Quebec giant Metro, which owns Super C, Première Moisson, Adonis, Brunet and Jean Coutu, intends to reduce its advertising spend on Facebook in favor of the media here because its parent company Meta does not comply with Bill C-18.
“In the current context, we are reducing our investments in Meta for the benefit of the media here,” Marie-Claude Bacon, vice president of public affairs at Metro, confirmed to the Journal on Monday.
“Metro has supported local media for several years, with the majority of our investments in local media,” the grocer continued.
In recent days, following the exit of Quebecor and Cogeco, Ottawa and Quebec have suspended their ad spend on Facebook to protest the decision of their parent company Meta, which refuses to share its earnings with our media. Bell Media followed suit last Friday.
“negligible amount”
However, according to CIBC analysts, the $10 million annual ad spend Ottawa buys on the Meta platform “represents a negligible amount for Meta, which generated $116.6 billion in total revenue in 2022.”
“Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez estimates that Bill C-18 could also bring in Canada’s media outlets $200 million,” notes the Toronto Bank analysis.
In addition, the National Bank and Desjardins said on Monday they were still considering buying advertising on Facebook in response to a call for a boycott by Metropolitan Montreal Board of Trade CEO Michel Leblanc
For their part, Reitmans, Walmart, Ubisoft, Bombardier, BRP… all declined to comment on the case. Sollio had claimed “not to have issued a definitive opinion.”
For its part, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), which owned $457.7 million in Meta as of Dec. 31, declined to say if it would sell its stake.
“As mentioned on Friday, we have halted our advertising purchases to support local media, but as it is a publicly traded company, the CDPQ will not disclose its intentions to the market,” its spokeswoman Kate Monfette said.
–In collaboration with Sylvain Larocque
governments
- Canada (Boycott)
- Quebec (boycott)
- Montreal (boycott)
- Quebec (boycott)
- Longueuil (boycott)
Public facilities
- Financial Market Authority (Boycott)
- Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (Boycott)
- Montreal Transit Company (Boycott)
- Laval Transit Company (boycott)
- Capital Transport Network (Boycott)
- Quebec Construction Commission (Boycott)
crown company
- Quebec Liquor Corporation (boycott)
- Hydro Quebec (Boycott)
- Loto-Quebec (Boycott)
- Investissement Quebec (Boycott)
- Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (boycott)
- Quebec Automobile Insurance Company (Boycott)
private company
- Quebecor (boycott)
- Cogeco (boycott)
- Bell Media (Boycott)
- Desjardins (In reflection)
- National Bank (thinking)
- Metropolitan Montreal Chamber of Commerce (Boycott)
- Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce (boycott)
- Quebec Chamber of Commerce and Industry (In Reflection)
Other
- College of Physicians (boycott)
- Science Press Agency (boycott)
- Solidarity Fund QFL (Boycott)
- Union of Municipalities of Quebec (Boycott)
- Self-Regulatory Organization for Real Estate Agents in Quebec (Boycott)
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