Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 2nd, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

The meeting is now in session.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to meeting number three of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, January 31, the committee is meeting on the challenges related to the recovery of the arts, culture, heritage and sport sectors, which have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021. Members are attending in person in the room and also remotely using the Zoom application. The proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. Just so you are aware, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entire committee.

Today's meeting is also taking place in a webinar format. Webinars are for public committee meetings and are available only to members, their staff and witnesses. Members enter immediately as active participants. All functionalities for active participants remain the same. Staff will be non-active participants, and can therefore view the meeting in only the gallery view. I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants to this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen will not be permitted.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation and in light of the recommendation from health authorities, to remain healthy and safe all those attending the meeting in person must maintain a two-metre physical distance and must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is highly recommended that the mask be worn at all times, including when people are seated, and I like to add, including when people are speaking. You must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer that you are given in the room. There are hand sanitizers on the wall. As the chair, I will be enforcing these measures during the meeting. I thank members in advance for their co-operation.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow. Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. If you look, you will find a button that says interpretation. You can press it on your choice of English or French. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately. We will ensure that interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings.

The “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the screen—or, if you're using an iPad, at the top of the screen—can be used at any time if you wish to speak or to alert the chair. For members participating in person, proceed as you would when the whole committee is meeting in person in a committee room. Keep in mind the Board of Internal Economy's guidelines for mask use and health protocols.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before you speak. If you are on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to mute yourself at all times. If you want to speak, and I recognize you, you can unmute. For those in the room, your microphone will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer. For those who are remote, you have to use your hand to mute and unmute. I will remind you that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed to the chair.

I would now very much like to introduce the six witness groups we have here today: Canadian Association for the Performing Arts; Drayton Entertainment; International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE; Nia Centre for the Arts; Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux; and SaskTel Centre.

I have some comments that I need to give to the witnesses with regard to how this works. After the first panel, I will move into the second panel.

I want to welcome our witnesses, as listed.

Again, if you're having problems with us hearing you, the chair will let you know if we cannot hear you, and we will be able to fix things so that we can get on with what we have to do in an orderly manner.

Witnesses, you have a five-minute time slot in which to speak. I will let you know at four minutes when you have a minute left so that you can cut back what you're going to say, because I will cut you off. I will have to enforce this if everybody's going to get a chance to speak and everyone is going to get a chance to ask questions. We're going to be kind of rigid on this, unless something happens, of course, and you cannot use your microphone or we cannot hear you. Then we will suspend so that everything can be fixed.

When speaking, speak slowly and clearly. When you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute. The committee clerk and I will do our best to maintain a consolidated order of speaking in the order that I initially put the witnesses in.

We will begin, as I said, with one group. After you've spoken for five minutes, there will be a question and answer session. The members know what the question and answer session will look like. Each political party will have an opportunity to ask a question. Given the timelines, we may only be able to go with two rounds, but there might be a third round of questions.

There we are. I'm going to ask our first witness to begin.

Working from your dining room table is not the best thing to do, because you don't have the ability to put all of your notes in the same kind of order that you would like to—either that or I'm going to have to get a bigger dining room table.

We shall begin with the Canadian Association for the Performing Arts and Frédéric Julien, who is the director of research and development.

Monsieur Julien, you have five minutes, please.

[Frédéric Julien, Director, Research and Development, Canadian Association for the Performing Arts]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for conducting this important study and for the opportunity to appear before the committee today.

All parts of the cultural sector were profoundly affected by the COVID pandemic, although none as deeply as the live performance domain, which includes performing arts companies, music venues, performing arts centres, festivals and many individual artists.

While the business model of the performing arts used to be a successful one, it was definitely not pandemic-proof. Earned revenues from ticket sales, concessions and rentals used to represent as much as 43% of performing arts companies' revenues in 2018. In March 2020, the unimaginable happened: Most of these revenues suddenly disappeared.

