The Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE for short, represents 7,500 members in the media and telecommunications industry, which has been going through constant upheaval for more than 20 years, with the dematerialization of content, the advent of the Internet and e-commerce, and changing consumer habits. All of these phenomena have thrown the country's culture and communications ecosystem profoundly off balance, and legislation ill adapted to today's digital landscape has only exacerbated that imbalance.
To support Canadian businesses who do business on the web, the government needs to make foreign companies selling products and services on the Internet in Canada pay their fair share in taxes. The current legislation must therefore be adapted to reflect the new digital reality, so that it no longer puts foreign multinationals such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, and Spotify at an advantage.
The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recognized that lack of fairness in its June report on media and local communities, recommending that the government level the playing field among industries on all platforms. The culture and communications industry is unanimous on the need for legislative change so that Canadian companies can compete on a level playing field in a global marketplace made possible by the Internet.
CUPE is part of the Coalition for Culture and Media, whose 40 member organizations, endorsed by over 4,000 citizens and groups, are calling on the government to restore tax fairness. Time is of the essence: some of our locals have already lost jobs, and more losses are on the way if immediate action isn't taken.
Thank you.
We'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.