Would let the province veto future Netflix-type deals
OTTAWA – In the most detailed plan yet on broadcasting from any of any of the major political parties during the federal election campaign, the Green Party has broadened its protectionist policy to provide Quebec with a veto on agreements with foreign production companies, such as Netflix, which affect the province’s cultural sector.
“The culture of Quebec needs to be protected from content that streams into our homes online that has nothing to do with Canada,” Green Party leader Elizabeth May said at Place des Arts in Montreal on Wednesday.
She was joined by Pierre Nantel, who is running for the Greens in the Quebec riding of Longueuil-Saint-Hubert, which he has held since 2011 as a New Democrat before switching to the Green Party in August.
Two years ago, as the NDP’s heritage critic, Nantel decried the Liberal government’s deal with Netflix Inc. that would allow the California-based content provider to spend $500 million in Canada without allocating any funds for Quebec productions.
(Ed note: Netflix insists it’s spending big in Canada, beyond its original commitment.)
The Green Party has already announced it wants a corporate tax applied on transnational e-commerce companies doing business in Canada, like Netflix, by requiring these foreign vendors to register, collect and remit sales taxes where the product or service is consumed, and address the situation in which e-commerce giants, also including Facebook, Amazon, Google, Uber and Airbnb “command a significant share of the Canadian market but pay virtually no tax.”
May also reiterated the Green plan to boost annual funding to the CBC and Radio-Canada.
However, the party platform now sets the amount at $300 million, revised from the costing portion that earmarked it at $315 million.
“Requiring companies like Netflix to pay taxes is a no-brainer and increasing commitments to CBC and Radio-Canada just makes sense,” said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting executive director Daniel Bernhard in an interview.
CBC president and CEO Catherine Tait recently told the Content Canada podcast that the public broadcaster will no longer do co-productions with companies like Netflix “that hurt the long-term viability of our domestic industry.”
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting’s Daniel Bernhard said her comments highlight that Canada has “a cultural policy that only works if Daddy Netflix throws us crumbs.”
“This just shows that we are desperately in need of leadership so that we can have a cultural sector that works on its own terms, and I’m encouraged that Elizabeth May is driving the conversation in that direction,” he added, noting that last month May participated in a Friends’ election-related telephone town hall for party leaders that attracted 5,300 listeners.
During May’s campaign stop in Montreal, the Greens also announced it would support online platforms, too, such as the French-language streaming service Tou.tv operated by Radio-Canada, and Éléphant, a digital directory of Quebec feature films owned by Quebecor.
In addition, the Green Party has called for a boost in Quebec representation in such federal cultural institutions, as the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Film Board, with one-third of board members appointed in consultation with the Quebec government.