According to Statistics Canada's national culture indicators, the real GDP of the live performance domain fell 66% over the first two quarters of 2020 and it stayed there, as successive waves of the pandemic led to rolling cancellations and postponements of performances. There were encouraging signs of recovery during the third quarter of 2021, but those were quickly dashed by the omicron wave.

Employment also fell sharply, although not quite as deeply as the GDP. By the second quarter of 2020, the sector had lost 34,000 jobs, or 47% of its workforce. Thanks to support measures such as the Canada emergency wage subsidy, employment levels stabilized throughout the rest of 2020 and eventually rebounded in the third quarter of 2021, but they are still 38% below prepandemic levels. It remains difficult to predict if this rebound will hold and what employment growth levels might be expected in 2022.

At a town hall held on January 25, CAPACOA members told us that they anticipate challenges in rehiring and retraining personnel. Casual, part-time and contract workers, who were among the first to be laid off, may have taken full-time jobs in other sectors where salaries can keep up with the increasing cost of living. In particular, the scarcity of stage technicians is a big concern. What's the incentive for these workers to come back to the performing arts sector?

Our members believe that sustainable recovery has to involve sustainable employment. The precarious situation of self-employed workers, in particular, is top of mind for everyone in our membership. Through the loss of income arising from cancellations of performances, everyone realized just how vulnerable these artists and technicians are.

Programs such as the tourism and hospitality recovery program and the Canada performing arts workers resilience fund are applauded by the sector, but will they be sufficient? Arts administrators are understaffed and feel overwhelmed by the demands of short-term emergency funding applications and reporting. They are also concerned that these programs may end well before the sector sees the recovery through. Performing arts organizations are currently laying out three- to five-year plans for their rebuilding.

Besides labour issues, the performing arts sector is also very preoccupied with changes in cultural behaviour arising from the collective trauma of the pandemic. After having diligently listened to orders to stay home and to avoid social gatherings for almost two years, many artsgoers are now hesitant to go back to the theatre or the concert hall. According to a national study conducted by Nanos Research, four in 10 culturegoers are not yet ready to return to indoor performances. Another one in 10 says they may never return.

Shared leadership and direct government assistance will be needed to rebuild consumer confidence. We have to shift the public perception of a live performance from a hazardous activity, as it currently stands, to a healthy and positive activity. According to the general social survey, people who attend plays, comedy shows or concerts are 15% more likely to report very good or excellent mental health. Don't we all need this at the moment?

Before concluding, I want to emphasize that with this crisis come opportunities to rebuild new operational and funding models.

The arts sector remains committed to helping build positive and respectful relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous people. Webcasting of live shows is now helping to reach new audiences, although this new practice has yet to find a viable business model.

The experience economy affords great opportunities for partnerships between the arts and tourism sectors.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Julien, you have 33 seconds left.

[Frédéric Julien]

Finally, the open data movement is helping us make the performance arts lineup more easily discoverable for consumers.

However, arts and entertainment workers are mentally and physically exhausted. It's going to be a long trip back up the hill for them. They will face many challenges as they strive to rebuild the sector from the ground up. They will need all the help they can get from their associations and governments to put the performing arts back at centre stage, their rightful place in our communities.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Julien.

Now we get to the question and answer segment. I'll begin with John Nater.

Mr. Nater, for the Conservatives, you have six minutes.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Madam Chair, I think the assumption was that we were going to hear from all the witnesses and then go to questions and comments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right. If you'd like that, we will do that.

Guys, you have to be making good notes.

I will go to Drayton Entertainment and Alex Mustakas, who is the artistic director and chief executive officer, for five minutes.

[Dr. Alex Mustakas, Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer, Drayton Entertainment]

Thank you.

Hello, and greetings from a very snowy Kitchener-Waterloo and Perth—Wellington. I'll begin by quoting the late great actor Charlie Chaplin, who summed up how arts sector workers are feeling around the country at the moment. He once said, “I like to walk in the rain so that no one can see my tears.”

Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for allowing me a few minutes to come in from the rain—or today, the snow—to appear before you, and a special thank you for the support we've received over the past two years from our region's members, Mr. Louis and Mr. Nater.

