Mélanie Joly refuses to repeat that Netflix will be exempted from taxes

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Mélanie Joly

Maxime Huard

Wednesday, 6 December 2017 16:10

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Wednesday, 6 December 2017 16:10

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OTTAWA – Under fire since September, Mélanie Joly refused Wednesday to repeat that Netflix would not be taxed, and this, after having been called to act in the face to the giants of the web by a hundred people and influential organizations in Quebec.

“The agreement with Netflix is not perfect, and I hear the concerns of the community”, said the minister for Heritage to his arrival in the Commons. She has not repeated a single time that the federal would tax not the service of online streaming, a promise that the liberals have repeated many times since the last election campaign.

Last September 28, during a speech, Ms. Joly held to have “always said we would not raise taxes on the middle class”.

A coalition of artists, producers, broadcasters and business people denounced Wednesday morning a “preferential treatment” by the federal government. “We cannot allow giant foreign nationals to evade taxes all businesses must take,” they say in a statement released Wednesday morning in the “Journal de Montreal”.

Critics abound against the federal government since it announced in September an agreement of $ 500 million with Netflix. The agreement provides for investments in the production, but does not include the broadcasting service in line with no tax, unlike traditional broadcasters. Mélanie Joly defends himself by saying they have submitted a cultural policy, and not fiscal policy.

The minister of the Family, Jean-Yves Duclos, was recognized for his arrival in the liberal caucus that local businesses “suffer the consequences” of the growth in e-commerce. It ensures that the government continues to listen to the views on tax policy, without clarifying the intentions of parliament.

The québec lieutenant of the conservative Party has criticized the Trudeau government to turn a deaf ear in the face of the consensus in quebec. “The agreement with Netflix is unfair to all the economic sector,” said Alain Rayes.

Among new democrats, we demand the minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, to get up. “He has received a letter from the government of Québec, which required the collection of taxes and he has not responded, it is pitiful,” said the spokesperson in matters of culture, Pierre Nantel.

For its part, the Quebec government has welcomed the release of the group. The minister of Finance Carlos Leitão has already indicated that it will impose QST on-line trading, urging the federal government to do the same with the GST.