Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 23rd, 2020

[Adam Mitchell, Executive Director, Fringe Theatre]

Thank you. It's my honour to join you today from Treaty 6 territory. I appreciate the opportunity to share with you the experience of the Edmonton Fringe Theatre and the impacts that the pandemic is having on our industry.

Edmonton Fringe has served as a cornerstone organization in the community for 39 years. We produce the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, North America's largest and longest-running fringe festival.

In that time, we have supported more than 38,000 national, local and international artists. Our festival seeds creative work and is a pipeline for emerging art and artists. This work is often remounted, toured or exported nationally or internationally.

Outside of the festival, we operate a three-theatre, two-studio facility that is home to more than 500 local arts events each year. We cultivate and incubate artists and new work and remove significant barriers for artists and audiences alike, stewarding an accessible, affordable community-minded arts space.

For the first time in its 39-year history, we cancelled the festival, because of the pandemic. The health and safety of our community was and continues to be top of mind as we navigate these difficult but necessary decisions.

In 2019, thanks to the ongoing support of government funding agencies, sponsors, individual donors and healthy festival and regular seasonal activity, we were a $5-million organization. Of that $5 million, $1.5 million went to pay arts workers, the administrative team, technical and front-of-house staff, summer contracts, festival security, student internships, etc., and $1.43 million was paid directly to artists in the form of box office returns, performance fees and contracts. More than two-thirds of our operation in 2019 went directly back to people and directly into the community.

In a normal year, we are more than 3,000 artists and arts workers and more than 800,000 patrons. The cancellation of the 2020 festival means a devastating $3-million retraction for our organization, but more than that, it means that our people and our community have gone without. The festival cancellation meant that more than 200 summer staff went without contracts. It meant that 1,600 festival artists had no opportunity to connect with other artists, sell tickets and make a living. It meant that more than 50 vendors were unable to serve food and sell their artisan wares, and that 1,200 volunteers and 800,000 people who normally come to welcome and celebrate 11 days of live theatre in August stayed home.

As a major cultural event, we are a key local economic and tourism driver for our city. Local spending during the 11 days of the festival is approximately $39.7 million, $16.7 million of which is directly connected to the event and to tourism spending. Our attendees are diverse in background and income. We have one of the youngest theatre-going audiences in the country. The average “fringer” is 39 years old, and 14% of our attendees come from outside of the Edmonton area.

The arts simply drive the economy. Our survival and the survival of many organizations within the arts sector depend on the ability to gather a critical mass and on connecting artists and audiences.

Our industry was the first to be shut down and will be one of the last to recover. Most artists have been without work for nearly nine months now, and restarting will take time as we rebuild teams and restart essential creative planning processes.

Arts jobs are cost-effective and highly impactful. We know that arts events and the people those events employ drive the economy. We know that arts improve the quality of life, cultivate community, nurture a sense of belonging and well-being, and spark an important discussion about who we are as a nation.

Your support is essential, and our message is simple. If we cannot revive the arts ecosystem in its entirety, organizations like the Edmonton Fringe will not survive. Significant financial supports will be key to our own recovery and to the survival of our industry. Our society can't afford to lose the talent, knowledge, creativity and social perspective of people who make their living in the arts.

Sector relief is desperately needed now, and will continue to be for months, if not years, but with the right supports, we can rebuild a more viable, sustainable and equitable arts sector. We can protect our institutions and create new opportunities for people to see a viable path to making significant contributions to society through the arts.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, Mr. Mitchell.

Mr. Roy, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Martin Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Festivals and major events, Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon.

As the Minister of Canadian Heritage himself said here a couple of weeks ago, when he spoke about festivals, his department had not managed to find a adequate program of assistance and he was continuing to work on it. He added that it was certainly one of the sectors where more had to be done, and as quickly as possible. With your permission, I will tell you what we believe you can do.

The Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux, or REMI, and Festivals and Major Events Canada, or FAME, plus a number of other festivals, have joined the coalition of the most affected companies that is once more taking up arms these days to demand an increase in the Canada emergency wage subsidy for the most affected companies, as well as broadened support for fixed costs and easier access to cash.