Drayton Entertainment is an award-winning charitable arts organization that produces professional live theatre as a unique circuit of seven venues throughout Ontario. Prepandemic, we entertained over 250,000 theatregoers annually, with millions in economic impact.

I can probably best summarize the effect of the pandemic on arts and culture, hospitality, tourism, and of course, sports by referring to Greek mythology. Some of you might know the story of Sisyphus. He was banned to Hades and his only job was to push a boulder up a hill. When it got to the top, it would roll down again. He would do that over and over for eternity. In modern-day terms, you could call it Groundhog Day. I have no doubt you all feel this way.

The loss of our programming over the past two years has caused significant hardships not only on us and our arts workers, but also on our municipalities and our tourism and hospitality sector partners who rely on us as a major driver of multiple regional economies. There have been many challenges for our sector, of course.

I will say the government has displayed remarkable leadership in the midst of so many obstacles. Thank you for the recent announcement regarding the performing arts workers resilience fund. I know it was championed by our colleagues at Canadian Actors' Equity Association, IATSE and the Canadian Federation of Musicians, just to name a few. Thank you for including artists in CERB support. Thank you for employer emergency wage subsidies. Thank you for emergency rent support. Thank you for emergency operating support for many arts organizations.

As we move forward to recovery, we've identified four support recommendations for the committee. They include, number one, the extension and expansion of emergency wage support programs. We respectfully request that this program be extended beyond the initial May 7 period, through the summer of 2022 and perhaps beyond. This would allow arts organizations the flexibility we need to bring back more workers and position us for recovery. This would help greatly, as we're losing skilled sector workers to other professions. For some reason, everyone wants to be a real estate agent at the moment.

We would also request that the qualifying criteria for emergency wage support be expanded for our sector to include gig workers. Enabling arts organizations to include these contract workers as employees in emergency wage support claims would reduce financial risk while still navigating a path forward to recovery. As a by-product, this would undoubtedly aid the mental health and well-being of artists and arts workers attempting to sustain their livelihood in this sector.

The second recommendation would be the ability to mitigate fixed costs. The Canada emergency rent subsidy has been a lifeline for those venues we rent; however, there has not been a similar program available for those venues that are owned. In the interest of maintaining equity within the arts sector among renters and venue owners, utilities costs for both should perhaps be considered eligible under a modified cost relief program.

A third recommendation is an arts recovery incentive program. As we look to the future, a matching dollar arts recovery incentive fund would enable arts organizations to tap into the philanthropy of our audiences, knowing their gifts would be matched by the Government of Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Mustakas, you have one minute.

[Dr. Alex Mustakas]

Thank you.

The final recommendation would be to destigmatize the return of large gatherings. I think we look to our elected officials for guidance about when it is safe to return to arts activities and to gatherings, so it's imperative that the government launch a comprehensive marketing, communications and PR strategy that alleviates the fear and stigma many Canadians will feel upon a return to social events. We need a message of positivity, of respect and of kindness, as many need help getting out of that rabbit hole of the deepest, darkest depths of despair.

We will get through this together. I am here and I stand with all my colleagues in the arts sector, including actors, dancers, singers, technicians, musicians, and so on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Mustakas.

I'm sorry to cut you off, but thank you very much.

Now we will go to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE, who will present for five minutes.

John Morgan Lewis, international vice-president and director of Canadian affairs, you have the floor for five minutes.

[John Lewis, International Vice-President and Director of Canadian Affairs, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees]

Thank you.

I was going to allow the previous speaker.... He was applauding the compliments of the IA, and I think we should allow that.

Thank you for the time to be here today. I'm here on behalf of the IATSE, which is the largest union in the entertainment industry, representing over 160,000 members, 30,000 of which are creative sector workers in Canada.

The IA members are the people working behind the scenes to bring you entertainment, and because our work is performed backstage, most people don’t realize that our skilled technicians and artisans make up the largest segment of creative workers.

Our members include aerial riggers, lighting board programmers, wig builders, scenic artists and muralists, spotlight operators, dressers, costume builders, scenic artists and sound board operators.

