Thank you very much.
My name is Karen Wirsig. I'm the communications coordinator for the Canadian Media Guild, a union that represents 6,000 media workers across the country. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today.
Bill C-38 is a massive undertaking that changes an astounding number of pieces of legislation to enact a budget that itself makes fundamental changes to what our government does and how it does it.
It's inappropriate, in our view, that this budget implementation bill covers substantial legislative changes in a number of areas, including old age security, employment insurance, and environmental protection. More study, opportunities for public involvement, and transparency would be possible if such changes were dealt with under separate bills.
In this context, the elimination of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal and the shifting of its responsibilities to the Canada Industrial Relations Board is not particularly momentous, as I think Alain pointed out. Although details are scarce on how these changes would be enacted in practice, we urge the government to ensure that the CIRB has both the resources and the expertise needed to deal effectively with the issues that have come before CAPPRT in the past and to address its existing files at the CIRB in a timely manner.
I'd also like to take a few moments to talk about the impacts of other budget and Bill C-38 measures on the lives of cultural workers in Canada.
Over the next three years, $191 million is slated to be cut from Canadian heritage programs. Included in this are disproportionate cuts to funding for CBC/Radio-Canada, Telefilm, and the National Film Board. Not only will this shrink opportunities for cultural workers and diminish a vibrant sector of our economy, but the obvious corollary is that Canadians will have fewer opportunities to see and hear ourselves and our stories on our screens and radios. For individual Canadian artists to thrive in our vast and diverse country, institutional supports—including our public broadcaster, film funding agencies, and museums and performance spaces—are essential.
Looking at the planned cuts to CBC alone, we see the disappearance of regional music recording facilities and production assistance. That is causing great concern, especially within the legendary music scene of Newfoundland and Labrador. CBC music producers, recordings, and live broadcasts have helped nurture regional and national music scenes that contribute both to our identity and to our economy. Because of the drop in funding, CBC is also planning to close the only TV production studio in Canada east of Montreal, the home of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, in Halifax. This country would not have a TV production sector without significant government supports, starting with the CBC.
We urge Parliament to examine its support for Canada's cultural sector with a view to reinvesting in the institutions that anchor artistic and cultural expression in the country. Later this year, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will hold public hearings to renew CBC's broadcast licences. Tens of thousands of Canadians are already participating in a “Reimagine CBC” project. Canadians know that our stories, our diverse cultural experiences, and our ideas rely on public institutions such as the CBC to flourish.
We also know that the cultural sector contributes enormously to our economic well-being. For example, Deloitte and Touche found last year that the $1.1 billion the government has been giving CBC translates into $3.7 billion in economic activity in this important sector. The guild is very concerned that the government is backing away from national public support for culture.
Finally, I have a few words on how other measures in this bill will affect cultural workers. Proposed changes to old age security will primarily affect lower-wage Canadians who don't have a workplace pension. Artists and cultural workers in Canada are too well represented within this group. With the changes to OAS, these lower-wage workers will spend more of their later years struggling to put food on the table. This country needs a decent pension plan for all types of workers—union and non-union, employees and the self-employed. The planned changes to OAS move us in the wrong direction.
Further, the changes to EI are very troubling and will affect our own members who, along with 19,000 federal public servants, are being thrown out of work as a result of the cuts in this very budget. Employment insurance is a plan we all pay into. We rely on it to be there in critical times. It should not be considered the same as general revenues. It's a public trust with a specific mandate, and changes must be made with great care and much consultation among the people who pay into it.
The changes to the definition of an acceptable job and the reduction in benefits to those in higher unemployment areas essentially serve to reduce access to much-needed benefits for unemployed Canadians. Furthermore, the changes to the appeals process stand to create even more delays for Canadians who challenge a denial of benefits. In effect, you are telling workers not to bother appealing, thus giving up on an insurance system they pay into. This feels like a naked cash grab.
With all of the changes in this omnibus bill, the government is provoking widespread anger as more Canadians feel the pain of economic injustice. The polarizing effects of this approach may well lead to situations and consequences that the government hasn't foreseen and cannot control.
Thank you.