Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 5th, 2020

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

One issue that was brought forward to us this summer by the sector is the fact that because of the pandemic they weren't able to get insurance for sets to go back.... Without insurance, they couldn't get funding from banks.

Believe it or not, the government is now in the business of insuring TV production and production sets. Who would have thought that this would be possible? The government provided a $50-million insurance fund for the audiovisual sector so that these productions can start again in Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and British Columbia. The sector was very happy.

One thing we are looking at is the possibility of extending it. We are having ongoing conversations with the sector to make sure this measure is helpful and will continue to be, as long as it's needed.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

I appreciate that. In all of these sectors here are people who really want to get back to work. That's the balance. It's the people with the desire to get back to work. But they know they have to do it safely, for themselves and for the people around them.

You can't put a price on this. Those kinds of investments in shows help share our culture, our language and our stories. You mentioned that a number of times. I suggest to you or anyone that if you were to ask anyone in the world to name a number of Canadians, artists would be on the short list.

Can you tell us how this is going to help? By supporting artists and having those stories out there in audiovisual and music as well, how is that going to help our position in the world and what people think of Canada?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Well, we've clearly seen how successful Canadians are on the international scene with our TV production. For a number of our shows—Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience and, in French, District 31 and Les pêcheurs, which has become the first Quebec TV series to be bought by Netflix—we really punch above our weight.

I agree with you that we can't always put a price on that, but that $50-million insurance that we're providing the audiovisual sector will put 17,000 people back to work, and the economic benefits for Canada are in the billions of dollars. I don't have the exact number, but Jean-Stéphen could probably give you that very quickly.

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

I appreciate that.

In my time remaining, I did want to say that I've hosted a lot of round tables—as a number of people here have done—with artists here in Kitchener-Conestoga, from larger organizations to small independent artists. In typical artist fashion, even though they're struggling, they're always thinking of others. Something that came up a lot in our round tables was our youth and particularly their mental health, and also how we can keep our youth transitioning into arts and possibly work on sustainable careers when times are tough.

It's basic, but can you explain the importance of the wage subsidy and CERB, now the CRB, and how that can support our artists financially so they can help that next generation to become artists and also support them in the mental health thing? Arts are so important to our young artists.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

I think when history books are written about how Canada responded to COVID-19, they will talk about CERB, and they will talk about how, if you look at our G7 partners, Canada has been, if not the most generous country...to support Canadians, not just artists, but certainly artists.... If you put together all of the measures that we've taken, either directly or indirectly, for the arts and culture sector, the effort by the Canadian federal government has been above $4 billion of support for the sector—and counting, because we are announcing new measures.

I was talking earlier about the fact that we supported the ecosystem, but we also wanted to support people, and that's what we did with CERB and with the wage subsidy, to ensure that those who want to stay in the sector can do that and are supported in these difficult times.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, Minister.

Mrs. Desbiens, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Thank you.

I am going to keep looking into the future, Mr. Minister.

I'm just asking you what you would do in the following case. Let's say I come from the music business and I'm a singer-songwriter. Not everyone is going to enter politics to change direction. I'm a musician and my spouse is a lighting designer. We have two children. We use food banks twice a month and we have no prospects right now. What are our options?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

As the results of our survey indicate quite well, there is some predictability. We told the artists that we would be there for them, and we were. We didn't let them down; we supported them. Compared to the support given to the arts sector and to artists by our G7 partners, Canada may not be number one, but it is certainly among the best.

In the last two months, I have spoken to 4,000 people in the sector. Not a week goes by without someone thanking our government for what it has done to support organizations, of course, but also individuals.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

In European countries, including France, when you have intermittent worker status in the cultural sector, you have an allowance and a social safety net when a contract is cancelled or unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic occur. I have many friends in France who are supported by that money. The government does not have much need to inject money on an emergency basis because measures are already in place to keep those people afloat.

What do you think about that?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

That's what we have been doing since the beginning of the pandemic. Had it not been for the Canada emergency response benefit, these people, who have not—

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Okay, but what are you doing for tomorrow?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

The CERB will continue until mid-2021. So it is for tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Yes, but perhaps we should think about a permanent allowance for people who don't have job opportunities for a certain period of time in the world of culture, as is done in France. That could be beneficial.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

The pandemic is forcing us to revisit a number of things.

You probably listened to the Speech from the Throne. We did point out that we may have to review a number of our programs. Our social safety net may not have been as good as we thought it was because we had to put measures in place. However, we have done that and we have not let those people down.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Absolutely. But we have to do more in the next few years.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, Mr. Guilbeault.

Thank you, Mrs. Desbiens.

We have Ms. McPherson for two minutes and 30 seconds, please.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I find myself agreeing with my Bloc colleague again that it would be lovely to see a permanent solution to some of these issues.

Minister, thank you for being here. Some of the questions I wanted to ask you about have to do with the National Film Board of Canada. I've spoken to a number of people from the NFB, and over the course of the pandemic there has been an explosion in how much people are accessing our digital content. As we know, people are at home and utilizing our digital content more and more. However, we do see there has been a 5.1% decrease this year from the previous year. Could you talk a little bit about where that decrease came from, how that was decided on, and what that means?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Not in any great level of detail, but maybe Hélène can.... The NFB did get an injection of money for their move from the old office to the new office, so that temporarily inflated their budget, I think that's part of what you're seeing, but maybe there's something else.

Hélène, can I turn to you, or Jean-Stéphen?

[Hélène Laurendeau]

I think you have captured it. It was an injection for the move, and they're reverting back to their regular level of funding. Jean-Stéphen, correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding.

[Jean-Stéphen Piché]

There are fluctuations in some of the.... If you look at the main estimates and supplementary estimates (A), especially with regard to Crown corporations, you see that doesn't mean the funding is not stable. Depending on where in the actual financial cycle the money comes in, you can have those adjustments that will show up perhaps in either supplmentary (A)s or supplementary (B)s. It's a good question to ask, but at the same time it doesn't necessarily mean that the organization didn't get.... It's the snapshot in time of this particular...and that's a technical issue, but we can definitely find you the information because—

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

That would be great. I just want to clarify, Monsieur Piché, that there has not been a cut to the National Film Board except for those funds that went along with the head office move. Is that correct?

[Jean-Stéphen Piché]

What I'm saying is if there's a reduction in the amount, it's not necessarily due, and probably not due, to a reduction in funding. Perhaps that funding came through another funding vehicle, either supplementary (A)s or supplementary (B)s.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I'd love more information about that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you very much.

We have Mr. Waugh for five minutes, please.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

I'm going to share some of my time with Mr. Aitchison.

Minister, I know the professional leagues did get under way, other than the CFL, but I think one league that we maybe overlooked a little bit is the Canadian Hockey League, because so many teams are community-owned: Baie-Comeau, Peterborough, Prince Albert, Medicine Hat and so on.

I don't know if any of them got the wage subsidy. I would suspect they got the subsidy or CERB out of that. What are we going to do to these teams? I think the Quebec government gave them a million dollars each recently in the queue, and Ontario is still wondering if they should hit that or not when or if they do come back. What are we going to do with the CHL teams? As you and many of us know, they are the life of the NHL and communities. They're more important in communities like Baie-Comeau than they are in maybe Montreal or Toronto. What can we do for them? Is there anything you've done for them?