It is important to specify that this wage subsidy must be very flexible and must accommodate the very seasonal nature of our activities. As for cash, we believe that the Government of Canada must respond financially with a fund specifically established to pay off the deficits of cultural organizations, including those of festivals and events.

Most of our organizations are not-for-profit and have no financing or capital. According to one survey, FAME estimates that the accumulated deficit of festivals and events is at least $150 million at the moment. Why? First, event organizers had spent their money for their 2020 event six months before the pandemic, and second, they were not able to generate income over the 3 to 10 days of a festival, as is usually the case.

We have therefore asked the government to renew, on an urgent basis, the investments in the main programs for festivals and events that were set up in 2019, but for two years only. If nothing is done, next year, we will be back at the 2018 level, which was the same for 10 years. That makes absolutely no sense and it would be universally interpreted as a major cut to culture.

At this very moment, festivals and events are receiving letters telling them that, in 2021, they will be receiving less from the Department of Canadian Heritage. This comes at a time when we are in the middle of a pandemic and their survival is at stake. There must be action. We are talking about $15 million to maintain the 2019 envelope or $30 million to maintain the 2020 level, and we need to do more.

Let us be clear. Up until 2018, more than 1,050 festivals shared about $31.5 million from the $50 million in the two main programs for promoters. That went to about $42.5 million in 2019 and 2020. In 2020, $10 million dollars or so were added because of the pandemic, taking the contribution to festivals and events to a little more than $50 million. However, next year, we will be going back to $31 million, which would mean a reduction in the order of 40%.

To put those figures in perspective, $31 million is what the Government of Quebec gives festivals and events each year through the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles, ou SODEC, and the Ministère du Tourisme.

We have also suggested the creation of a ecological and digital transition fund on top of the two main programs. This would allow us to make our recovery greener and, from now until the end of the pandemic and beyond, to add digital components to our activities. As an example, let me tell you about the Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF. The organizers managed to sell more than 48,000 tickets for their recent online edition. There's a whole world to conquer for Canadian festivals and events.

In terms of the recovery, we have invited the government to establish a program modelled on the Marquee Tourism Events Program created by the Conservatives after the 2008 crisis, and to fund it to a level of $225 million over three years. This is what the Minister was probably alluding to when, on the program Tout le monde en parle, he said he was in discussions with the Minister of Economic Development because it was run by Industry Canada at the time, and, this time, he was proposing that it be implemented through the regional economic development agencies.

This would be a new stimulus program designed to attract more tourists by using festivals and events, in Canada at present, and internationally, once that is possible again.

We know that one quarter of festival goers' expenses are made in hotels and accommodation and one third are made in restaurants. In the context of recovery, any support to festivals and events should be interpreted as indirect assistance to restaurants and hotels. They have suffered greatly, as have those in transportation, as well as the artists and crews. We are proposing that this be done quickly. If we want to keep our teams together, we have to be preparing right now for the festivals and events in 2022.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you.

We now go to our questioning. I once again remind members to please point out to whom they are asking the question, as the witnesses are all appearing before us virtually.

Mr. Waugh, you have six minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to start with Ms. Henderson.

You mentioned that you're here on behalf of Curling Canada today, but for hockey, tennis, rugby, Skate Canada and yourself it has been a disastrous year. You mentioned the World Figure Skating in Montreal. Those funds, you can never get them back.

We had the Junos slated for Saskatoon on March 15, and we lost up to $9 million in economic benefits. We're seeing Hockey Canada and they're playing in the Q right now, but the OHL isn't playing and the Western Hockey League hasn't played. I agree with you.

Anyway, I'm going to start with curling, because you're involved in that. We're seeing more of these hubs being recommended. The Scotties was for Thunder Bay and the Brier was for Kelowna. You have suggested now that they go to fanless hubs. Millions of dollars will be lost. Curling is a social sport, as you well know, and there will be no Brier Patches involved. I don't know how curling can survive in a fanless hub, such as we saw the NBA and the NHL attempt earlier this year.

What are your comments on that?

[Katherine Henderson]

Thank you very much.

I think you've grasped the situation very well, Mr. Waugh.

