The Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe, poses as a defender of Quebec identity against digital platforms, which have alienated part of the audience from local productions, especially the youngest. In an interview given to Dutyhe even said he was ready to legislate to force the Netflix and Spotify of this world to put Quebec content forward, even if it meant being accused of encroaching on a field of federal jurisdiction.
Remember that the Trudeau government tabled Bill C-11, which would force Web giants to comply with a set of measures to promote Canadian content. Last week, Mathieu Lacombe wrote to the federal Minister of Heritage, Pablo Rodriguez, asking him to take Quebec’s specificity into account in the law by adding a “compulsory and official consultation mechanism of the Government of Quebec”.
A request that has remained a dead letter, hence the possibility that Quebec will legislate in turn, even if the Legault government is not committing to anything for the moment. “C-11 will tackle the basic problem, but with Canadian glasses. Personally, I hope that when you are in Quebec territory, you will look at this issue with Quebec glasses, first and foremost. We agree, C-11 is a win. Quebec cultural products will do better after its adoption. But can we do more to protect our artists even better? […] I think so, ”said Minister Lacombe in an interview on Monday.
Like at the bookstore
Culture is certainly a shared jurisdiction, but the regulation of broadcasting has always been the prerogative of the federal government. Mathieu Lacombe is however convinced that Quebec has certain levers to improve the “discoverability” of Quebec culture on major platforms. Legislating in the matter would not be unconstitutional, he believes.
“When you ask the question to lawyers, there is an interesting debate. […] Nothing has been decided yet, but if we choose to go ahead with a law, it would not contradict C-11 anyway. Whatever action we decide to take, it would be complementary to C-11. All we want is to strengthen the protection of Quebec’s specificity, ”said the man who was appointed to Culture last October.
The minister knows that the government will never be able to force people to listen to a Quebec song, series or film. But it would be possible to do better if the platforms put local content more in the foreground, argues Mathieu Lacombe, who is sorry that only 8% of the songs listened to online in the province are from Quebec.
Me, I hope that when we are in Quebec territory, we look at this issue with Quebec glasses, first and foremost
To explain what he means by better “discoverability” of Quebec content, the Minister of Culture likes to draw an analogy with a bookstore. “When you walk into a bookstore in Quebec,” he says, “you can buy whatever you want. No one is stopping you from buying an American book. But when you come in, what’s on offer in the window are books from Quebec, books in French. So it allows people to discover our books, beyond the great international successes. »
The remnants of the pandemic
It is not the files that are lacking in culture, a sector considerably tested by the pandemic. Introduced during the health crisis to allow theaters to get through the crisis, ticketing assistance should end at the end of March. Several broadcasters are worried about it, as some spectators have still not returned to the theater, despite the resumption.
“We will not let them down,” said Mathieu Lacombe, who, wanting to be reassuring, said that new measures would be announced for the next budget, which will be tabled this spring. These could specifically target spectators, in particular by offering them incentives to consume Québec cultural products. The idea of a cultural passport does not seem to displease the minister.
“We still have a lot of the reflex to talk about a pandemic. Yes, there are residues of the pandemic in our rooms. But the economic context plays even more at present. When people have less money in their pockets, it is often the show or cinema ticket that suffers, ”he argued.
The Minister has nevertheless undertaken to maintain aid intended directly for theater operators. He was more evasive when it came to supporting festival promoters. Several of them called on Quebec and Ottawa last week, asking that pandemic aid be put back in place for a time so that they can cope with inflation and the shortage of labour. In three years, the payroll of festivals would have increased by around 30% to 50%, they say.
Nothing has been decided yet, but if we choose to go ahead with a law, it would not contradict C-11 anyway.
“I understand that is their request. Now, are we just injecting money? Probably it is a solution to the labor shortage. But can we also pool services, for example? […] Maybe if [les festivals] come together, we will be able to offer full-time work with good wages. One of the main problems is that [les festivals, pris individuellement,] fail to attract full-time staff with rising salaries,” he suggested.
One thing is certain, the minister will have his work cut out for him in the coming months. He is working on a reform of the functioning of the Cultural Business Development Company (SODEC), one of the main funders in the cultural industry. However, he declined to provide further details at this time.
In the medium term, he does not rule out the idea of reopening the law on the status of the artist, as his immediate predecessor, Nathalie Roy, did.