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e-2818 (Culture and heritage)

E-petition
Initiated by Budd Hall from Victoria, British Columbia

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the House of Commons

Whereas:
  • Many of Canada’s musicians face extinction;
  • Canada’s musicians, their sound and technical support workers and the Canadian live music industry will be one of the last sectors of the economy to recover from the pandemic;
  • Without income from performances, many of our established musicians will be forced to leave music as a career, and young musicians will never get a start;
  • Canadian professional musicians perform on average 96 times a year, but according to a national survey by Music Canada, the average number of bookings for the rest of 2020 is only eight with more than half of the musicians having zero performances booked, and bookings so far for 2021 are already lower than usual;
  • Digital streaming is not a substitute for live performances, and research from Abacus Data shows that most Canadians want to get back to enjoying live music, including 89% of Canadians who attend live music events regularly; and
  • While there are several targeted economic supports to the parts of the music industry from FACTOR, Canada Council for the Arts, and provincial bodies, they are a patchwork of support for the Canadian music ecosystem and there are few programs that assist musicians directly.
We, the undersigned, residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to:
1. Guarantee CERB funding or its equivalent for musicians and technical supporters until the summer of 2021;
2. Fund and extend the music ecosystem support models such as SoundON from British Colombia across the country; and
3. Create project funds that go directly to musicians for developing music content through virtual platforms.

Response by the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): IREK KUSMIERCZYK

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) was an important and necessary temporary response to support Canadians who stopped working because of

COVID-19.

The CERB provided $500 per week for up to 28 weeks, for eligible workers, including the self-employed, who stopped working or lost their income due to COVID-19.  While many Canadians have returned to work since the start of the pandemic, the Government of Canada recognizes that many workers continue to need support, including those in the arts and culture sector.

As part of the Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, the Government has transitioned from the CERB to a simplified Employment Insurance (EI) program, effective September 27, 2020, to provide income support to eligible workers who remain unable to work. Recognizing that many workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic will have lost their jobs or worked reduced hours, a set of temporary measures have been introduced to facilitate access to EI benefits.

The Government of Canada also introduced a suite of three new benefits to support economic recovery and help Canadians who remain unable to work for reasons related to COVID-19.

Among these new supports, the Canada Recovery Benefit supports individuals who are not employed or self-employed due to the COVID-19 pandemic or are working and have had a reduction of at least 50 percent in their employment/self-employment income for reasons related to COVID-19 and are not eligible for EI. The Canada Recovery Benefit is available for up to 26 weeks between September 27, 2020, and September 25, 2021. Canadians receiving this Benefit need to be available and looking for work and accept work where it is reasonable to do so. Workers who receive the Canada Recovery Benefit and have an annual net income greater than $38,000 will be required to repay some or all of the benefit through the tax filing process.

Additional information on other recovery benefits is available at this link: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2020/10/backgrounder.html

 

Response by the Minister of Canadian Heritage

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Julie Dabrusin

The Government would like to thank the petitioners for expressing their concerns regarding the financial and artistic impact of COVID-19 on Canadian musicians and technical support workers.

The pandemic immediately halted the live music sector and caused significant financial losses across the value network. Live music had become the largest economic driver for the music industry and its absence has created further challenges to develop and promote Canadian artists, much of which relies on building audiences through live performances in Canada and abroad. A return to pre-COVID-19 activity levels is not expected for the next few years.

On September 9, 2020, the Minister of Canadian Heritage led a town hall on the music industry to better understand the financial pressures facing cultural organizations and artists. Participants discussed new models to improve artist remuneration and proposed recovery measures to support the sector’s recovery.  

The Government of Canada continues to provide financial support to Canadian artists and the music industry during the COVID-19 crisis through various mechanisms, described below.