Fanless hubs are an obligation that we have right now. This is really in order to fulfill contracts that we have with commercial partners. But the fact of the matter is that, for any of us who are doing a fanless hub, we're trying to think beyond 2022. We will all lose money doing these. This is dipping into our reserves. We're doing it on reduced staff, and the hope is really to create something better.

Normally, when we do a Brier or a Tournament of Hearts, we are creating very significant income that then gets invested back into that community, and we'll never be able to do that with the situation that we find ourselves in.

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

Yes, the Grand Slam six events are down to two. Those are television contracts that you've lost. That's a lot of money and exposure.

I have a rink in my province of Saskatchewan. Matt Dunstone finished third at the Brier last year, and then earlier this month he said that because of provincial restrictions he wanted to curl in Alberta. Shame on you, Matt Dunstone. You have the whole province of Saskatchewan cheering you on. That's the last thing I want, someone moving to Alberta and curling because I can't give you the competition in Saskatchewan.

What are your thoughts on that?

[Katherine Henderson]

Matt Dunstone is one of our greatest.

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

Yes.

[Katherine Henderson]

I think right now the reality for the athletes is that due to all the interprovincial things, without hubs and without safe places to play, they are out seeking competition and ways of keeping themselves competitive for when the world turns better.

The thing, Mr. Waugh, that I'm most worried about, though, is the little clubs that you're talking about. I know there are many, many of them in Saskatchewan; that's a real hot bed for talent.

Those little kids getting onto the ice for the first day really want to be Matt Dunstone at some point. I belong to the East York Curling Club, and for most of us those dreams are very far in the past, but it's a community place. It's a place where juniors, seniors, teenagers and two million Canadians spend their winters, and a lot of that will go away because of this.

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

I happened to attend a curling club in my riding. They are surviving. They're fighting the City of Saskatoon over taxes. When you fire up the ice plant, it is very expensive. Of course, most curling clubs shut down early in March and now they're under tremendous pressure.

What can the federal government do to support sporting facilities like curling clubs coast to coast, in your estimation? What can happen to keep that curling club open for the time being?

[Katherine Henderson]

We do work in partnership with our curling clubs on an ongoing basis. We provide them with capital assistance, with programming, with a lot of policy work and a lot of advocacy work. Each one of those curling clubs right now is fighting for its life.

We sit at the top of the system, if you will. For example, we did a Brier in Regina a couple of years ago and it was a huge success. We're a not-for-profit, and the money we made from that Brier gets invested back into local junior programs and back into local clubs with local host committees. So our inability to hold these sorts of events really affects our ability to continue to invest in these local clubs.

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

Absolutely.

I have one final question. The city of Saskatoon, I hope, will host the Olympic curling trials next December. As you said, the money from Saskatoon will trickle down.

Are we still going to have the curling trials?

[Katherine Henderson]

That is our plan, and I can't wait.

I will see you, Mr. Waugh, in the Patch if we happen to have that.

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

Yes, and I'll buy you one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

By the sound of things, we may have a committee meeting in the Patch when everything returns to normal.

All right. We have Mr. Louis for six minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Waugh. You didn't say what you were buying, but I think the inference was clear.

I want to thank all the panellists and witnesses for being here. You're obviously showing your dedication and your passion, which is much needed in an industry that's working so hard to just recover. The arts are so hard hit. We know this. They're the first to be affected and the last to come back, so I appreciate that.

I'm happy to say that the Minister of Heritage visited us in my riding virtually. We put together round tables and had discussions. Even before that, I had ongoing panel discussions with our arts community, because there are big sectors, and then there are small grassroots ones like the ones we're talking to.

I was hoping to direct my questions to Mr. Mitchell and talk about theatres. We have the Drayton Theatre in my riding. It's one of the largest theatres in the country. We also have those small community theatres: Elmira Theatre Company, The Community Players of New Hamburg, KW Musical Productions, MT Space and Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre. These little theatres really become hubs for emerging artists.

In our last panel, I didn't get a chance to ask questions, but we talked about cultivating and incubating artists and how it's so difficult to have people stay in the arts. Many people are leaving the arts right now.

Mr. Mitchell, can you give some examples of how we can keep people, maybe with a bit of mentoring? How can we support artists? How can we help the next generation to get in? Right now these stages are dark.

