Canadian MPs condemn Netflix for using Lac-Megantic images in Bird Box

OTTAWA — Canadian members of Parliament have passed a unanimous motion condemning Netflix for using images of the Lac-Megantic rail disaster in fictional dramas and demanding financial compensation for the Quebec community for using the tragic images without consent.

The motion is a stern rebuke from Canada’s Parliament aimed at the online streaming giant, after footage from the 2013 rail explosion that killed 47 people was used in the hit movie Bird Box and the series Travelers.

Netflix has apologized for using the images, saying it was not aware of the source of the footage, and has agreed to take steps to avoid using it in future productions.

But the company has refused to remove the images from Bird Box, a disaster movie released late last year.

On Tuesday, MPs in the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion demanding that Netflix remove all images of the Lac-Megantic tragedy from its fiction catalogue — a plea that has also been made by Quebec’s culture minister Nathalie Roy and Lac-Megantic Mayor Julie Morin.

The motion also demands that Netflix pay compensation to the community of Lac-Megantic for using the disaster for entertainment purposes with no concern for the trauma it would cause to survivors and victims’ families.

The Canadian Press