Canadian Heritage Committee on Feb. 7th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We will now begin our meeting.

Welcome to the fourth meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Pursuant to the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, January 31, 2022, the committee is meeting on 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 of Commons order of November 25, 2021. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application. These proceedings will be made available via the House of Commons website. The video will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.

For those participating virtually, I'd like to outline a few rules to follow.

You may speak in the official language of your choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. At the bottom of your screen you can see English or French. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately and we will ensure interpretation is properly restored before continuing with the proceedings.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you're in the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute your mike. When you finish speaking, please mute your mike. For those in the room, your mike will be controlled by the proceedings and verification officer.

I remind everyone that all comments by members should be addressed through the chair. Each group will have the opportunity to present for five minutes. We will hear all presentations at the beginning and then there will be questions from the committee. For these questions and answers, I will tell you what the timeline is. The timeline actually includes the question and the answer.

I'm going to have to cut you off, because we have so many members. I really want to get through all of you so that everybody can ask questions and you can all say your piece.

When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly and when you're not speaking, again, please mute your mike.

Thank you very much.

We shall begin with the witnesses. I will start with the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.

Eleanor Noble, you have five minutes.

[Eleanor Noble, National President, Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists]

Thank you, Madam Chair, vice-chairs, committee members and staff.

I am Eleanor Noble. I live in Tiohtià:ke, Montreal. I'm a Canadian performer and the national president of ACTRA, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists.

On behalf of ACTRA's 28,000-plus members working in English-language screen productions across Canada, I am pleased to appear today before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to share the artists' perspective as part of the committee study of the arts, culture, heritage and sports sectors' recovery from the impact of COVID-19.

When looking back to the early days of the pandemic and the loss of employment experienced by millions of Canadians, it was Canadian artists and other self-employed workers who were left overnight with no income or social safety net to fall back on. Because many of us self-employed workers are not eligible for employment insurance, this made an already vulnerable group of Canada's labour market even more vulnerable.

ACTRA was grateful that the federal government acknowledged gig workers in the rules for the Canada emergency response benefit and subsequent Canada recovery benefit, as well as the more recent Canada performing arts workers resilience fund. These benefits were a lifeline for Canadians working in the arts or entertainment industries who were temporarily or permanently laid off due to the pandemic and who would have faced even further financial hardship. The Canada emergency wage subsidy was also instrumental in keeping our union operational when our revenue vanished.

Thank you for having the foresight to step in and introduce these programs. While these federal support measures have proven effective in the short term, they demonstrate the need for long-term solutions to fill the gaps exposed by the pandemic.

The changing needs of Canadian workers, as well as the ongoing pandemic, have resulted in a fundamental shift in the use of and need for a modernized employment insurance program that reflects and is inclusive of all Canadian workers. An expanded EI program that addresses the needs of a modern economy would allow self-employed workers to contribute to and collect EI, despite not having a traditional employee-employer relationship as defined under the current system.

We are also awaiting relief for Canadian seniors who have had their guaranteed income supplement withheld. Although financial help was announced in the fall economic statement, affected seniors are still waiting.

During the pandemic, many of our eligible senior members applied for and received emergency benefits. Unbeknownst to them, the unintended consequence of receiving these benefits was the effect it had on their GIS. Despite having paid taxes on the emergency relief payments they received, many seniors have either been cut off from the GIS or had the amount severely reduced as a result. The government must follow through on its commitment to alleviate the financial hardship that low-income seniors are facing. Their GIS must be retroactively reinstated immediately.

After the initial nationwide shutdown in March 2020 due to the pandemic, work on film, television and digital media programs gradually resumed in the second half of the year in various capacities across the country. Our ACTRA branches have continued to work closely with government, industry partners and stakeholders to adjust health and safety protocols to keep our industry safe and open. ACTRA members have also played their part by remaining vigilant in following these guidelines.

It's paid off. Our industry is cautiously optimistic about its current state, and across our union, our branches have reported good levels of production allowing our members to return to work.

