Thank you, Eleanor.
We commend the government for agreeing to review how artists can access employment insurance, based on the heritage committee recommendations to strengthen the Status of the Artist Act. We believe that EI must be available to self-employed performers and that the first $15,000 of a performer's income should be tax free. We also ask that artists be allowed to use four-year income averaging due to the fluctuation of an artist's income.
We agree wholeheartedly with the heritage committee that we need to strengthen the Status of the Artist Act. This act is already Canadian policy, but without effective regulation, the policy becomes meaningless. Basic minimum rights developed over 80 years with the industry and ACTRA should be standard when funding is accessed. Telefilm and the Canadian Media Fund should be given direction that funding should be conditional on application of the basic minimum. We note that the heritage committee agrees with us.
There are two other urgent issues threatening the livelihood of performers.
As performers and creative artists, an ACTRA member's face, voice and performance is their product. They earn a living based on the licensed use of their personal brand. We're urging the government—and we know this is already before the industry committee—to protect these invaluable assets from misuse through artificial intelligence. As a union, ACTRA champions the concept of the three Cs—consent, control and compensation—which must support legislation to protect performers and govern AI. ACTRA members' likenesses have already been exploited in deepfakes, some pornographic in nature, with absolutely zero consent.
New legislation must include protections for performers to prevent the unauthorized replacement of human performances by AI technology. AI must evolve in a way that respects human inspiration, creativity and ingenuity. In this new world of AI, it's more urgent than ever to resolve the inequities of the Copyright Act as well. Today, audiovisual performers—that's actors—need the same protections that are afforded to musicians under this legislation.
Thank you. We welcome your questions.