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.