The Parti Québécois (PQ) believes that Radio-Canada should reduce advertising on its platforms and give up the funding that Canadian media will obtain under an agreement between Ottawa and Google.
The public broadcaster should “reduce advertising for the benefit of viewers and listeners”, reacted the PQ on Friday, in response to a question from the Duty. Such a reduction would also make it possible to “revalue” advertisements, according to the party. “By removing advertising from Radio-Canada, we can increase the value of advertising in private sector media,” argues the political party.
Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe said Thursday that Radio-Canada should stop advertising on its platforms. The elected official also believes that the public broadcaster should not obtain the royalties resulting from the agreement between the federal government and Google. The PQ shares the minister’s opinion on this issue.
Under the agreement between Ottawa and Google, Canadian media will share $100 million annually in subsidies, in a format that will be announced on December 19, the date the Online News Act comes into force. also known as C-18.
At the Quebec Liberal Party, MP Michelle Setlakwe stressed that it was “essential” that Quebec media receive “their fair share” of the funding provided by Google. ” But, [il faut] also take into account the fact that Radio-Canada is a special case,” she stressed.
On the subject of advertisements, Mme Setlakwe recalled that Télé-Québec was also a public network. “The case of Radio-Canada is not isolated. Quebec also finances advertisements on its public television network. It’s up to the minister to decide if he really wants to open this debate,” she said.
Québec solidaire did not want to comment on the agreement with Google or on the question of advertising. “The solution is to repatriate the powers in culture and communications from the federal government and to create a media fund,” said the political party. “GAFAM must obviously pay their fair share of taxes,” she added, referring to the web giants Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.