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Canadian Identity and Culture

During question period on Canadian identity and culture, the Bloc Québécois argued that the Prime Minister was favouring web giants such as Netflix and Amazon over Quebec and francophone culture, citing the removal of the digital services tax and new instructions to the CRTC not to collect fees from streaming services. The Prime Minister responded that the Bloc consistently votes against cultural funding, pointing to over $750 million for culture in the most recent budget plus a further $600 million proposed for francophone and community media. Bloc members also tied the issue to trade negotiations with the United States, saying francophone culture was being sacrificed. Much of the exchange became a back-and-forth over whether the Bloc supports or opposes government investments in culture and other areas, such as a health and transit agreement with Quebec.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

6 statements

Christine Normandin

Bloc Québécois
“The Prime Minister is helping big web companies instead of protecting Quebec culture. He dropped a tax on them that would bring in 1.4 billion dollars a year. Now he is telling the regulator not to charge streaming services like Netflix any fees. Why is he giving in to Donald Trump and abandoning our culture?”

  • Opposition question in Question Period

    Respect 60 of 100

    This statement targeted a person rather than their actions or views: “to please the web giants and Donald Trump”.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is abandoning Quebec culture to please the web giants and Donald Trump. First, he scrapped the digital services tax, which represents a loss of $1.4 billion per year, in exchange for absolutely nothing. Today, he is ordering the CRTC to waive every penny of the levies charged to streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, and yet the European Union imposes levies on streaming platforms and they comply without any significant cost increases for their customers. Why is the Prime Minister in such a hurry to leave our culture at Donald Trump’s mercy?

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Mark Carney

Liberal
“I want to know why the Bloc Québécois always votes against funding for Quebec, French, and Canadian culture. Our recent budgets provide over one billion dollars for our culture.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 27 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the real question is this: Why does the Bloc Québécois vote against investments in Quebec culture, francophone culture and Canadian culture at every opportunity? There is over $760 million for culture in the most recent budget, and we just proposed $600 million for the francophone and Canadian cultural sector.

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Christine Normandin

Bloc Québécois

Linked statement

“The Prime Minister is helping big foreign companies instead of protecting our culture, fighting climate change, and controlling pesticides. He is selling out Canada to large corporations.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at the Prime Minister’s recent record. The Prime Minister is turning his back on culture in favour of digital giants like Netflix and Amazon. The Prime Minister is abandoning the fight against climate change in favour of the oil companies’ American shareholders. The Prime Minister is handing control of pesticides over to multinational agrochemical companies. No prime minister has ever deregulated so extensively for the benefit of large foreign corporations. Is selling out to the highest foreign bidder what he means by building Canada strong?

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Mark Carney

Liberal
“The Bloc Québécois votes against everything. They oppose funding for culture, tax credits for clean electricity, and a $10 billion deal with Quebec for health care and transit.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 11 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois always opposes everything. It is opposed to major investments in culture, including francophone and Quebec culture. It voted against major investment tax credits for the electricity sector in the last budget. It opposes the agreement with Quebec announced last week that includes $10 billion in investments across all sectors, particularly in health care and public transportation.

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Martin Champoux

Bloc Québécois
“The Prime Minister gave up protections for French culture in trade talks with the United States. He should not use Quebec's language and culture to make a deal.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the first thing the Prime Minister sacrificed in the trade war with Washington is francophone culture. This reminds me of how Winston Churchill was advised to cut funding for the arts in the middle of a world war. Churchill asked, if not for the arts, then what are we fighting for? What the Prime Minister has sacrificed to Donald Trump is what sets the Quebec nation apart: our culture, in our language. This is how the Quebec people expresses its existence. How can he treat it as a mere bargaining chip?

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Mark Carney

Liberal
“The Bloc Québécois is wrong about our budget. We are spending over $750 million on Canadian, Quebec, and French culture, plus another $600 million we just added.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 100 of 100

    Of this answer, 100% addressed the question that was asked.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is sad, but it seems to me that the Bloc Québécois has not read the latest budget. It includes more than $750 million for culture: Canadian culture, Quebec culture, francophone culture, including funding for Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, the National Film Board of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, and Radio-Canada. We have also just added $600 million for culture.

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