Thank you for letting me speak today to ensure that the voice of the majority of film and television workers is heard. That's why I am here today.
The IA is the largest union in the entertainment industry, representing over 150,000 creatives across North America, including 30,000 in Canada. We are the behind-the-scenes creatives such as cinematographers, costume designers, scenic artists, makeup artists and special effects technicians.
We must address changes to the Broadcasting Act from a sense of confidence and optimism. Our industry is booming. We are thriving, not because of content quotas and regulatory restrictions, but because we are good. Our infrastructure is world class, and our creative talent is world class. Even in the face of the global pandemic, our film and television industry has burst back to match historic highs, which would not have been possible without serious deliberation and co-operation to ensure cast and crew are safe when working.
The IA supports the need for a flexible approach to create a modern broadcast policy and allowing the CRTC to use its expertise to fashion appropriate mechanisms to support the entire industry because, at the end of the day, a healthy industry requires a thriving domestic and foreign sector. They complement each other; they don't compete with each other.
We are not opposed to foreign streamers contributing to the domestic industry—we believe they should—but when determining that contribution, we would ask this committee to consider the full scope of their contributions. Foreign streamers make direct investments in producing content in Canada. As recently reported, since 2017 Netflix alone has spent $2.5 billion employing Canadian creative talent. That is tens of thousands of Canadian jobs.
In 2018-19, the foreign service industry was the largest single component of productions employing Canadian creative talent, which my organization represents, and I am disappointed to hear some commentators complain that foreign service productions do not employ Canadian talent. The vast majority of creative positions on foreign service productions are Canadian, and to suggest otherwise is not supported by the facts. Even worse, it suggests the work of the talented Canadians on Star Trek in Toronto, Deadpool in Vancouver or X-Men in Montreal are not as important and should somehow be discounted. I call that cultural elitism, and it should not inform our policy decisions.
We also hear a lot about the importance of supporting Canadian stories. Canadian stories should not be used interchangeably with Canadian content. Just because something qualifies as Canadian content, does not make it a Canadian story. When a Hallmark movie sets up as a small U.S. town, it qualifies as Canadian, but The Handmaid's Tale or Barkskins in Quebec City did not. We have to rethink the definition of what constitutes a Canadian production, and we are pleased that the proposed act contemplates that the CRTC modernize the definition of Canadian content. Our 10-point system is badly outdated and in need of an overhaul. We also support enhancing the discoverability of Canadian productions on streaming services.
If I could leave with one note of concern from the workers in this industry, it would be do no harm. As well, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Department of Canadian Heritage for its incredible work to support cultural workers during the pandemic. The IA also represents workers in the live-performance industry, and the actions of the federal government have made a difference for thousands of families who have seen their livelihood decimated.
Thank you.