No Netflix Tax: another government decision without an understanding of the costs!

CONTINUITY – EQUITY – SUPPORT

MONTREAL, Jan. 16, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - The Coalition for Culture and Media considers it inconceivable that the Trudeau government – who has been repeating for months that it will not tax Netflix – continues to ignore the amount in lost revenue by not taxing electronic trade.

The Coalition was surprised to learn in La Presse that the government is still not in possession of the financial data calculating the revenue lost annually lost by its decision not to tax products like Netflix or e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. This, despite financial advisor Marwah Rizqy calculating this loss at nearly 40 million dollars per year for Netflix alone, just for the federal government. These colossal sums of money, when combined with the amounts the provinces could collect, would allow to support multiple cultural productions, or even finance social programs.

The Coalition for Culture and Media has requested a meeting with Finance Minister Bill Morneau as soon as possible in order to inform him of the challenges caused by competing foreign companies operating online in the cultural and media sectors. The Coalition hopes to remind him that it is not too late to announce a concrete action plan and reverse this trend before the next budget.

In its Declaration for the sustainability and the vitality of national culture and media in the digital era, published last September, the Coalition brought up the issue of fiscal fairness in taxing e-commerce, a problem the full force of which is being felt by the cultural and media industries. The Coalition also requests updates to insure regulatory fairness, the continuity of government intervention, as well as the establishment of efficient measures of support for our national culture and media.

About the Coalition for Culture and Media
The Coalition is a group of citizens' groups or organizations active in the cultural and media sectors, which represent thousands of people in Quebec and across Canada. Their declaration can be found on the website standingforculture.info.

SIGNATORIES:

Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC)
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA)
Alliance québécoise des techniciens de l'image et du son (AQTIS)
ARTISTI
Association des professionnels de l'édition musicale (APEM)
Association des propriétaires de cinémas du Québec (APCQ)
Association des réalisateurs et réalisatrices du Québec (ARRQ)
Association nationale des éditeurs de livres (ANEL)
Association québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM)
Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo (ADISQ)
Association québécoise des cinémas d'art et d'essai (AQCAE)
Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA)
Canadian union of public employees (CUPE) and its communications sector (CPSC)
Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques (CQAM)
Copibec
Directors Guild of Canada (DGC)
Documentary Organization of Canada and its Québec Chapter
Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ)
Fédération nationale des communications (FNC-CSN)
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
Front des réalisateurs indépendants du Canada (FRIC)
Forum for Research and Policy in Communications (FRPC)
Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Québec (GMMQ)
L'Observatoire du documentaire
Michèle Rioux, directrice du Centre d'études sur l'intégration et la mondialisation (CEIM)
Observatoire des réseaux et interconnexions de la société numérique (ORISON) - UQAM
On Screen Manitoba
Performers' Rights Society (PRS)
Québec Cinéma
Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC)
Regroupement des artisans de la musique (RAM)
SOCAN
Société civile des auteurs multimédia (SCAM)
Société de gestion collective des droits des producteurs de phonogrammes et de vidéogrammes du Québec (SOPROQ)
Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinéma (SARTEC)
Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD)
Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC)
Internet Society Québec (ISOC – Québec)
Société professionnelle des auteurs et compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ)
Syndicat des employées et employés professionnels-les et de bureau (SEPB)
Table de concertation de l'industrie du cinéma et de la télévision de la Capitale-Nationale
Unifor
Union des artistes (UDA)
Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ)

http://www.manifestepourlaculture.info/ 
http://www.standingforculture.info/ 
https://www.facebook.com/manifestepourlaculture/

SOURCE Coalition for Culture and Media

Catherine Escojido, 514 927-8807, [email protected]