Quebec to impose French-language quotas on streaming giants
Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe is set to table a bill today that would force streaming giants to add French-language content and make it more easily accessible.
The legislation has been in the works for over a year and would mark the first time that Quebec would set a "visibility quota" for French-language content on major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney and Spotify.
It comes as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) undertakes a two-week public hearing on a new definition of Canadian content that started last Wednesday.
The proceeding is part of its work to implement the Online Streaming Act — and it is bringing tensions between traditional players and large foreign streamers out in the open.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, Lacombe explained that making French-language content readily available to Quebecers on digital platforms is part of the Coalition Avenir Québec government's vision for protecting French.
Only 8.5 per cent of music people listen to in Quebec is in French, which is "very little," according to Lacombe. He said he wants to reverse that trend for younger generations.
"Discoverability means being able to stumble across something, to discover it when you weren't actively looking for it," Lacombe said.
While streaming giants are mostly from the U.S., the potential law involving penalties, would also apply to Canadian platforms such as Illico, Crave, and Tou.tv, Lacombe said.
Impact on trade relations?
He noted that the bill complies with the terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), but acknowledged that with the tense economic context, the Trump administration might view his initiative as a way to further disrupt trade relations.
If the U.S. administration challenges the bill once it's adopted, the Quebec government plans to invoke the exception that excludes cultural property from trade agreements, Lacombe said.
"We must not fear the United States' reaction and stop ourselves from taking action," he said, noting that the Biden administration was also opposed to the cultural exception. "If we do that, we would directly contradict the principle of cultural exception [in trade agreements]. What's the point if we don't use it?"
Lacombe said he thinks the bill will show that Quebec can stand up to major digital players.
"Initially, I think many saw me as a young, naive minister who thought he could control the giants. Since then, we have demonstrated that we have the capacity to act, and we are acting," he said.
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