The headline somehow managed to be both shocking and not at all surprising:
"Netflix pulls sponsorship of development programs across Canadian arts institutions in wake of C-11 measures" (The Globe and Mail, Sept 24/24)
Who could have possibly predicted that the CRTC compelling streamers to contribute 5% of their annual domestic revenues to "support production in the Canadian screen sector"...
...would cause streamers like Netflix to pull back on their existing investments in Canadian production to pay for this new tax?
Um... everybody?!?
At least, everybody not working for the CRTC or as a lobbyist for traditional media companies getting badly beaten by the popularity of streaming companies.
In an unsigned statement regarding the pause in program funding, representatives for Netflix Canada said that “despite our long-standing commitment, the government has chosen not to acknowledge our substantial support for the Canadian film and TV sector. Consequently, we will be unable to continue funding many of the programs that have come to rely on our backing, as we are now required to allocate resources to meet the CRTC’s new investment mandate.
Honestly... can you blame them?
It's reasonable to "ask" streamers to contribute to Canada's film and television sector.
(I don't personally think they should have to help fund content that often can't earn its audience, but I can see the merits of the counter-argument.)
But to not acknowledge the money streaming companies are ALREADY investing in Canadian productions ("In a November, 2023, CRTC public hearing... Netflix noted that it spends more in Canada on partnerships for the career advancement of creators than anywhere else in the world")...
... and demand a 5% tax on top of that spending?
That's not just shortsighted...
... it's just plain stupid.
Seth Godin wrote "Unintended consequences…are still consequences."
But I'd argue that for anyone responsible for making decisions, the consequences of those decisions should never be unintended.
Anticipating consequences is a part of a decision-maker's job.
The most critical part, perhaps.
P.S. The article is behind a paywall, and The Globe and Mail's policy on gift links is that "generated link can be used up to 20 times before it expires, and it will be active for 14 days", which isn't much use for a blog posting like this one. But if you want to read the article and don't have a subscription, I wrote about a handy workaround in this post from a few years back. Or you could use a site like 12ft.io, not to bypass a paywall, obviously, but to read the article without "the popups, ads, and other visual distractions." Wink, wink.
P.P.S. Microsoft Copilot did a pretty amazing job generating the image I used to accompany this post, wouldn't you say?
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