Throughout the pandemic, we partnered with our friends from Canadian Actors’ Equity, the Canadian Federation of Musicians and the Associated Designers of Canada to form the Creative Industries Coalition, together representing over 50,000 arts workers.

As you've heard, the live performance industry was one of the hardest hit with the pandemic, and we shut down immediately. Unfortunately, our prediction that we would be one of the last to reopen has proven to be accurate.

We are very appreciative of the government support we’ve received. The CRB, the CERB and now the Canada worker lockdown benefit have been a lifesaver for many entertainment workers, as the vast majority were not eligible for other government supports.

As a coalition, we have met regularly with the former and current Minister of Heritage, officials from Heritage and Finance, and MPs and critics from all parties. We appreciate the time that federal officials have spent with us to address the concerns of the industry.

Supports for the industry’s return must be two-pronged both for workers and for venues/producers. You have been provided with documents detailing our suggestions, which I will briefly summarize.

On support for workers, we welcome the newly announced Canada performing arts workers resilience fund, but we must be clear: This is an emergency relief fund, not income support, and live performance workers will be the last to be able to get back to work. We strongly recommend an income support benefit for live performance workers structured similarly to the CRB or the CERB.

The Canada worker lockdown benefit needs to be tweaked in a few ways. First, the industry will not be up and running by February 12, the date that the expanded lockdown benefit is set to terminate, which will cause workers to leave the industry. The expanded eligibility must be extended beyond February 12 to a period of time when the industry is at least approaching normal.

Workers who were out of work because capacity limits were introduced do not qualify for the lockdown benefit. Of those lucky enough to be working before capacity limits were introduced, many largely subsisted on CERB throughout 2020, so demonstrating a 50% drop from their 2020 income can be problematic. Live performance workers should qualify regardless of work status immediately prior to capacity limits. Further, if applicants for the expanded eligibility must demonstrate a 50% decrease in average weekly income to be eligible, it should be based on their 2019 income and not their 2020 income.

Saskatchewan workers are not able to access support because that provincial government has not instituted capacity limits, but capacity limits are not the only COVID inhibitor to live production. These workers are still suffering like their counterparts in other provinces and should be eligible for lockdown benefits.

All theatres/producers are in crisis, regardless of not-for-profit or commercial status. As in other countries, we strongly recommend that all be included in assistance programs.

The wage subsidy programs only allow employers to receive subsidies for employees, which does not contemplate that the majority of their prepandemic payroll is for gig workers who are not eligible. Not including these workers has acted as a disincentive for producers to mount shows. If you’re a producer and you’re unsure whether capacity limits will be reintroduced or unsure if audiences feel confident enough to return, the safe bet is to keep your doors closed and not take on more risk. Expanding the wage subsidy to include any worker who receives a T4 or a T4A would both incentivize the industry to get back to work while underwriting risk.

Mounting a show is typically a months-long process and is risky at the best of times. We need to reduce these risks There are two ways. One is a revenue top-up subsidy, which we understand is being discussed, and also a government-funded insurance for COVID closures and postponements, similar to what was introduced for the domestic film industry and was successfully implemented in the U.K. and Australia.

Long-term solutions must include a live production tax credit. We've seen the benefits to the film and television industry in this country.

The need for support is real, and at the end of the day we have to ask ourselves: Do we want a thriving cultural industry in this country? That answer is easy. Of course we do.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 10 seconds to wrap up.

[John Lewis]

The more telling question is whether we are prepared to make the necessary financial investments to ensure a stable industry.

Thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lewis.

I now go to the Nia Centre for the Arts. The presenter is Alica Hall.

You have five minutes. I will give you a notice at one minute and 30 seconds so you can wrap up.

Thank you.

[Alica Hall, Executive Director, Nia Centre for the Arts]

Thank you, Chair Fry.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for this opportunity and for putting the arts sector's recovery front and centre.

As Chair Fry mentioned, my name is Alica. I'm the executive director at the Nia Centre for the Arts. We're a charitable organization that has a mission to support and showcase art from the Afro diaspora in supporting descendants of the African continent.

