Cinemas Closed In Quebec Again
Libraries, Museums and Cinemas will be closed for 28 days in Greater Montreal, Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches regions in response to the resurgence of COVID-19 in those areas.
Events will be limited to 25 people, so record conventions in the province will likely be cancelled. And stores may limit their hours and entry to a few individuals so you should consider ordering products online for delivery or pick-up.
Altough cinemas and stores remain open in the province of Ontario, A resurgance in cases is also being observed there so another lockdown is a possibility.
Most music retailers in Ontario now offer reservations/in-store pick-ups, curbside pick-ups and deliveries so there are options to limit person to person contact.
Streaming Taxes In Quebec
It appears that streaming services like Netflix might be subject to provincial sales taxes in Quebec soon.
Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao said this could be a possibility soon, depending on the details of the $500 million Canadian Content deal the federal government has worked out with Netflix.
Some download and streaming services are already subject to provincial or harmonized sales taxes, like iTunes, Apple Music and other services that are based in Quebec or in Canada.
HST in Quebec
Quebec residents will know if they will be subjected to a provincially collected Harmonized Sales Tax by the end of the month.
The federal government has already set aside $2.2 billion dollars to compensate the provincial government of Quebec and is still in negotiations with Quebec in regards to what will and will not be subject to this tax.
Books and baby cribs, for example, are not subject to the provincial sales tax in the province of Quebec. And consumers are concerned that because GST is charged on those items that these products may be subject to the combined 13% Harmonized Sales Tax.
Interesting Move by Quebec Government
Appearently it is the Quebecan provincial government’s opinion that the recession can be counteracted by higher sales taxes.
Today the provincial sales taxes in Quebec went up 1% to 8.5%. And another 1% hike is scheduled on New Years Day 2012.
I guess they got this brilliant idea from the provincial governments of Ontario, BC and Nova Scotia, who all hiked and/or extended their taxes in July.
In my opinion these additional taxes hinder our recovery.
They burden smaller retailers, who will probably consider this the last nail in their coffin, and force larger retailers to cut expendatures and staff.
It is obviously counterproductive.