However, to keep up the momentum, our industry must be provided with the necessary tools to ensure its long-term success.

In addition to following strong health and safety protocols, a significant contribution to our industry's recovery is the federal government's $149-million short-term compensation fund. The fund addresses the lack of insurance coverage we required to restart our industry by compensating independent production companies for interruptions or shutdowns due to the pandemic. With the fund set to expire at the end of March 2022, ACTRA hopes to see it further extended for as long as necessary to keep our industry open, or until a permanent alternative solution is implemented.

Another action the federal government can take to ensure the long-term viability of our industry is the swift passage of Bill C-11, the online streaming act. This legislation will go a long way in securing the success of our domestic production industry. With the tabling of this bill last week, I was pleased to see the federal government recognize the importance of investing in and promoting Canadian content, but action must be taken to pass this legislation as soon as possible to support Canadian programming.

ACTRA has been calling for modernizing the Broadcasting Act for over a decade.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Now we'll hear from Kelly-Ann Paul, president and chief executive officer of the Canada Games Council.

Ms. Paul, you have five minutes.

[Kelly-Ann Paul, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canada Games Council]

Good afternoon. Thanks, everyone, for inviting me and for conducting this very important study.

Madam Chair and committee members, I'm happy to be here to represent the Canada Games Council and the Canada Games movement.

I'll give you just a brief overview of the Canada Games, recognizing that perhaps not everyone is super familiar with what we do and who we are. We are the mini-Olympics for youth in Canada. We alternate between summer and winter, every two years. Approximately 40% of the athletes representing Canada in Beijing at this time are Canada Games alumni.

There's a funding model for host societies that actually organize the Canada Games and there's also a funding model for the Canada Games Council. We are the franchise holder and I'm here on behalf of the franchise holder of the Canada Games movement as well as host societies. Host societies are funded primarily by governments—57% by governments—and where they're struggling right now is with self-generated revenue, such as from ticketing, sponsorships and grants, etc.

I also want to acknowledge that we recognize that the entire sports and events sector has been drastically affected by COVID. Our organization is probably doing better than some of the other national sport organizations that rely on membership fees and event revenue for their operations. The host society, however, does rely heavily on event revenue and sponsorship solicitation, so we wanted to be here to explain some of those challenges.

As the franchise holder of the Canada Games Council, we were very thankful to be recipients of the Canada emergency response benefit as well as the wage subsidy and the rent subsidy. Without these subsidies, our organization wouldn't have been able to make it through. Our host societies, however, were not quite as fortunate as we, as the franchise holder, were. They were able to access the wage subsidy and the recovery program, which has now turned into a tourism and hospitality recovery program, and a rent subsidy, but because these were short-term programs, they were not eligible for the same level of benefits as we were at the Canada Games Council.

We also want to thank the Government of Canada for giving some additional money to our 2022 host society out of the Sport Canada program budget.

When it comes to key challenges, we want to highlight the postponement. For the first time in Canada Games history, we had to postpone the Canada Games. The host society at that point was at 24 staff, and they had to shrink to six staff for an additional year. There were a lot of mental health challenges, and obviously enduring this situation has been stressful. As well, all of the planning volunteers have had to commit to an extra year to deliver this project.

Our organization has implemented a mandatory vaccine policy, and with that will come additional implementation measures to ensure the safety of Canadians. It has taken a lot of work, additional rigour, time and resources to move that forward.

When it comes to money, the host societies have been experiencing revenue loss, from loss of private sector sponsorship, reduced ticket sales and lack of opportunity for community engagement. Those of us watching the Olympics right now can see that the stands are empty. That has a massive impact on an organization's budget. In addition to revenue loss, the hosts are seeing expenses increase. Food costs and supply chain issues are having a big impact on the ability to deliver the Canada Games within the existing operating budget. The cost of insurance has gone up. The cost of transportation has gone up substantially, and medical expenses have increased largely due to the pandemic and the additional safeguards required to make sure that everyone participating in the games is healthy.

