After U.S. targets culture, Bloc asks Carney to backtrack on DST, CanCon payments

  • Canadian Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks about Canada's response to new U.S. tariffs during a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle

OTTAWA -- The Bloc Quebecois says the Liberal government should bring back the digital services tax on tech giants and keep Canadian content financial contributions for streamers.

Both are policies the Liberals moved to eliminate after the United States identified them as trade irritants.

The Bloc wants the government to change course after trade talks with the U.S. broke down Friday and 50 per cent tariffs took effect on a host of other Canadian goods.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said U.S. pressure around discoverability rules -- which when implemented would affect what options Canadians see when they use streaming services -- was one of the things which led Canada to end the talks.

He also said support for Canadian culture and the French language was part of the discussion.

The CRTC's rules requiring large foreign streaming companies to contribute to Canadian content and ongoing work to implement discoverability requirements are both being conducted under Canada's Online Streaming Act.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2026.