Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe wants to pass legislation to force web giants like Netflix to give Quebec content more visibility, at the risk of stepping on the toes of the federal government, which has already introduced legislation to that effect.
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Ottawa introduced Bill C-11 with the aim of forcing web giants to promote Canadian cultural content, while Mr Lacombe hopes to add Quebec’s specifics to the equation.
“C-11 will tackle the fundamental problem, but with Canadian glasses. I hope that when we are on the territory of Quebec, we will look at this issue primarily through Quebec glasses,” explained Minister Lacombe in an interview with Le Devoir.
File photo, Stevens LeBlanc
Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe
“We agree, C-11 is a win. Quebec cultural products will perform better once adopted. But can we do more to protect our artists even better? […] I think so,” he said.
Although broadcasting regulation is a federal matter, the CAQ minister believes Quebec has levers capable of enhancing what he calls the “discoverability” of Quebec culture.
“Nothing is decided yet, but if we decide to legislate, there’s no way it would conflict with C-11,” pleaded Mr. Lacombe, who does not break the constitution for Quebec to legislate on the act.