The Online Streaming Act, rushed through Parliament as Bill C-11, isn’t in full force yet. Already, though, it’s begun to claw back a generous cut of streamer revenues — and we’re already worse off for it.

In June, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced that it would be taking a five per cent cut of Canadian revenues from major foreign streaming services, such as Netflix and Youtube, starting in 2024, supposedly to invest in Canadian programming. In dollars, that’s supposed to bring in $200 million per year.