MONTREAL , QC — Quebec Green MPs will stand up for culture, said Green Party leader Elizabeth May, who stopped at Place des Arts today to deliver her plan for culture in Quebec.
“We’re very proud to have an exceptional team of Quebecers representing the Green Party, who will play an essential role in the fight against climate change, and who are ready to represent Quebec,” said Elizabeth May. “And representing Quebec means fighting for culture too!”
Standing with Green candidates -- including Pierre Nantel, former artistic director of artists such as Jean Leloup and Isabelle Boulay, and Jamil Azzaoui, singer-songwriter -- the Leader of the Green Party underlined the Party’s commitments to increase funding to Radio-Canada and the National Film Board, and to require Netflix and other web multinationals to pay their share of taxes.
The plan announced today also proposes:
- ensuring that online multinationals charge GST and pay taxes on their revenue
- giving a veto to Quebec on agreements that affect Quebec culture (such as Netflix)
- increasing Quebec’s representation in federal cultural institutions, such as the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Film Board, by naming one third of board members in consultation with the Quebec government
- applying the Charte de la langue française to federal jurisdiction businesses in Québec
- supporting innovative platforms such as Éléphant and Tou.tv.
“I’ve spent the last few years fighting for Quebec in Ottawa, for our culture and for our media, said Pierre Nantel. “I’ve seen how the Liberals and Conservatives both abandoned culture and refused to stand up to Netflix, Facebook and Google. They refused to update our cultural laws, laws which are designed for fax machines, not for smartphones.”
“For our culture, just like for the climate, Liberals and Conservatives have produced the same results. We need to change those results, fast, because our culture is at stake.”
“Quebecers can count on Green MPs to fight to stop pipelines and to get Canada out of the fossil fuel business -- but with the balance of power, they can trust us to get results for arts and culture too,” said Elizabeth May.
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For more information or to arrange an interview contact:
Rosie Emery
Press Secretary
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