Netflix, a Joly bad deal

This editorial ran in the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

What on Earth was Canadian Heritage Minister Melanie Joly thinking when she unveiled a much-touted creative industries policy last week that essentially treats Canadian culture as a wholly owned subsidiary of Netflix, the American digital streaming giant?

Indeed, what is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thinking in backing up a huge Netflix exemption from collecting sales taxes that almost every Canadian business (including Netflix’s Canadian competitors) have to charge?

Ms. Jolie’s defence of this discrimination is that she has persuaded Netflix to spend at least $500 million in the next five years producing content in Canada that will be streamed It’s nonsense for Mr. Trudeau and Ms. Joly to argue that, by exempting Netflix from existing taxes that competitors pay, they are keeping a promise to avoid new taxes on the middle class.

Canadians should expect more of their government than star-struck genuflection to Netflix and other U.S. digital giants. The government is acting like Netflix, Facebook and Google are sovereign states with whom it negotiates economic treaties, while Canadian firms are just subject taxpayers who must swallow whatever policy, fair on not, is fobbed on them. To make it even worse, Netflix was a much better treaty negotiator than Ms. Joly.