For the past 12 years, we have been offering arts-based programs and services for Black artists to help them launch their careers as well as connect to new audiences through exhibitions and community cultural events. Now, with the support of Canadian Heritage, we are transforming our 14,000-square-foot facility in Toronto into Canada's first professional multidisciplinary centre that's dedicated to Black artistic traditions, which is slated to open in the fall of this year. We started construction in October 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.

We know that arts spaces, as many of my colleagues on the call today have spoken about, are an important part of recovery, because they are places where communities come together, because they are places where we help folks to make sense of all that we've experienced over the past three years and because the centre, like many other arts organizations, will function as a creative and economic driver. As we present different disciplines, we connect young people to job opportunities, we draw audiences to new neighbourhoods and we support regional and, one day, hopefully, international tourism.

On the issue of recovery, I think, as many have stated, that the federal government has done an incredible job of pivoting and creating new and innovative programs that specifically support artists. While there have been significant investments in the arts sector, oftentimes administered through the Canada Council and Canadian Heritage, these programs have not necessarily benefited arts organizations that are in the midst of building or that started building before or during the pandemic because eligibility often requires that an organization show a drop in revenue, whereas for many arts organizations that started construction, the revenue they're worried about, like ours, is about future revenue. We're going to experience a decrease in ticket sales that is anticipated due to capacity limits, and we are going to experience less space rentals as people are not necessarily as confident about coming together and being inside the centre.

While we know that many organizations across the country are on the precipice of renovating and opening new spaces and adding to important infrastructure, we also know that the sustainability of those spaces is at risk.

The other key issue is particularly for Black arts organizations. We know that over the past year many Canadians have made donations to Black arts organizations. Research that came about last year showed that only seven cents of every philanthropic dollar was going to Black arts organizations. With that information, many Canadians made a donation, but that has increased revenue for folks in the 2020-21 year, so again, it would make us ineligible for some of the recovery programs that the government has already initiated.

The other issue is around the administration of these funding programs through organizations like the Canada Council. Nia Centre is one of the few Black arts organizations that is supported with core operating funding through the council, but historically, Black arts organizations haven't been funded through such organizations because we're not necessarily seen as traditional arts infrastructure. When we think of traditional arts and high arts, we think of opera, theatre and ballet, yet in the past decade we've seen incredible artists come out of our city and put Canada on the world map. By the way, of course, I have to mention Drake and The Weeknd.

If we're going to continue to celebrate and see Black artistic traditions push Canada out into the international sphere and push forward key artists who are putting our country on the map, we need to invest in Black arts organizations and Black artistic traditions. That's going to require us to make stronger connections between our communities and our existing arts infrastructure.

I'll leave it there and just echo the need to invite audiences to return to indoor spaces, of course, as many of my colleagues on the call have said previously.

I'm looking forward to the question period.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Alica.

I would like to go now to Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux. Martin Roy is the chief executive officer.

Go ahead, Mr. Roy.

[Martin Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Festivals and Major Events, Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux]

Good afternoon, everyone.

Festivals and Major Events Canada (FAME) and the Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux (RÉMI) represent over 500 festivals and events in Canada.

We were very pleased with the last budget. At that time, we thought that the COVID‑19 nightmare was about to come to an end and financial assistance would help repair the damage done. And yet, a year later, here we are again asking you to support our sector.

The major festivals and events support initiative, the new program with a budget of $200 million administered by the regional economic development agencies, is not entirely living up to what it promised to be. I can say more about that, if you wish, during our discussion.

As for Canadian Heritage, what I can say is there has been a great deal of confusion on the ground, and that remains the case to this day.

Many of our members also feel there have been injustices, or at least a lack of understanding. The government chose to support major festivals with the initiative I just mentioned. They chose to entrust Canadian Heritage with everything else, that is, all events generating under $10 million in annual revenue. That means that the initiative supports about 25 events and over 1,000 events are supported by Canadian Heritage, where together they can rely on much less than $200 million. That's pretty lopsided, to say the least. It is not that the initiative has too much money. There is quite simply not enough money at Canadian Heritage.

