OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s government directed its television and communications regulator to back down from a recent decision to triple financial contributions required from U.S. streaming services such as Netflix for Canadian content, the country’s culture minister said Wednesday.Instead, Culture Minister Marc Miller said, the government will invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the sector. The U-turn comes after the Motion Picture Association, the U.S. group representing streamers, called on the Canadian Cabinet to reconsider its approach, and after the U.S. ambassador to Canada called for the policy to be rescinded.It also comes as Canada and the United States are in discussions on whether to renew the free trade agreement between the two countries and Mexico. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission — the country’s equivalent to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission — said in May it would require large streaming services like Netflix to contribute 15% of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content. It made the decision as part of its work to implement the Online Streaming Act.
Asked whether the decision is another concession to the U.S., Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday the government was looking at how much the new policy would cost Canadians.
