Netflix argues against regulation

Investment in Canada ‘substantial’

Netflix makes “substantial” investments in film and TV productions in Canada and should not face regulation, argues the streaming company in a submission to Canadian Heritage’s public consultation on homegrown content in a digital world.

The submission, filed Thursday, comes two years after Netflix suggested to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that its service did not fall under the Broadcasting Act since it is not a conventional broadcaster.

“We want to continue to invest in content in Canada in the way we have, which means continuing to spend money but not under a system that’s similar to the Canadian broadcasters, where there’s regulation and paying into the (Canada Media) Fund,” Elizabeth Bradley, vice-president of content at Netflix, said in a phone interview.

“We’ve been doing significant investments on our own and will continue and honestly (it) will only grow significantly over the next couple of years. But regulation is not helping to encourage that for us.”

If Netflix was under the Broadcasting Act it would be required to make certain financial commitments to Canadian content, which some producers feel it should.

“They’re coasting off the system that existed before and the one thing that’s certain is that you can’t very (well) support a system where half of the system is required to contribute and half the system is not,” said Denis McGrath, a Toronto TV writer and producer who also filed a submission during the consultation process.

Still, some other producers back Netflix, noting its investments in Canada have helped boost the quality and reach of content here.

“Our partnership with Netflix on both Alias Grace and Anne has allowed two remarkable Canadian adaptations to be realized with higher budgets than would otherwise have been possible,” Sally Catto, general manager of programming for CBC Television, said in a statement.

Netflix says in 2016 alone it’s commissioned hundreds of millions of dollars of original programming produced in Canada. It’s also made “dozens of commitments in 2016 for Netflix original movies