No details yet on the government’s $500 million Covid-19 aid program
By Denis Carmel
MONTREAL – Just as Industry Minister Navdeep Bains last week said the government would “soon” announce new timelines to help connect rural regions, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said Monday the details of a temporary program to help the sectors of media, culture and sports would be revealed “soon.”
The $500 million program had been announced April 16 and during a virtual Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal conference, a visibly disappointed minister said more details will be available not a matter of weeks, but days.
Later in the conversation with the Chamber’s president and CEO Michel Leblanc, while discussing the environment, Guilbeault admitted he was not only green in the environmental sense but also a politics and cabinet newcomer – and the minister seemed to acknowledge things go a little slower than his hopes.
So, we’ll stay tuned for the details of the fund – which was described as an effort to fill gaps for people and organizations in the creative and amateur sports sectors which were not eligible for help from the recently announced programs.
A few more takeaways from the Minister’s Chamber chat:
- The next budget, whenever it is tabled will include measure to ensure digital enterprises like Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google (FAANG) will have to collect and pay GST.
- In terms of a Cancon or other surtax on FAANGs, he now understands we do not need a new commercial war with our friends to the south and now prefers to wait for a multilateral agreement with Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development. He is optimistic it would happen… soon.
- He also mentioned that with Canada’s New Digital Charter, announced in May 2019, his department, Industry and Justice are looking at ways to ensure the FAANGs pay some copyright fees when using journalistic content.
- He predicted that for his sectors of sports and culture – which are heavily dependant on crowds and very affected by social distancing – Guilbeault expects a return to normal perhaps by the end of the year.
- Finally, when asked if he agreed with Quebec’s minister of Industry, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who said not every company in all sectors will survive the crisis, Guilbeault said, in French: “Will we keep all our organizations, all our enterprises? That will probably not be the case. What matters and what we are working towards is preserving the ecosystem – that the ecosystem remains mostly intact.”