We're also experiencing volunteer fatigue, and there's a significant risk in the participation of our provincial and territorial teams. They have challenges in training, competing and selecting teams for the Canada Games.

With respect to what we're asking for or what we'd like you to consider, we have three main points. We wanted to talk about financial security, support via participation, and media awareness and advertising.

When it comes to financial security, we need to protect the Canada Games against economic losses. The Canada Games has never experienced a deficit in Canada Games' history, and we need to keep it that way to strengthen our brand and to make sure that we have communities that want to host the games. In the short term, we need to make sure that the host societies, which are temporary organizations with immediate needs, are considered for emergency and recovery funding, and right now they're not. For the short, medium and long term, the Canada Games Council, the franchise holder, needs to have the ability to have continued funding and human resource support.

We want to make sure that the government supports the Canada Games through media awareness and advertising, and promotes our games with support from federal, provincial and territorial bilaterals to enhance sport participation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

I would like to say to witnesses that sometimes when you don't get to finish because I cut you off, you can actually say what you want to say when you're answering a question that is posed to you by the committee. You can get your two bits' worth in there as well.

I'm going to move now to Heather George from the Canadian Museums Association for five minutes.

Ms. George.

[Heather George, Curator, Canadian Museums Association]

Thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for giving us the opportunity to add our voice to these important proceedings.

Originally, I had expected that my colleague Michael Wallace would be delivering these messages, but I will do it on his behalf.

Just to introduce myself, and him when he arrives, my name is Heather George. In addition to being a member of the CMA board I'm a guest curator at Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario, which was established on the site of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School. The Woodland Cultural Centre exists to preserve and promote indigenous history and culture.

My colleague Michael Wallace is the president of the Canadian Museums Association and executive director of Theatre Museum Canada, which is a small museum preserving and celebrating our country's performing arts heritage.

Together with provincial and territorial counterparts, the CMA represents more than 2,700 organizations across Canada from community and small volunteer-driven museums to national institutions, as well as hundreds of museum professionals.

It is from this pan-Canadian vantage point that we witnessed how the pandemic-related seesaw of openings and closing affected staffing, programming, planning and morale. The federal government's pandemic assistance programs were instrumental in allowing our institutions to adapt to an unprecedented situation. They also served to highlight the economic fragility of the sector and the need to shift from ad hoc funding programs to long-term strategic support.

While we know of only two museums closing because of the pandemic, we know of many more that are now in danger of closure if circumstances do not change soon, but it is at the human level where the pandemic's impact has been felt most acutely. Every day we hear from our colleagues that their staff are on the brink of burnout. Others tell us that they've lost valuable employees because of the chronic uncertainty. In a sign of the times, more recently we've heard stories of museum employees being harassed and bullied for wearing masks and enforcing public health guidelines.

Of course, described in this manner, the impact of the pandemic on the museum sector is no different from many other sectors, from health care to hospitality, that have been similarly upended by COVID. We have to look more closely at our sector's place and role in society today and in the future in order to chart a way forward that is informed by the lessons of the last two years.

Museums provide a value of $1.2 billion a year in educational benefits and $277 million in value of online visits. They provide good jobs and opportunities for Canadians to give back to their communities through volunteering. The economic value to the country is clear, but beyond their economic value, museums are an integral part of social fabric. They've never been more important than they are now.

The stress and trauma of the last two years has laid bare deep fissures in Canadian society. It has brought into sharp relief historical inequities and grievances and exacerbated divisions within our civil society. Museums are safe places for reflection about civility and civil society, about personal and social responsibility, and about diversity and inclusion. They are safe spaces for dialogues and healing at a time when a cacophony of seemingly irreconcilable points of view dominate our daily lives.

As some of the most trusted and respected public institutions in the country, museums can provide Canadians with solid ground on which to pause, reflect and find a way forward out of the uncertainty of today. However, if museums are to play their unique role in healing our society and in helping Canadians imagine a better future together, this must be acknowledged by governments, starting with the Government of Canada.

