Arbitration is indeed one of the solutions. In fact, one of our requests was mandatory arbitration, not just for the first agreement but for subsequent agreements as well. It's still a fairly cumbersome exercise, because arbitration means that you have to go to court and the parties have to retain counsel.
I'll give you an example. We negotiated an agreement with the Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la vidéo, or ADISQ, in the phonogram field. ADISQ is the association that represents record producers—that's what CDs were called at the time. The first agreement that was negotiated expired in 1996. Subsequently, we were never able to renew it. We have been negotiating for more than 20 years with an association of Quebec producers that represents sound recording and record producers.
We also hope that the provincial legislation will be amended because it has some shortcomings, including the definition of the word “producer”. There are also gaps in the federal legislation, as I noted when listening to my colleagues.
For example, broadcasters commission television programs from independent producers, who then hire artists. As I understand it, independent producers aren't covered under federal legislation. Canada's Status of the Artist Act covers broadcasting undertakings and federal institutions. If the federal legislation more broadly defined the word “producer”, it would be possible to designate the producer as the one who bears the financial risk. It would be easier to say that we will negotiate with a broadcaster, with CTV, for example, which would be required to negotiate with an artists' association.
Right now, broadcasters are saying that they aren't the producers and that they have no responsibility to negotiate with any association. So they wash their hands of it. If broadcasters had the opportunity to negotiate working conditions, we would indeed find it much easier to ensure that artists could agree to reasonable working conditions. Ultimately, the financial risk is borne by the broadcasters.