Michael Geist: This is LawBytes, a podcast with Michael Geist
CBC News: Broadcast regulator is calling on the government to tax the likes of Netflix and Spotify among others. The CRTC has proposed that such companies including Internet service providers should be forced to fund the production of Canadian content. The intention is to help compensate for the declining contribution of cable and satellite providers.
Catherine Tait, CBC President: So unbelievable to be able to experience that kind of cultural sharing. So for this we are very grateful to Netflix. However, fast forward, to what happens after imperialism. And the damage that that can do to local communities. So all I would say is let us be mindful of how it is we as Canadians respond to global companies coming into our country.
Michael Geist: For the better part of two decades Canadian cultural groups have been pressing Canada’s telecom and broadcast regulator the CRTC to regulate and tax the Internet. As far back as 1998, the CRTC conducted hearings on new media in which groups argued that the dial up internet was little different from conventional broadcasting and should be regulated and taxed as such. The CRTC and successive governments consistently rejected the internet regulation drumbeat citing obvious differences with broadcast, competing policy objectives such as affordable access, and the benefits of competition. That seemed to change last year when the CRTC released Harnessing Change: the future of programming distribution in Canada, a report that dramatically reversed its approach. The CRTC reversal highlights competing visions of Canadian content regulation and the Internet. There are those such as CBC’s Catherine Tait who have likened Netflix to a cultural imperialist that requires a regulatory response. Others look at recent data that shows that when it comes to Canadian English language fictional programming, foreign financing is now larger than the funding from broadcasters and Canada Media Fund contributions combined. As one columnist recently concluded “the evidence doesn’t back up the case that extending the paternalistic Cancon regulatory model to foreign streaming services will do anything to save Canadian culture.” To help sort through Cancon funding, internet regulation and the CRTC, I’m joined on the podcast this week by Peter Menzies, a former CRTC commissioner and vice chair of telecommunications. Peter has been a reporter, newspaper publisher, regulator, and is now the director of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Michael Geist: Thanks so much for joining me on the podcast.
Peter Menzies: Thanks very much. It’s a it’s a pleasure and I’m flattered to be part of this.
Michael Geist: Well you’ve been one of the the people have been really outspoken when it comes to the CRTC and cultural issues so you’re really a perfect person to come on and talk about some of the things that are taking place and I thought we’d start by focusing on what seems like a recurring issue literally years and years and years of the same kind of issue being discussed when it comes to the prospect of new sources of revenue, new fees associated with either Internet streaming services or internet services more generally to fund Cancon and so we’ve seen this issue recur sometimes talking about it in the context of a so-called Netflix tax. Other times about broadband or wireless taxes all in the name of supporting the creation of Canadian content. It was back in the news recently with new data that showed that foreign services are significantly outspending Canadian broadcasters when it comes to at least English language drama.
CBC News: Canada’s eight billion dollar production industry is booming like never before. And another studio nearby asset is under construction for another Netflix series called Lock and Key. Foreign streaming services from Netflix to Amazon to Hulu are creating jobs here. But they make no contribution to the government sponsored funds.
Michael Geist: And so I guess the question that I want to star