The Canadian national museum policy was written in the early nineties. That's more than 30 years ago. It's out of date and simply doesn't reflect modern Canada—what it looks like today, the challenges it faces and the potential for tomorrow. A new national museum policy is crucial not only for our sector but for the country.

Developing a new national museum policy was highlighted as a high priority in the mandate letter of the former Minister of Canadian Heritage in 2019. The lessons of the last two years tell us it is even more important today. Without a policy, we cannot determine how to spend our money long term and in a fiscally responsible manner. Let's write a new chapter for museums and for our country together.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Ms. George. You even have 11 seconds left.

Now I will go to the Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club and Terry Huisman.

[Terry Huisman, General Manager, Business Operations, Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of Parliament. I would like to thank all of you for this opportunity to present to your committee today.

Today in my presentation I'd like to talk about COVID-19 and the effects that it has had on the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Western Hockey League. I will be talking about four main topics today, those being attendance, revenues, expenses and restrictions and recovery.

On attendance, the Lethbridge Hurricanes enjoyed an average attendance for the three seasons prior to COVID-19 of 3,900 fans per game. In order to break even, we require at least 3,200 fans. This is imperative for a community-owned team to be able to operate. In the 2021 season, it was a 24-game shortened season, where we had no fans within the building. In the 2021-22 season, we have averaged only 2,892. That is a 26% decrease: 308 fans less than what is required for us to break even. The WHL as a whole has also seen a decline of nearly 30% league-wide.

Some of the reasons for the lower attendance are as follows. Fifty per cent capacity restrictions were put in place by the Government of Alberta. Also, full masking with no food or beverage service allowed within the venue created a minimal fan experience. As well, no group ticket sales were allowed due to provincial government restrictions, with ticket sales being limited to households only.

On revenues, the Lethbridge Hurricanes' average revenues for the three seasons prior to COVID-19 were $3.8 million. In a 2020-21 shortened season, our total revenues were $1.1 million. The actual revenue was $250,000, but because of a one-time provincial subsidy we received an additional $850,000. Also, because of the subsidies such as the Canadian emergency wage subsidy and other subsidy loans from the government, not only were we able to keep all our employees working, but it also helped us with other important expenses.

Our projected 2021-22 total revenues will be roughly $2.8 million, resulting in a 26% decrease from pre-COVID levels. Some of the reasons for these losses in revenue are that we experience limited walk-up ticket buyers, and we only have enough capacity in the building to hold our season ticket holders. Current capacity restrictions minimize value to our corporate sponsors because there are fewer people attending the games. Uncertainty with future changes to restrictions and protocols has created hesitation for sponsors. Many games have been rescheduled and postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions and protocols.

On expenses, we also have seen added expenses compared to pre-COVID-19 seasons. We had to increase our staffing required to manage the COVID-19 protocols—for example, QR code scanning and security to enter the building. We've also had to increase costs for signage, hand sanitizer and masks at facilities in order to have fans enter the building, and also, of course, for the rapid antigen and PCR testing requirements for our players and staff, as outlined by the WHL and the Alberta Health Services regulations.

On restrictions, in the 2021 season, restrictions allowed no fans in the building. This limited our ability to generate all primary revenue streams. Some of those streams included merchandise sales, 50/50s, all ticketing and limited advertising opportunities. In the 2021-22 season, we started the season at full capacity with masks and a proof of vaccination to enter the building. As of our December 28 game, we moved to 50% capacity, with no food or beverages allowed to be consumed within the building, again affecting the way that we operate normally.

Here are some of the steps we'll need to see to ensure our recovery to prepandemic operations.

We'll need to rebuild our season ticket base. We have lost approximately 12% of our prepandemic numbers, while we're projecting another 10% decrease for the 2022-23 season, taking our fan base from 2,200 season ticket holders to roughly 1,700. Prior to COVID-19, it had taken us five years to build our season ticket numbers from a base of 1,500 to 2,200, so it will take us a significant amount of time to get back to pre-COVID numbers.

