Carney shuts down idea of reviving digital services tax

Bloc Québécois Yves-François Blanchet’s dreams for a resurrected digital services tax (DST) were quickly dashed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has left little room for interpretation over the policy’s future. When asked by the sovereigntist leader whether the Liberals would bring back a three per cent tax on digital revenues earned by large tech platforms, including Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc., and Amazon.com Inc., Carney (Nepean, Ont.) offered an unusually short answer for Question Period. “Mr. Speaker,” began Carney in French. “No.” Blanchet (Beloeil—Chambly, Que.) and his fellow Bloquistes had hoped the collapse of Canada-U.S. trade discussions could lead to the re-implementation of the DST, which was initially brought forward and enforced by Justin Trudeau’s government. Carney cancelled the tax in 2025, and many critics framed the decision as a concession meant to curry favour with U.S. negotiators. “The prime minister personally cancelled all contributions from internet giants to Quebec and Canada’s economy and arts , specifically regarding taxation as well as contributions to content creation,” Blanchet said in French on Monday. “The goal was to cajole the American president. This didn’t work at all.” “He claimed – and I have my doubts – that he left the negotiation table for language and culture reasons. given the failure of the policy, shouldn’t the prime minister consider reinstating the digital services tax and restoring contributions from internet giants to the cultural sector?” Carney emphasized the federal government’s commitment to protecting Canadian, Québécois, and French-language culture, saying it is “the reason investments in the cultural sector are the highest they have ever been.” “It’s not necessary to have specific taxes that impact affordability for Canadians.” In recent months, Carney’s government has backtracked on various cultural policies designed to support the domestic cultural sector, including foreign contribution requirements under the Online Streaming Act. As first reported by The Wire Report, Ottawa disclosed plans in a court filing to “eliminate” a CRTC regulation that would force major U.S. streamers to allocate billions to the production of Canadian content. At the time of the policy reversal, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, Que.) said the maneuver was founded in affordability concerns, arguing streamers would pass on heightened costs to consumers. Miller promised to issue a new policy direction to the CRTC centred on “consumer choice,” though it’s not clear when the directives will be released. “Business contributions have no impact on bills because these are investments that the companies would have made anyway,” Blanchet said. “We are simply channeling them into Quebec and Canada.”. “I believe the prime minister’s strategy to cajole the U.S. president has failed, and that in light of that failure, he should reconsider his decision – a move we would welcome – so that internet giants, which are richer than many countries in the world, pay their fair share for the arts and culture in Canada and Quebec, especially in French.” Other news outlets have reported that the rift between Canadian and U.S. negotiators was, at least in part, caused by American overtures seeking to restrict ‘Cancon’ discoverability and French-language protections. “It’s the Americans who have failed,” said Carney during Question Period. “They failed to bring in constraints on the French language… Canadian culture.” “We protected the French language, we protected Canadian culture, and we will continue to do so.” Monday marked the first day of Parliament’s fall sitting, as MPs returned to the House of Commons following the summer hiatus. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

Carney shuts down idea of reviving digital services tax

Regulatory |
By Davis Legree
|September 21, 2026

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Carney shuts down idea of reviving digital services tax

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