Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, members.
My name is Christian Lemay, and I am president of the Alliance québécoise des techniciens de l'image et du son, or AQTIS, Local 514 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada.
AQTIS 514 IATSE represents 8,000 workers in the audiovisual industry in Quebec. We are incorporated under the Act respecting the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), its affiliates and their syndicates, to which we are also affiliated. We are the second largest IATSE local in Canada and the third largest in North America. In addition, I'd like to point out that, under Canada's Status of the Artist Act, we have a collective agreement with the National Film Board, which we are currently renegotiating.
Helping workers improve their socio-economic conditions is central to our mission and values. The passing of federal legislation to establish good labour relations principles is critical to the AQTIS fulfilling its mission.
You are probably aware that artists and those working in allied crafts live under very precarious conditions. It's important to note that most of them frequently face challenges due, in part, to their status as artists.
I would be remiss not to highlight some issues. I will begin by painting a picture of the current challenges.
First, audiovisual production is underfunded. It is high time the federal government did more on this front. Our industry relies heavily on tax credits. For too many years, the federal government hasn't made any changes to these credits. Of course, the Quebec government tries to compensate for this gap, but an increase in funding would have a major impact on our members' socio-economic conditions.
The second challenge is our workers' tax status. Employers will often call our members' status into question, and they end up being considered self-employed. It's often imposed on them by their employer. This sometimes prevents them from qualifying for employment insurance benefits when they are in between jobs.
The third challenge is the issue of labour laws. Artists and audiovisual workers are not always treated like other Canadians. Because some of the policies fall under provincial jurisdiction, workers in the industry tend to have fewer rights than other workers. For example, they may not be entitled to protective reassignment for pregnant workers, parental leave, occupational health and safety programs, or protection from sexual and psychological harassment. We've raised all these issues as part of the current review of Quebec's artist status legislation, as they are important to our union members.
Finally, there is the issue of the Canada Industrial Relations Board. We have not had to go before the CIRB, but I feel it's important that you look into its effectiveness under the Status of the Artist Act. It's important for groups like ours to make sure that tribunals like these are efficient to encourage the CIRB to render its decisions as quickly as possible.
This concludes my opening remarks. I hope I have drawn your attention to some of these issues.
I'd like to thank you for inviting me to appear before you, and I wish you every success in your work. We look forward to seeing what comes of it.
In closing, I'd like to make one final point. I want to thank MPs for the financial support provided to performing arts workers over the past few years.