Yes, and these are not just concerns. I sincerely think this is the reality in our sector. I would like to point out that we have mentioned it to all levels of government.
We are very aware that a lot of money has been injected into the cultural sector, but there is very little money going directly to the people on the ground. If they don't have contracts, there's no trace of it. Even if they have contracts, there are no guarantees anymore, because the pandemic is an act of God. There is no way to enforce a contract. The difficulty in our sector is that we are self-employed.
It's sort of like the CRB, which relies on the previous year in terms of compensation. There can be a $60,000 difference in my compensation from one year to the next. If I rely on the previous year, I can be heavily penalized because my salary is not constant. This is the reality of self-employed workers.
If my contract falls through, nothing is guaranteed and there is no trace. That's sort of the mentality behind subsidies, whatever they are. We are in good standing with the associations and suddenly there is no enforcement measure or traceability of the contract. The subsidies are offered in good faith, but the measures and regulations in the Labour Code govern them.
We have to ensure the traceability of the subsidies granted. At the very least, this could be a prerequisite establishing that, if contracts are not honoured, there are no subsidies.