(Alma) Given “the urgency of the situation,” the Parti Québécois is proposing a media relief plan that it calls an “essential service.” Among other things, the political party wants to prevent advertisers from appearing on web giants.
Posted at 2:12 p.m.
“The state funds 100% of functions such as police officers and firefighters. There are many essential functions where the state intervenes,” said Chief Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on Thursday.
“From the moment we agree [le journalisme] Since it is an essential service, there is no point in government intervention unless there are conditions or interventions,” he added.
The PQ leader presented a relief plan to the media at the end of a two-day meeting of his group in Alma, Lac-Saint-Jean. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon also stressed the importance of “preserving regional information” in all parts of Quebec.
The Parti Québécois mentions the loss of 19 jobs at the TVA branch in Saguenay and the end of printing of the Coops de l'information newspapers, which includes Le Quotidien. This shift will result in the reduction of around a hundred jobs, or around a third of the company's workforce.
The sovereigntist party proposes, among other things, the creation of an emergency fund to “facilitate” the transition from business models to digital models. Like every other measure in its aid plan, the Parti Québécois has not yet quantified it.
“We are not the government, so we enact these measures in the hope that they will be implemented.” It is then at the discretion of the government to quantify the fund. If this does not happen, it means that we will arrive with numbers in the 2026 election campaign,” he clarified.
Before the holidays, Quebecor also announced that 547 employees will lose their jobs at TVA Group, representing 31% of the current workforce. Other media outlets have also made budget cuts and job cuts in recent months.
CBC/Radio-Canada announced in December that it would cut 600 jobs and eliminate 200 open positions across the country. Last June, Bell (which owns CTV and Noovo, among others) also cut 1,300 jobs across Canada.
“Our goal is democracy, we don’t want weakened journalism,” said Mr St-Pierre Plamondon. The PQ leader said the situation was “urgent” and called on the Legault government to present its preliminary relief plan as quickly as possible.
Minister Mathieu Lacombe is working on a “temporary media support plan” in consultation with Ottawa. Currently, this assistance would be aimed primarily at the print press.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe
Less advertising from web giants
In particular, the Parti Québécois proposes to change the tax system to incentivize advertising spending by Quebec press companies and businesses. Conversely, it would also limit the tax deductibility of advertising purchased by companies if the expenses are not made with partners in Quebec.
“It's about creating tax incentives for advertising in our media in Quebec,” explained the PQ leader. “The message we are sending is that we should favor Quebec companies and not offer any incentives when it comes to spending with multinational GAFAM companies,” he added.
The PQ also proposes to extend the written information press support tax credit to radio and television media companies. “Our criterion is to ensure that there are enough journalists and different forms of expression,” said the PQ leader.
“Journalists and media express themselves in different ways, there is television, the written word, electronics. In my opinion, every contribution to our democracy must be eligible,” he added.
Quebec already offers a tax credit for supporting the written information press, equivalent to a reimbursement of 35% of the salary of employees eligible for the program (up to a maximum of $75,000 per year). The electronic media also demands access.
Measures of the Parti Québécois relief plan
- Establish an official policy to end advertising spending by the government, its agencies and state-owned companies on web giants.
- Apply the 1994 government decree encouraging government organizations to spend 4% of their advertising budget on community media
- Release funds to support the transition in the distribution of weekly newspapers affected by the end of Publisac.
- Submit a bill laying the foundation for a Quebec Radio Broadcasting and Telecommunications Council.
The list of media eligible for the various measures could be drawn up by the Quebec Professional Association of Journalists (FPJQ), as mentioned by Mr St-Pierre Plamondon as an example.
“It is a bit tricky when the state, the government itself starts to determine who is a journalist and who is not. I think we are opening the door to abuse. “I don’t want political interference in the media power,” he said.
Furthermore, the Parti Québécois “did not demarcate Radio-Canada from its exercise.” Last November, Minister Mathieu Lacombe called on Ottawa to exclude the public broadcaster from the royalties that Google will pay to Canadian media.
The Minister of Culture and Communications also believes that Radio-Canada should withdraw from the advertising market, an issue on which the Parti Québécois has not yet decided.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is also open to reducing the rental costs for the press gallery offices in the National Assembly. In August, Quebecor stopped paying its rent on the André Laurendeau building, citing difficult financial circumstances. Le Devoir reported in December that the company's parliamentary correspondents will no longer have their own offices when parliamentary work resumes.