My name is Ethan Clarke. I am the vice-president of the Canadian Freelance Union.
We are a union of communications workers who have a freelance relationship with our employers or clients. Our union started as a response to the downsizing of newsrooms across the country about a decade ago. We are a community chapter of Unifor, the union. Unifor represents 310,000 workers across Canada, and specifically 12,000 journalists and media workers.
The composition of our community chapter is very diverse, including journalists, writers, editors, videographers, photographers, web designer developers, graphic designers, and translators. I, for example, run a company that builds websites. Our members are younger than the Canadian average, with more than 35% under the age of 44. Despite more than a half of our members having a higher education degree, a half of our membership earns less than $35,000 a year.
Our union has three main roles. First, we offer a break from the isolation inherent in the nature of our work.
Second, we offer services that would be hard for freelancers to access on their own. Health plans, contract dispute resolution, and contract templates are all services that we offer. Buying these services together means that we can do so at a much lower rate than if we were to try to access these services as individuals.
Finally, our union serves as a political voice for our members. We speak to those such as you, who have the ability to improve the lives of freelancers, about the changes that we need.
Working in the digital field means that our members are on the front lines of the transformations of many different industries. We're affected by the lack of regulation of the Canadian digital and online media sector leading to underfunding and an absence of good, stable jobs. We're affected by the fact that work in Canada is becoming more precarious. While some of our membership are freelancers by choice, the reality remains that many of them are freelancers because of the lack of good media jobs in Canada.
Our union, Unifor, has played a leading role in defining the new vision of NAFTA that works for Canadians. Just like trade more generally, e-commerce is not an end in itself. Trade is a means to a higher end, namely sustenance, economic security, and material prosperity.
From a labour perspective, the problem with Canada's current free trade regime is that it elevates capital above labour, privileges proprietors at the expense of workers, and strengthens the social position of business to the detriment of the public. Accordingly, any attempt to update our approach to e-commerce and trade should take account of the following principles, especially from a freelance worker's perspective.
There should be special attention to the production of local cultural content. Canada and the provinces must be free to regulate to ensure there is space for Canadian artists, creative professionals, and cultural producers. There should be extra care given to workers' rights and working conditions even for workers in freelance positions. Fair compensation, a safe work environment, paid time off, sick leave, overtime, secure retirement, these are some of the things that many Canadian workers enjoy as a consequence of generations of workplace struggle.
By freeing capital to move over national borders and by enhancing the power of investors generally, investor rights agreements like NAFTA pit workers in Canada with workers in the United States and Mexico. Any changes to e-commerce rules should not exert downward pressure on the quality of work life that Canadians enjoy. An improvement in the conditions and compensation of work should be understood as the goal to be pursued, not a threat to be neutralized.
There is a range of regulatory tools that can be used by the federal government to help grow, strengthen, and sustain Canadian content in the digital age. The first is to maintain and improve the current mix of tax and regulatory tools designed to promote and support Canadian content and ensure there are no more exceptions given to either foreign or Canadian online media services.
The second is Canadian content obligations for both foreign and domestic over-the-top television service providers. Streaming video companies like Netflix and Google are capturing a growing share of audiences and should deliver a commitment to Canadian content comparable to other existing services.
The third is a revenue levy on domestic ISP providers. A 5% levy on monthly Internet bills above $25 could inject more than $118 million annually to support the production of Canadian news and entertainment.
In conclusion, we hope that the committee will look at e-commerce as a way to elevate working conditions for freelancers and creative workers here in Canada. We believe that in e-commerce, and in trade agreements generally, our governments should maintain the ability to take action in support of Canadian culture and content. The absence of proper rules regulating the ability of companies in Canada to outsource work internationally would be detrimental to freelance workers, whose livelihoods depend on a strong, vibrant Canadian media, digital, and cultural sector.
I thank you for the opportunity to present here today, and I look forward to your questions.