The fact is, the $200 million announced for local festivals also goes to funding cultural community events and organizations, such as open-air theatre, heritage celebrations, local museums, amateur sporting events and much more according to the budget itself. At the end of the day, very little is left over for festivals and events relative to their needs, relative to the scale of the disaster in our sector and relative to the number of festivals and events.

To distribute the money in the budget, Canadian Heritage chose to set up a recovery fund and a reopening fund. Ten months after the budget was tabled, the reopening fund included in the Canada arts presentation fund remains inaccessible. We're talking about $25 million. Festivals still have no idea what they will be able to submit or when, and it's four or five months from the beginning of the season, and almost a year after the budget. At best, they will not get any answers until right before their event, if not during or even after the event, given the slow pace. That's unacceptable.

No one saw omicron coming. Will we really be able to resume our events this summer and go back to our business models? In any case, FAME believes that assistance programs should be extended, with prorated budgets. That's our general philosophy and it applies to the funds I just mentioned, all those emanating from Bill C‑2 and all the rest.

This past July, I issued recommendations to the Standing Committee on Finance for getting the sector back on track, because we were hoping to start doing that. I will repeat those recommendations for you. In a nutshell, the idea would be to settle funding for festivals and events once and for all by making the 2019 investments permanent, renewing them every year for now until 2024 and, yes, once again injecting a little money.

In general, and this was true even before the COVID‑19 pandemic, I have to say things are not going that well in our sector. Although in 2019 the government reinvested 25 to 40% in the two programs benefiting festivals, some of our members are calling us these days to say they are getting less than they were in 2018.

I also feel that Economic Development Canada and the agencies need to launch a complementary program to support events and festivals based on their contribution to tourism and the economy, specifically Canadian festivals and events that are not cultural in nature and do not receive support from Canadian Heritage. That would require $25 million a year. An entire category of festivals that get no support right now are suffering. The COVID‑19 pandemic has reminded us just how vulnerable they are. Our friends at the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions (CAFE) also support our request.

In closing, I would add that festivals and events saw their own-source revenue drop 89% in the first year of the crisis. Government assistance is their lifeline to retaining their teams and mounting shows during this difficult period. If we want to have festivals and events after this pandemic, we must act now, listen to what's being said on the ground and hear from associations like FAME. People are in distress. I will end with a few words an organizer wrote to me a few days ago: “I'm discouraged, frustrated and at the end of my rope.”

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Roy.

Now we go to SaskTel Centre with Scott Ford, executive director, speaking for five minutes.

[Scott Ford, Executive Director, SaskTel Centre]

Good afternoon, everyone.

Before I start my presentation, I want to thank the honourable members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for the important work they do on behalf of all Canadians.

I also want to thank the Government of Canada for initiating and activating the numerous programs which have been a lifeline for our industry, including the Canada employment wage subsidy, the Canada emergency response benefit and many others.

My name is Scott Ford. I'm the executive director of SaskTel Centre, which is a 15,000 seat arena in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I have 30 years of experience in the sports and entertainment industry as a venue operator and promoter. I'm also a member of numerous industries and associations.

SaskTel Centre is our facility. We are a non-profit corporation, which operates under Saskatchewan Place Association Inc. We operate independently from the City of Saskatoon.

We have three sports teams: the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League and the Saskatchewan Rattlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. For the past 15 years, our facility has ranked in the top 200 busiest arenas in the world, which we're very proud of. We're probably the smallest market that has made that list.

I can tell you our story here in Saskatoon. On March 11, 2020, a decision was made to cancel the 2020 Juno awards because COVID-19 was identified in Canada and a case was confirmed in Saskatchewan. I was the chair of the Saskatoon Juno host organizing committee. It was one of the first events in Canada that was cancelled.

What followed was the cancellation of all three of our sports teams' entire sports seasons and all of our 2020 and 2021 concerts and family shows. These cancellations not only affected my market and my building. Across Canada, related sports and entertainment venues were shutting down and all events were being cancelled.

