Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 2nd, 2022

[Martin Roy]

You got it right, that is exactly what's happening.

We began receiving the first application documents for the major festivals and events support initiative just before the holiday season. The initiative is administered by the economic development agencies. They are currently responding to applications.

If I may, I will tell you a little more about this initiative. The main issue is that it took eight months to roll it out, but it's a two-year program. Surely you understand that, in effect, it becomes a one-year program, because we hold one edition of each festival per year.

I would like to suggest something to you, and you will all be happy to hear that it could be done at zero cost. I'm begging the committee to extend this support initiative to at least March 31, 2024, because right now it's not working. That's one problem area.

As for Canadian Heritage, like I was saying, the details of the reopening fund have yet to be released. People don't know what's happening. Some received cheques in 2021 after they held their festival or event. How can you plan for your expenses and maximize public investments when you get a cheque only after the fact? It's extremely difficult.

I understand that everyone is overwhelmed, that special programs are being tacked onto regular programs, and that it's very challenging to implement all of these programs, but we really need to get the cheques out the door and give people the support quickly.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

I have very little time left, Mr. Roy.

In a few seconds, can you tell me, how is troop morale right now? People are talking a lot about technicians, theatrical and live performance experts leaving the field. Based on what you're seeing, how is morale in the industry?

[Martin Roy]

As I said at the end of my remarks, people are discouraged, frustrated and at the end of their rope. We need to add organizers to the job categories you mentioned.

Imagine how things must be for the executive director of the festival with an annual budget of $5 million to $7 million. What can they get done right now? What can they do to keep their troops with them? What are they going to do about programming for summer 2022? They don't even know what kind of situation they will need to hold their event. Will they be able to accommodate the maximum number of people? Will public gatherings be allowed? Will they be able to invite international artists to perform and pay them? We're in total limbo.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Do you feel you will have trouble hiring?

The Minister of Canadian Heritage has just announced an assistance fund for self-employed workers in the arts sector. Do you feel that will lend a helping hand? Will these additional resources be enough?

[Martin Roy]

We'll have to see what happens. In the past, I've been happy when the budget was tabled, and then I was a bit disappointed. So I don't rely on announcements, I rely on the rollout of measures announced.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Let's hope they get out there a bit faster this time.

Thank you, Mr. Roy. We will talk again later.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. Champoux.

We move now to the New Democratic Party, to Peter Julian.

You have six minutes, Peter.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

To all our witnesses, thanks for your very compelling testimony. We hope you and your families continue to stay safe and healthy during this pandemic.

Mr. Lewis, I will start with you. Thank you so much for your presentation. I have family and friends who are members of IATSE. You do fantastic work.

I have two questions to start. First, you talked about your 160,000 members. Can you tell us about the impact that the pandemic and the absence of certain programs have had on those 160,000 people, who are Canadians employed in the industry?

Second, you offered a number of suggestions, such as the revenue top-up and government insurance. You also mentioned the United Kingdom and Australia as being two examples of where there's been a more fulsome response in those areas. Can you tell us where you see best practices internationally for the arts and culture sector that as yet have not been put in place in Canada?

[John Lewis]

Thank you for the question.

It's been a bit of a strange year for the IATSE because, as everyone has said, there is going to be a real issue with retaining crew. I can tell you we were doing okay until the fall of 2021. Things were starting to reopen a little bit. There was a sense of optimism. And then the what I'll call “double whammy” of omicron and the termination of the CRB had a dramatic and devastating impact on the industry. The mental well-being of my members, of people who work in the industry, was really at an all-time low. I had never seen it before. We have rolled out programs to address mental health and well-being. I had never seen that level of despair. Usually around Christmas it's a time for a lot of employment in the industry. The timing of it was truly devastating.

We've had a bit of a rescue, in the sense that we're seeing record employment. The IATSE looks after people in not only live performance but also motion picture and television production. In 2021, we saw record numbers in terms of work. A number of our stage members moved over to film and television production, and, quite frankly, many of them are not coming back. That's just the nature of the beast. I think Alex and others commented about people finding other industries to work in. That's one of the concerns we have going forward.

In terms of other countries, when we look at the insurance—and we did this in Canada. We did it for the domestic film industry when there was an issue about coming back to work. The U.S. studios didn't need it, but the Canadian producers did—we created this elaborate plan to support domestic film producers in terms of COVID-style insurance to financially support it. It was greatly used. It was a great program. It brought the domestic industry back. That's what we were looking at.

