Struggling western Quebec newspapers welcome tax relief

Print media outlets in western Quebec are welcoming a financial boost from the province aimed at helping them confrontthe unprecedentedcrisis facing the industry from the rise of digital competitors.

Media companies will be able to claim a refundable tax creditequal to 35 per cent of employees' salaries over five years to givethem financial leeway while they seek a new business model.

The measure announced Wednesday, retroactive to Jan. 1, appliesto the first $75,000 of newsroom employees' salaries.

The announcement, made by Finance Minister Eric Girard and Culture and Communications Minister Nathalie Roy, follows a recentparliamentary commission on the future of media and the forced saleof six newspapers of Groupe Capitales Medias, a cash-strappedFrench-language newspaper chain that filed for creditor protectionin August.

The financial assistance totals nearly $50 million a year by2023-2024.

'Thousands' in help

Lily Ryan, editor of the Journal du Pontiac, West Quebec Post and Bulletin d'Aylmer,said she's hopeful the move will help make her business more sustainable.

Ryan also welcomed news that the provincehasheeded calls from media owners toremove the recycling tax paid to municipalities for curbsiderecycling.

"That would mean thousands of dollars a year in help," Ryan said.

Ryan still has questions about how the aid will be administered, however if it only applies to full-time employees, she said that won't be much help to small outlets like hers.

The federal government promised $600 million last fall for media organizations that have at least two full-time journalists, but Ryan's employees are all part-time.

"If we're eligible [for Quebec's credit]it's going to be a huge difference," she said.

Publications struggling

The Quebec Community Newspapers Association said during a series of government hearings this summer16 English-language newspapers in the province have closed since 1980, and the remaining publications are struggling.

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Patrick Duquette, president of the union at Le Droit, said the provincial tax relief is something the industry has wanted for a long time.

Groupe Capitales Media, which owns Le Droit and several other Quebec newspapers, received $5 million in emergency financial aid earlier this year.Duquette said that wouldn't have been necessary if the provincialtax changes were already in place.

The province'sCAQ government is also extending a digital transformation tax credit for print media companies until the end of2023.