We'll also need to re-engage our corporate sponsors because of uncertainty and frequent changes to our schedule. A lot of local businesses are also experiencing significant business interruptions themselves, meaning they have less money to promote their businesses.

As well, we'll need to rebuild the trust within our community. Many organizations are unable to count on the community donations that they once received from the hockey club. Pre-COVID, the Lethbridge Hurricanes were proud to donate and to help to raise upwards of $180,000 annually for many of these organizations.

Also, there will need to be a huge effort to re-establish ourselves within the community. Prior to COVID-19, our players engaged throughout the community for many different appearances and events.

Then there's the player recruitment side of the business. Some of our league players had some options to play in different leagues or countries.

The limited ability to showcase our players' talents to scouts for professional contracts, the mental health issues that some of our players endured, the seclusion and isolation of living in a bubble and also any time they had to quarantine due to COVID protocols, and asking our players to compete under a tighter schedule weigh on their total recovery and readiness to perform at an elite level and risk injuries.

In closing, again, I would like to thank the committee for allowing me to present today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

For your information, Mr. Wallace, president of the Canadian Museums Association, is still unable to join us. He is having Internet trouble. As you can see, Ms. George represented him beautifully.

The last witness will be Annick Charette, president of Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, for five minutes.

Ms. Charette.

[Annick Charette, President, Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture]

Good afternoon.

On behalf of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture, which is a Quebec organization, I am very pleased to accept this invitation to speak about the recovery of the culture sector.

The first thing we can say about the impact of the pandemic on the arts and culture sector is that it has been—and still is—among the most heavily impacted sectors. By November 2021, economic activity in that sector in Canada was 23% lower than it was before the pandemic. In contrast, other economic sectors have surpassed their February 2020 levels.

We can only conclude that, despite coming out of lockdown over the summer and fall, it has been very difficult for the sector to get back on its feet despite favourable macroeconomic conditions. Workers and artists in these fields are in such a state of uncertainty financially and about their future prospects that many are simply dropping out and disengaging. It is very important to remember this.

This environment may seem appealing to the uninitiated, but in reality, approximately 80% of artists and craftspeople in the arts and culture sectors were living below the low-income cut-off for a single person in Quebec in 2019. We are talking about $24,200 and about $21,500 for artists, according to Statistics Canada.

Imagine now what the conditions generated by the pandemic and the almost complete shutdown of activities in some of these sectors could have done to these workers, whose precarious situation is clearly evident. This is one of the sectors where the social net is particularly light, if not non-existent. We are talking about limited employment insurance rights, random pension funds and minimal group insurance. The waves of lockdown have reduced the living arts of theatre, dance, concerts and popular music to a trickle. They have also put a strain on venues, festivals and the entire ecosystem that goes with them.

Other creators, such as male and female writers, who derive a significant portion of their income from participation in book fairs, have been deprived of this income. Screenwriters have seen some of their projects put on hold. Musicians have lost access to the important source of income from conventions and other corporate events that are held in their presence.

A study that we launched in March 2021 among the main artists' associations in Quebec also shows, without question, according to recognized markers, that the proportion of artists and creators who display high and very high levels of psychological distress is greater than in the general Quebec population. In addition, for 72% of respondents, this psychological distress is entirely or partially associated with the pandemic.

Many cultural workers have left their field of practice in the past two years. At the time of our survey in March 2021, 41% had considered or were considering leaving their careers. They were out of breath and out of resources.

In short, the culture sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. To recover, it will need special attention and a strong will, including a strong political will.

It is clear that the recovery will not be easy, as it will require work on several fronts.

We must first undertake important work to revalue these sectors. First and foremost, we must enhance the image and value of the work of artists, craftspeople and creators, who are the raw material of all culture, before the industry itself; we must restore a taste for practice; we must create better conditions and protections—governments must send a clear message to this effect; and we must let it be known that they are one of our society's most precious assets, because they make us different and unique, enrich us collectively and are the most faithful mirror of our aspirations.

