Quebec Solidaire (QS) and the Liberal Party (PLQ) have announced that they will suspend their advertising on Meta platforms for one day only, on Friday, following calls to boycott Facebook.
Both parties supported the call for a boycott against the multinational company last summer, but recently disassociated themselves: they decided to place advertisements on Meta for the by-election in Jean-Talon.
These ads will be deactivated for one day on Friday.
"Quebec Solidaire should change its name," Premier François Legault told a news scrum on Thursday morning, adding that his party would maintain its boycott during the by-election. "It seems that Québec Solidaire is not 'solidaire (unified).'"
The boycott was launched following Meta's decision to block Canadian media content in protest at the new federal law on online news. This law requires the web giants to negotiate financial compensation with the media for the use of their content.
"No one is comfortable with the problem at the moment," admitted QS MNA Étienne Grandmont on Thursday morning, regarding the continuation of his party's advertising for the duration of the byelection.
"If we're in this situation right now, it's because the Trudeau government has decided to introduce legislation that is currently being studied," he added. "But the law was passed last summer."
When asked if QS ads would be disabled on boycott day, he suggested that the party would "come back exactly for the technicalities."
QS then announced that it had temporarily deactivated the eight sponsored publications promoting its candidate Olivier Bolduc, but they would be reactivated after the boycott day.
For its part, the Quebec Liberal Party confirmed on Thursday morning that its advertising would be suspended for Friday.
"Tomorrow (Friday), we're taking part in the boycott, so tomorrow, no Facebook, no Instagram," said interim leader Marc Tanguay.
But his party will continue to spend money on Meta advertising for the rest of the election campaign in Jean-Talon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 14, 2023.
