Thank you Mr. Chair.
I'd like to begin by greeting all of you and thanking the witnesses for being here.
My questions will be addressed to Mr. Fortin, from the Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes du Québec, but I'll make a brief comment first.
I welcome the creation of the Canada emergency response benefit. It is a very important initiative, and it changes things, except that Mr. Fortin's testimony speaks for itself: the criteria currently in place exclude many people, including many self-employed workers. Yesterday, we talked about volunteer firefighters. I applaud the fact that the government said it would take care of them. Let us hope that this is the case for all the people who find themselves in an unfortunate situation.
I'm thinking, for example, of the plumber who goes out of business but has to respond to an emergency. I am thinking of health care professionals who have closed their offices, but the code of ethics also forces them to accept emergencies. I think of someone I know who does translation and who doesn't dare say no to his main employer, even if it's a small contract, when most of his income is no longer there.
Mr. Fortin, your testimony shows that the musicians fall through the cracks. I think that the government should really not let such situations happen. You said that a person was receiving $53 every two weeks because the school continued to pay them, but that they had no other income. You talked about another person who was forced to sublet his apartment to meet his basic needs. That's really terrible.
Do you have numbers? Are you able to tell us how much money musicians are currently losing? What are the estimates?