They need to be supported as individuals and as a distinctive sector within specific, well-promoted programs, which is very important, and to have easy access to these programs, which is doubly important. This must be done through consistent accountability that ensures that the public funds invested reach the creators' pockets, which is not always the case.

In 2021, the government announced the establishment of the Recovery Fund for Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Sport Sectors. The $300 million in funding for this program was allocated through existing organizations and programs.

We believe that these initiatives must continue and that massive funding must be injected into them. We are talking about the Telefilm Canada Recovery Fund and Re-opening Fund; the Canada Arts Presentation Fund; the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program; the Museums Assistance Program; the Support for Workers in Live Arts and Music Sectors Fund; and the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit.

In fact, cultural workers need...

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Please wrap up, Ms. Charette. You will be able to answer in questions later on.

Thank you.

[Annick Charette]

I will answer the questions, but I still have a lot to say.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

I'm sorry. We do have one more witness, and it's Ms. Iley from the Canadian Arts Coalition.

Go ahead, Ms. Iley.

[Sarah Iley, Member of Steering Committee, Canadian Arts Coalition]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the committee for undertaking this in-depth look into the challenges related to the recovery of the arts, culture, heritage and sport sectors that have been so deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as my fellow witnesses have certainly made clear.

Jacoba Knaapen and I are here as volunteer members of the Canadian Arts Coalition, which is a coalition of artists and arts organizations that first came together in 2005 as a non-partisan advocacy movement of volunteers.

You can imagine that, when the pandemic hit and the sector was shut down in March 2020, the coalition redoubled our efforts to gather and share information about the impact of the pandemic on all of our members, large and small, who are active in the performing, visual and literary arts, as well as in cultural industries right across Canada. We've been very active over the past two years to try to help the government understand the needs of the sector.

To provide an idea of the challenges, my colleague, Jacoba, is going to provide a snapshot of what's happened to her organization's membership. Jacoba is the executive director of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, with 164 member organizations in March 2020.

[Jacoba Knaapen, Member of Steering Committee, Canadian Arts Coalition]

Thank you, Sarah.

Our membership, representing professional theatre, dance and opera companies, now numbers only 107, which in itself tells how difficult it has been for arts organizations to hang on and to get through this period of closures, unemployment and audience hesitancy. Our members tell us that they've pivoted endlessly to accommodate the measures that are required for public health, and we know this is the case for the coalition's members right across the country.

Prepandemic, the arts and culture sector contributed $6.3 billion towards Toronto's GDP annually. We know that arts and culture bring health and well-being to neighbourhoods in Toronto and in fact right across Canada. Although 89% of Torontonians believe that the arts make Toronto a better place to live, work and visit, Torontonians have not had access consistently to live theatre, dance and opera on Toronto stages for nearly two years. I can report the impact to date in Toronto with some numbers: 25,000 cancelled or postponed public performances, over $900 million lost in revenue and 20 million lost audience members.

Placing a dollar-value loss for this stagnation of cultural identity is inherently difficult. Understanding and extending empathy to those who indispensably shape our culture, often selflessly, should be more easily quantifiable.

Emerging artists have been stopped before even beginning. Mid-career artists are hobbled at a time when their past dedication to the craft should be blossoming, and senior artists have experienced a perhaps premature ending to their careers. What's been happening in Toronto is happening right across the country, and not just for those artists and organizations in the performing arts. Visual artists and craftspeople have also been affected. If those artists are indigenous, if they're racialized, deaf, disabled or otherwise marginalized, they've been even more challenged.

[Sarah Iley]

As a result, the Canadian Arts Coalition has been very thankful for the wage, rent and income supports that have been integral to many throughout the pandemic. We are very thankful for Canadian Heritage's expediency in announcing the parameters for the $60-million Canada performing arts workers resilience fund. In support of arts organizations, Canadian Heritage's upcoming arts and culture recovery program may cover some additional sector needs, but it may come too late.

Organizations need flexibility in how they access and use these funds to support their unique costs through the pandemic. We also need to ensure that the visual arts, not just the performing arts, are eligible under these programs. While the tourism and hospitality recovery program may benefit some organizations too, its eligibility criteria does not fit all models in the arts sector.

