Quebec to offer emergency funds to newspaper chain

The Quebec government said it will give up to $5 million (around $3.8 million U.S.) in temporary funds for Groupe Capitales Medias, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, Global News reported.

The newspaper chain publishes several dailies, including Le Soleil de Quebec and Le Droit in Ottawa. The chain was founded in 2015.

Chain founder Martin Couchon, a former federal cabinet minister, has stepped down as the chain’s president, according to Global News.

“Publishers across Quebec are alarmed by the bankruptcy protection news from Groupe Capitales Medias this week,” read a statement from the Quebec Community Newspapers Association. “Members of QCNA, English community newspaper publishers in Quebec, face a crisis similar to the French dailies belonging to Groupe Capitales Medias. Local newspaper publishers have alerted levels of government to the growing crisis in news reporting if simple steps are not taken to turn the tide in Quebec and Canadian publishing.”

The statement said re-instating government advertising in newspapers, taxing digital media giants and tackling rising fees publishers pay to the Quebec government for newsprint recycling are steps the government could take to help publishers, the statement said.

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