Mayor Denis Coderre says despite the huge growth the Montreal film and production industry has seen in recent years, its continued success requires Netflix, Amazon and other online content producers to pay taxes that will fund more Canadian production.
"We must ensure that the Netflix and Amazon of this world can be taxed adequately," Coderre told reporters during the announcement of a new advisory committee on the future of film and television productions in Montreal. "There must not be a double standard."
Online streaming services that produce their own content do not pay distribution taxes in Canada, and therefore aren't contribute to the Media Fund that bankrolls Canadian productions.
The mayor says that needs to change. Whether that could raise prices for users is anyone's guess.
Meantime, for those upset over a recent film shoot for the latest X-Men movie blockbuster that restricted access to a popular area of Mount Royal for nearly a month, the mayor suggested people need to think of the benefits, not just the hindrances.
That industry is a creator of wealth, provides jobs, services and is putting Montreal all on the map. if you put all that together, I'm sorry, that kind of branding explains why Montreal is back on the map."
Those economic benefits, according to the mayor, are substantial.
"In five years, the economic benefits directly related to this sector have more than doubled and will reach more than $400 million this year," he said in a statement.