Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
My name is Luc Fortin. I am the president and CEO of the Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes, the Quebec Musicians' Guild, Local 406 of the Canadian Federation of Musicians. The Canadian Federation of Musicians represents 14,000 professional musicians. The Guilde des musiciens et musiciennes has 3,300 members in Quebec.
I'm very grateful to you for inviting me to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance.
I would like to begin by acknowledging the remarkable work of the Canadian government and Parliament in these very difficult times in response to COVID-19. This crisis has caused millions of Canadians to suddenly lose their livelihoods. You have shown creativity and compassion in developing, in a very short period of time, a series of exceptional measures that will enable Canadian businesses and all Canadians to get through this extraordinary crisis. You have had to work under very short deadlines and under pressure. It is therefore normal to have to make adjustments when you become aware of certain situations whose magnitude you had not previously suspected.
One of the issues involves the Canada emergency response benefit, the temporary help that self-employed people are entitled to receive, which provides $2,000 a month for four months.
Since mid-March, our members—musicians and freelancers—have suddenly lost all their music contracts as a result of the closure of concert venues and the ban on gatherings. They thought they were entitled to the Canada emergency response benefit. However, there is a problem: under the current eligibility rules, only those who expect to have no employment or self-employment income for at least 14 consecutive days during the initial four-week period are eligible; for the next three four-week periods, they must not expect to have employment income.
Music is usually a precarious profession. Contracts are not regular and revenues fluctuate. Like many other artists, our members often rely on other sources of income to stabilize their situation. Even after losing all of their primary income, if they are unfortunate enough to continue to receive small earnings from secondary or other employment, they will not be eligible for the Canada emergency response benefit. The rules are too strict; no income, however small, is possible. Why should they not also be entitled to emergency assistance during the crisis when they find themselves destitute?
We have received hundreds of emails, Facebook messages and calls from our members who will no longer have enough income for their basic needs. They feel abandoned. I'll give you some of the many, many examples from our members.
A member informed us that, following the closure of her school due to the pandemic, the school board has decided to honour its private lesson contracts and pay teachers every two weeks until June. Our member has asked not to be paid for fear of not being eligible for the Canada emergency response benefit, but the school board says there is nothing it can do. What should she do? She will receive $53 every two weeks. She cannot live on that and she will not get the $2,000. That's unbelievable.
Another member told us that he was not eligible for federal assistance because of a two-hour weekly teaching assignment for which he will continue to be paid during the containment measures. Yet he has lost all of his main income from freelancing, which was about $23,000 a year, which meant a minimum of $3,500 from March to May. The best solution he has found is to sublet his apartment. He will live with friends and family for about a year.
Finally, according to another musician, some symphony orchestras have offered to compensate musicians for concerts cancelled due to the crisis and give them from 25% to 50% of lost income to help them subsist. These small amounts will be deposited during the months of April and May. According to what he understands, even if he has not been working since March 13, he will not be eligible for benefits because he will receive this small compensation for cancelled concerts.
I'm sure you understand that this situation is counterproductive. I am counting on your creativity and compassion to find solutions so that all those Canadian workers who really need the Canada emergency response benefit can use it to get through the crisis.
Thank you for listening to me.