Joly says it’s up to Morneau, not her, to decide whether to tax Netflix
MONTREAL — The federal heritage minister says she never agreed to exempt online streaming giant Netflix from any sales tax on its service as part of a deal that has been a political nightmare in her home province of Quebec.
There were no taxes on streaming services as part of the cultural policy that Melanie Joly unveiled in late September. Instead, the policy unveiling had at its centre a $500-million pledge by California-based Netflix to set up a Canadian office and fund original homegrown content.
The ensuing weeks have seen the provincial government in Quebec vowing to tax foreign online businesses, including Netflix, if Ottawa didn’t do so, and outrage from artists and producers who slammed the Trudeau Liberals in an open letter earlier this month.
Pressed about why the Liberals decided to exempt Netflix from federal sales tax, Joly appeared to leave the door open to some sort of tax on Netflix in the future.