There was a lot of press about Come From Away shutting down. I'm equally concerned about the Harry Potter production that's going to come into Toronto. It takes a $25-million investment to get that thing on the road. That is a major investment. Without any kind of financial support, it is very difficult for a producer to make the decision to put that show on knowing that it could come crumbling down if all of a sudden there's a 50% reduction. That's the notion of an insurance plan: to enable, to incentivize producers, and to go forward with their plans knowing there is some form of support. That's where I think we have fallen behind where other countries, particularly the U.K. and Australia, have led. Again, for Come From Away, we're the only country where it shut down. It continued to be produced in the United States. It continued to be produced in Australia and the U.K. It was just Canada. That was sort of ironic given the nature of the story. But we need to be bold here. We need to be bold and to move forward.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you very much for that.

I just want to jump on one of your comments. The CRB was slashed with 72 hours' notice, and that had devastating impacts on communities right across the country. What would be the one word or two words you would use to describe the abrupt ending by the Liberal government of the CRB? Would it be devastating or catastrophic? What were the impacts on your members of having that rug ripped out from under them with just two days' notice?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have one minute.

[John Lewis]

At the time it happened, we could see the light. We could see the industry returning, but then soon thereafter it just came crumbling down. Then without that safety net, it was devastating. I've been doing this for a long time, and I have never seen that amount of despair.

When you're going into the industry, it takes a lot of training. It's really impacting our younger members and particularly diverse members, who are just now starting to come into the industry. They're the ones who are feeling the brunt of this the most, and that's unfortunate because that's our future.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you for that.

So you would say “devastating”, and it has led to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Peter, your time is up. I'm sorry.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

I have 15 seconds, Madam Chair. I'm timing it myself.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Talk quickly, then.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Just as a resumé, it has been devastating, and you're talking about the profound impacts.

Thank you very much for your testimony, Mr. Lewis. This is very important for the committee to know.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. Julian.

Now we go to the second round, and the second round is different. The same principle applies, but our second round is going to be a five-minute round for the Conservatives and a five-minute round for the Liberals and a round of two and a half minutes for the Bloc and for the NDP.

We begin with Mr. Waugh for the Conservatives.

Kevin, you have five minutes.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I remember vividly March 13, 2020. I was in my office at eight o'clock in the morning. I phoned back home to SaskTel Centre, as they were preparing for the Junos, which is Canada's music industry showcase.

Mr. Ford, you answered the phone at 7 a.m. Saskatchewan time. You had the news that the Junos were cancelled. In my city, $9 million was lost on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday festivals.

Can you talk about that aspect and, since you were the chair, about what it meant to not only SaskTel Centre but the entire community of Saskatoon?

[Scott Ford]

Thank you, Kevin. It certainly was devastating for our community.

The Juno awards show isn't just an awards show held at our arena of SaskTel Centre. It actually involves multiple facilities throughout the city of Saskatoon. There's the gala dinner. There's the Juno Cup. There's Junofest in all the clubs. In total, approximately 30 different venues host the Juno awards. When you have an event like that, which is confirmed, which is doing great in your market, and which is only two days away, and then it goes down two days later—that's devastating, not only for all of our facility partners but also our community.

In terms of the economic spinoffs, as you mentioned, Kevin, it was an $8-million to $10-million event for the city of Saskatoon. Then the tap was turned off.

You just have to just recover from it, but it was a very difficult time. I think all the venues that were participating in it had shuffled events around to make their facilities available for the Junos, so they lost some business from some other potential rentals. Then there was all of the labour and the thousand volunteers we had, who had dedicated so much time and energy to be the ambassadors for our province and our city.

Not being able to execute our plan was very difficult. It certainly was a tough time for us.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Yes.

[Scott Ford]

Ironically, Kevin, immediately following that, everything else shut down. That was probably the first big event in Canada.

[Scott Ford]

It just seemed to snowball. The next thing we knew, all the sporting events were closing down.

We still haven't recovered. It's a tough time in our industry right now.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

It was.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Well, that's what I want to continue with, because our province is open. You held the Olympic curling trials in November. We're seeing the Scotties with nobody at all in the stands right now in Thunder Bay. I follow the National Lacrosse League's Saskatchewan Rush. Their crowds are down by half.

Where does this go from here? How do you, as a facility bidding for events, even know how many dollars you put up, knowing that the attendance is half or even three-quarters down from what you may have anticipated the event to hold?