Quebec’s Parti Québécois has announced a plan it believes would help to mitigate some of the financial challenges currently befalling publications across the province.
In a news release published last week, the party explains seven areas of action.
They are:
- Establish an official policy of the Government of Quebec to put an end to advertising spending by the government, its agencies and state corporations with any company that refuses to agree to or renew a redistribution agreement with the media
- Apply the 1994 government decree encouraging government organizations to spend 4% of their advertising budget on community media and adopt an advertising purchasing policy in local media.
- Release funds to support the transition in the distribution of weeklies affected by the end of Publisac.
- Extend the labour tax credit for support of the written press to radio and television media companies
- Establish a fund to facilitate the conversion of the business and technological models of press companies.
- Submit a bill laying the foundations for a Quebec Radio Broadcasting and Telecommunications Council.
- Modify the tax system in order to add incentives to advertising expenditures made with Quebec partners and limit the tax deductibility of advertisements purchased by businesses when the expenditures are not made with Quebec partners.
Several outlets in Quebec have covered this story. You can read more here and here, for example.
