable. That is a complete sellout of Quebec culture in favour of the world’s wealthiest. Is it too much to ask the government to comply with its own law and allow the CRTC to impose levies?”

“The government is making taxpayers pay for culture instead of big internet companies. This public funding is not reliable, because any government can cut it at any time. I want the minister to change his mind and bring back the fee on these companies to protect Quebec and French culture.”

“Mr. Speaker, the government has said that it is dropping the levy and that it will make up for it with public funds. Where is it going to get that money? Directly from the pockets of taxpayers is where. The problem is that, instead of taking money out of the pockets of multinational Internet companies, the federal government is sticking citizens with the bill while giving them no say in the matter. On top of being grossly unfair, this approach replaces sustainable, legally protected funding for culture with a one-time amount that any government can cut at any time. Will the minister finally reconsider and choose the side of francophone and Quebec culture?”