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Canadian Identity and Culture

During question period on Canadian identity and culture, Bloc Québécois members asked why the government dropped planned levies on large tech and streaming companies that were meant to fund Quebec and Canadian cultural production, arguing taxpayers should not cover what platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime should contribute. Liberal ministers responded that the budget included $750 million for culture through bodies like Telefilm Canada and the National Film Board, that a $600 million support package offers immediate relief while a permanent solution is developed, and that the Bloc voted against that budget. They also cited existing legislation intended to make online giants pay their fair share. The Bloc replied that the industry group ADISQ itself said the measure was not a permanent fix and that the cultural sector wants long-term contributions from digital platforms.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

6 statements

Christine Normandin

Bloc Québécois

Linked statement

“The Prime Minister gave up on making big tech companies pay taxes and fees that support Quebec culture. He gave in to Donald Trump too quickly. I want to know why he is not protecting Quebec culture.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is neglecting culture yet again. After scrapping the digital services tax last summer without getting anything in return, yesterday he scrapped the proposed increase in levies on tech giants for Quebec cultural production. His first instinct in dealing with Donald Trump was to hand out billions of dollars in gifts to the tech giants and pass the bill on to taxpayers. It took less than 24 hours of negotiations in Washington for the Prime Minister to agree to that sacrifice. Why is he so eager to capitulate when it comes to the future of Quebec culture?

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Marc Miller

Liberal
“The Bloc Québécois is voting against our budget. That means they are voting against hundreds of millions of dollars for our cultural industry and content creators.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, at least the Conservatives are honest enough to say they do not care about culture. Now Bloc Québécois members are standing up in the House, one after another, to vote against culture, that is, against the $750 million in the latest budget for Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board of Canada, Radio-Canada, and so on. The height of hypocrisy is that they are voting against $600 million for the cultural industry. It is a massive amount, it is immediate, and it is going to be effective for our content producers.

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Christine Normandin

Bloc Québécois
“The government is using $600 million of taxpayers' money instead of making big streaming companies like Netflix pay their share. Other countries and Quebec made these companies pay without driving up costs for people. The federal government should do the same.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the minister’s $600 million is paid for by citizens. The minister is replacing billions of dollars in contributions from platforms like Netflix with $600 million from taxpayers’ pockets. Regardless of whether citizens are subscribers or not, they are still going to pay. However, other countries around the world are demanding significant payments from streaming platforms and they have not seen a significant increase in bills. Quebec had the courage to stand up to the web giants. When will the federal government show the same courage?

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Marc Miller

Liberal
“The music industry group says our action helps right now while we work on a permanent fix. Our new law will make big online companies pay their fair share.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is a good thing that the leader of the Bloc Québécois is no longer the president of ADISQ, because yesterday, ADISQ said that this was immediate relief until a permanent solution is found. Of course, thanks to Bill C‑11, we certainly expect people and web giants to pay their fair share.

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Martin Champoux

Bloc Québécois
“I want online streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon to pay into Canadian and Quebec culture. The government should not make taxpayers cover this cost instead.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, ADISQ later came back to say that this was not a permanent solution. The entire cultural sector is calling for a long-term solution that involves contributions from digital platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. In the meantime, Ottawa is still exempting them and turning to taxpayers to make up the $600-million shortfall. We have been talking about this for 25 years. The future of culture depends on the web giants paying their fair share. This decision is clearly yet another capitulation to the digital billionaires at the expense of Quebec culture. What will it take for the Minister of Culture to defend culture?

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Joël Lightbound

Liberal
“The Bloc Québécois criticizes us, but they voted against our budget that had $750 million for culture. Now we are spending $600 million to support our artists and culture, and the Bloc opposes that too.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is a master at lecturing others, but it has no lessons to teach. When we were negotiating the budget and sought their support, the Bloc Québécois made no requests about culture. When it came time to vote on the budget, which included $750 million for culture, the Bloc Québécois voted against it. Now that we are announcing $600 million—a decision welcomed by ADISQ and the cultural sector to support our artists, our cultural sector and our cultural sovereignty—the Bloc Québécois is once again opposing it.

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