Almost two years later, the COVID pandemic is still devastating Canada's live entertainment industry. The live sports and entertainment industry was the first to shut down and certainly it will be the last to open without restrictions.

With restrictions on gathering disallowing fans in the stands, to continue to offer an important service to our community, SaskTel Centre provided the following services. We ran the SaskTel Centre Hockey League, and numerous Saskatoon hockey teams could play out of our building for practice purposes only. We hosted the Saskatchewan Health Authority's influenza clinic. We operated a drive-in movie theatre in our parking lot. We produced a drive-in concert, which featured Brett Kissel and sold out three performances. We held the first indigenous vaccination clinic hosted by the Saskatoon Tribal Council, which ran for three months. It was a huge success. We also used the time to provide some technical upgrades to our facility, which included a new Wi-Fi system and POS system.

To date, SaskTel Centre has lost $5 million. During various periods of time, we've laid off approximately half of our full-time staff and all of our part-time staff. In August 2021, we began bringing back staff, but still have not filled all of our positions. Sports and entertainment venues across Canada will tell you a similar story.

The devastation goes much further than our internal operations, though. The live event ecosystem includes everything that services the live event tourism industry, and all have felt the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since July 11, 2021, Saskatchewan has been allowed to host events and large group gatherings, provided we follow the conditions of the provincial public health order—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have one minute.

[Scott Ford]

The effects on the touring industry, ironically, is that we can do shows in Saskatchewan but other markets can't, so tours do not tour across Canada. There certainly has been an effect on everybody else.

Live events are part of our fabric. They instill civic, provincial and national pride. They release stress and are important to our mental well-being. People need to gather. We need to connect and we need to celebrate.

There is no playbook on how long the pandemic will last. There will come a time when the COVID pandemic is a distant memory, but until then, the live entertainment industry will continue to need the help of all levels of government.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Mr. Ford. You were bang on it. You finished just in time.

I'm going to move to the questions and answers. I would like to let everyone know that the first round is going to be six minutes for each party to speak with regard to questions and answers, but the total time for questions and the answers is six minutes. It isn't a six-minute question alone. Members, please be careful when you ask a question to leave time for the witnesses to answer. Witnesses, please remember that I will give you a notice when I am going to shut you up.

Thank you very much.

We'll begin with the Conservative Party and John Nater.

John, you have six minutes.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the reminder about the six minutes.

We've had a great panel of discussions this afternoon. Frankly, I think we could probably talk for several hours beyond the six minutes that we're entitled to, but I do appreciate the time that each of our witnesses has given us today.

I want to start with Dr. Mustakas from Drayton Entertainment. Drayton comes from beautiful Wellington County in the northern part of my riding. We appreciate the mother ship being there, but of course, Drayton spreads out across seven theatres and does a wonderful job.

Alex, I want you to talk to us about how you operated prior to the pandemic, how you were funded, how you put on your productions, where that source of funding came from, how you operated prepandemic.

[Dr. Alex Mustakas]

As many of you in the arts sector know, the true cost of producing live theatre is not reflected in the average ticket price. We rely on sponsorships, on fundraising and a lot of partnerships, but the box office of course is a big part of it. We have a model of sustainability where we split pre-production costs between multiple theatres as we move productions from one area to the other. Unfortunately, in March 2020, that all came to an end overnight. Not only did we have to shutter the venues, but all revenue stopped and not just ticket sales, but sponsorships and fundraising, etc. It's been quite a hardship.

The problem at the moment is uncertainty, and I'm sure everybody feels that. I'm on draft 200 of my potential 2022 season. It doesn't change by the week; it changes by the hour, depending on the conditions on the ground, and it makes it very difficult. I think my colleague John Lewis alluded to the fact that we can't just open overnight. The creative process takes weeks, months, and sometimes years. We're not a typical sector where the product can go on the shelf and when we open up again, we can sell it. That's just not how the creative sector works.

Those are the challenges we face at the moment, Mr. Nater.