We have seen this since the start of the pandemic in the design of the programs. Another injection of immediate relief funding, administered through existing channels such as Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council, would financially support organizations in a broader system. We would also like to see government-backed event cancellation insurance, not unlike what Telefilm Canada is providing. We are also very concerned that employment insurance be modernized.

Finally, the Canadian Arts Coalition recognizes that we need to encourage not just the government to take part in the recovery of the arts in this country. We need to encourage the private sector as well and engage them perhaps through a donation matching program, like Canadian Heritage's Canada cultural investment fund, which has already been so successful.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Ms. Iley.

I just want to recognize that Mr. Wallace, the president of the Canadian Museums Association, has entered the room—or the chat.

Mr. Wallace, Ms. George very aptly represented you as a witness. Thank you very much.

Now I will move to the question and answer section. This is done in rounds per parties. I would like to remind you that “question and answer” includes the question and the answer, not just the question. Thank you very much.

The very first round is for six minutes. We will begin with Rachael Thomas of the Conservative Party.

Ms. Thomas, you have six minutes.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Ms. Paul, I'm wondering if you could expand a wee bit on your opening comments. You talked about the negative impact of supply chain disruptions, and then of course inflation. Could you comment on that a little bit further just to help us understand the impact?

[Kelly-Ann Paul]

Absolutely. To host the Canada Games, there has to be in place a $10-million commercial general liability. As an example, typically it would cost in the nature of $15,000 to $30,000 for a Canada Games, but because of the impacts of COVID-19, we're having trouble getting insurance providers to cover that. There has actually been a threefold increase to about $100,000. That's one example.

Just generally, there are the costs to get athletes around all of the venues. We need more buses. Food is more expensive. The supply chain impact right now is affecting a mass number of operational expenses to host the Canada Games.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

That's really helpful. Thank you. It's good for us to understand that and to have the context provided for us.

Mr. Huisman, I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about your fan base. You talked about the fact that there are fewer people attending games now, and you suspect that this might be the case for a little while, going forward. Perhaps you could talk a bit about the rhetoric that takes place at a federal level, via the Prime Minister, via the mainstream media, around creating fear.

What impact does that have on fans coming back and filling the seats?

[Terry Huisman]

That's a good question. I think that has a huge bearing on how we operate. We saw that from the start of the season, when we saw a significant drop in our attendance. There was a lot of uncertainty. Obviously, being part of the community, in reaching out and discussing it with a lot of our clients and customers, they've expressed the fact that they're just uncertain about coming into the building at this time.

As well, we've experienced a bit of fallback with our corporate sponsorship in regard to some companies just not agreeing with what they're hearing as far as regulations and protocols are concerned. They're not willing to get behind sponsoring us because of the fact that it's just not in their belief system. We have seen a significant drop in those areas, for sure.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Huisman, are there things that could be done by the government—or maybe it's that they need to do fewer things—in order to help that fan base come back, bring back those corporate sponsorships and basically get back to normalcy?

[Terry Huisman]

I think once we start moving in a direction where.... I think we'll see some of that with our provincial side here this week. That's what our hopes are. I think we'll see some more comfortableness of people moving in and out of our arena.

You know, the way I look at it is that a lot of the time these companies that are struggling to support us corporately may also need more influx of other programs or subsidies to help them so that they can get their businesses moving in the right direction and they can promote themselves as well.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Right. It's an interesting point.

If you were to talk a bit more about the recommendations that you would make, not so much at the provincial level.... Of course, there are things that are needed there, but is there anything at the federal level, whether it's with regard to financial benefits or with regard to communication points, etc.? What are the things at the federal level that you would recommend going forward?

[Terry Huisman]

For us, it would be about keeping people employed and keeping them in their jobs. We've obviously been able to benefit from some of the subsidies and programs that were put forth by the government. We would like to see another round of that immediately to carry us through another six months to a year. That would definitely help us in keeping people employed and keeping things open around here.