[Adam Mitchell]

I think you've hit the biggest concern right on the head. The reality is that it takes time and dedication to carve a career out in the arts right now. Fringe festivals across the country really become the opportunity for people to produce their first show, become their festival producers. Our job as festival producers really is about providing them with that first audience and removing a bunch of the barriers to self-production, and that sort of stuff.

That happens at every level and every scale in every community across the country. Storytelling has been happening for millennia. We just happen to do it inside houses of performance. The reality is that we are probably going to see the youngest generation and the oldest generation of artists leave us either for new opportunities or because the struggle is too difficult.

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

That is unfortunately what I'm hearing. Part of the issue for both the youngest and the oldest generations is the mental health aspect of it. Many of these people gravitate to the arts and become part of that identity because of the diversity and inclusivity that they feel in these very.... They become families. Right now, as people are struggling with mental health, they are turning to the arts anyway. But it's these very artists who need the support.

Do you have any examples of how we can support people as far as that kind of mental health is concerned? How can we keep those artists safe, because they're the ones who are making us feel better as well?

[Adam Mitchell]

Absolutely.

First and foremost, it's making sure that people know and believe that they have their basic needs taken care of. That's the first thing. Professional artists working in this country have been working gig to gig and collecting enough contracts through the year to eke out a very meagre living. That has completely disappeared. Not knowing whether they are eligible for benefits.... Understanding and negotiating the benefit system has been incredibly taxing on their mental health and their existence, and not knowing what the next few months look like, and beyond, is going to be the reason people turn away.

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

Yes, I agree. Thank you.

Maybe I can use that to pivot. According to the artists I've heard from, the two things that have been most helpful are the wage subsidy and then the CERB, now the CRB, which I've heard people refer to as a lifeline. For some of the traditional brick-and-mortar industries in the arts, the wage subsidy has made a difference. The CERB and the CRB can help with that gig economy, as well as those small, independent artists and self-employed people.

Maybe I could switch to Mr. Roy to talk about festivals. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. We have large festivals in all our ridings, including in mine. They include jazz festivals, multicultural festivals, blues festivals, Oktoberfests and maple syrup festivals in the bigger communities. In the smaller communities, you have corn fests and strawberry festivals. It's not a one-size-fits-all.

Mr. Roy, you mentioned working with the regional economic development agencies and possibly seeing if there could be a tailor-made solution instead of a one-size-fits-all. I wonder if you could share your thoughts on that.

[Martin Roy]

Thank you for the question.

Indeed, major festivals have their own reality. That's the case for the smaller ones, too, but generally speaking, many of them deal with the two existing programs I mentioned, the Canadian Heritage program and the Canada arts presentation fund. Many small festivals that are created in communities are created through them.

For efficiency and given the current urgency, we can use these two programs to better support both small and large festivals with more funds.

In terms of regional economic development agencies, I know that some agencies in Canada haven't made the festivals and events sector a priority. In fact, they are rather reluctant to get involved in the arts and culture sector. However, this isn't the case with Canada Economic Development, which supports festivals and events.

For example, particularly in Quebec, this agency supports REMI members to the tune of about $4 million each year. However, outside Quebec, it's quite difficult to get support from economic development agencies. It's done somewhat in Ontario, but with the exception of Ontario and Quebec, it's quite rare.

We are indeed proposing that economic development agencies be more engaged and implement this updated version of the marquee tourism events program, which existed in 2009 and 2010. Thanks to the support of regional economic development agencies, we could therefore also intervene with smaller festivals.

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

I believe my time is up.

I want to thank you all.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Yes, it is. I've been a little bit too generous.

Mr. Champoux will be followed by Mrs. Desbiens, and they will have three minutes each.

Go ahead, Mr. Champoux.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As you said, I'll be sharing my time.

Mr. Roy, I was a little bit struck by what you said earlier about the funding levels for your organization and for the events sector, funding that has remained the same since 2008. You said that if the one-time support that was provided in 2019 and the pandemic support that was provided in 2020 aren't reintroduced, you're going to fall back to the 2008 funding level in 2021.

It doesn't make sense, of course. Often, strong images are needed to convey the impact of this lack of funding. So, what will be the first thing to go if the funding is not adjusted?