Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  May I just give one example?

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  That argument is totally bogus. I had to ask Tony Urquhart sitting here what his studio rent was in 1959. In 1959, the art market was so tidy that any artist would have been grateful for any sale, and any sale would have made a huge difference in their livelihood. Not that we're

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  We want to avoid grey markets. We want to avoid black markets. We want to avoid things like collector-to-collector deals, where the dealer is brokering and no taxes are being paid. These are practices that are going on all the time. New York is the biggest art market in the world

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  We have no problem with that, and we believe it actually exists in practice. Reputable dealers have “understandings contracts” with their artists. By tradition, a handshake is also a contract and is legally binding. But in the clarification of the minutiae of a dealer, there is n

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  Britain came in because of that.

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  That's in the primary market. We have to make a distinction here between the primary and the secondary market because the ARR is only specific to the secondary market. There is one fundamental difference, again, with respect to Madame Lavallée's.... When you sell an artwork,

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  It hurts the market, yes.

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  Yes, because you are charging every time title is passed. The difference, perhaps, between the art market and the other people appearing here today is that we're not talking about intellectual property. We're talking about an object. The artist made an object.

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  You're also making assumptions that the secondary market, which is absolutely minute in this country--maybe 10%, 15%, or 20% of the total art market, which, at the very best, may be $1 billion a year--

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  We're saying that it is the wrong approach for solving the issue of artists' income in this country. This is a band-aid solution.

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  It's a permanent solution, believe me, but it's not the answer, and the cost of administration for small business--

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  It will do harm to the marketplace, and therefore you will harm your artists. There is proof in Britain that dealers are changing their dealing habits; they are not supporting emerging artists because of the increased liability cost. I don't mean liability in the legal sense, but

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  May I reply?

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  As an international art dealer, I have to pay ARR every time I buy at auction in Europe, so we are being penalized in the marketplace here.

Bill C-32 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) committee  The answer is yes, and the experience has been--and the most recent data comes out of Britain, who are newcomers to the ARR--that 80% of the collected funds go to 10% of the artists, most of whom are the superstars of the art market. So there is no real evidence that this is actu