Canada Music Fund and Emergency Support Fund

Canada Music Fund

The Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH), through the Canada Music Fund (CMF), provides direct financial support to Canadian music artists and entrepreneurs for the production and marketing of commercial music recordings, touring, showcasing, conferences, award shows and other events that enhance the visibility of Canadian artists. The CMF is administered by FACTOR for the English-language market and Musicaction for the French-language market.

The CMF supports different gender and identity groups of Canadian artists and entrepreneurs in both English and French-language markets, including Canadian artists of all racialized backgrounds and in different musical genres.

The CMF’s current reference level is $24.75 million. In Budget 2019, the CMF received $20 million over two fiscal years (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) to support a program modernization that opened funding to a wider spectrum of recipients who develop and promote Canadian artists. The 2020 Fall Economic Statement extended that additional funding for 2021-22. 

In a typical year, the CMF supports:

  • The production of over 500 albums by Canadian artists from a wide variety of genres.
  • Over 2,500 artist marketing, touring and showcasing projects allowing Canadian artists to expand their fan base at home and abroad.
  • Some 800 performances of artists from official language minority communities.
  • Bootcamps to support the development of artists’ business and artistic skills to reflect the changes in monetization streams and support new digital skills required for livestreams.
  • Around 300 collective promotional projects including:
    • Events showcasing hundreds of Canadian artists to international audiences and talent buyers.
    • Projects promoting Canadian music on a multitude of digital platforms.
    • Numerous conferences, award shows and other industry events.

On April 1, 2020, the CMF was modernized with a reformulated objective to increase the focus on artist promotion and to foster an environment where a diversity of Canadian music artists connect with audiences everywhere. The Program was also restructured according to new business models, opening flexible comprehensive envelope funding to a wide range of entrepreneurs who are integral to building audiences for Canadian artists.

The modernized Canada Music Fund is well-positioned to directly assist Canadian artists and music entrepreneurs amidst this unprecedented industry upheaval. The funding flexibility offered through the modernization’s expanded comprehensive envelope will support recipients’ key activities, with incentives to invest in new artists, indigenous artists, visible minorities, and artists from official language minority communities. In addition, the modernized CMF will continue to emphasize the development of artists' business and artistic skills, more critical than ever in the face of constant change.

Emergency Support Fund

On May 8, 2020, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced a $500M Emergency Support Fund (ESF) for temporary relief to the culture and sports sector.

For culture, the fund was distributed through departmental programs and portfolio agencies such as: Canada Periodical Fund, Canada Book Fund, Canada Music Fund (via FACTOR and Musicaction), Canada Arts Training Fund, Canada Arts Presentation Fund, Harbourfront Centre Funding Program, Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program, Canada Council for the Arts and Telefilm Canada. 

A two-phased approach was taken in order to accelerate the distribution of funds. Through Phases 1 and 2, the CMF delivered a total of $32.9 million in emergency support to 879 recipients who are key to artist development career. Phase 2 of CMF ESF funding included support for Canadian music entrepreneurs and organizations in the live music sector that do not normally receive funding from the CMF, including music venues, booking agents, concert promoters and for-profit festivals, to maintain jobs and stay in business.

Recipients had to demonstrate that their main activities are central to the career development of Canadian artists, the promotion of Canadian music content and audience development.

The CMF ESF funds were used to support the Canadian portion of eligible music activities related to Canadian artists, including payments to artists and freelance workers, administrative expenses, and fixed operational costs. Funding must not have been used to cover expenses already supported by other COVID-19 government emergency measures. Note that some recipients used a portion of their funding to present virtual live performances.

Coordinated Response

The Government’s financial support to the music industry and artists is multifaceted. Complementary to the commercial focus of the CMF as described above, the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) provides direct financial assistance to Canadian artists and supports the development of experimental, non-mainstream music. Further, the Canada Arts Presentation Fund (CAPF) supports music festivals and performing arts series in communities all across Canada. 

PCH undertook a rapid, coordinated response to provide urgent relief to the music industry, arts and cultural organizations through ESF support delivered via the CMF, CAPF, and the CCA.

Building on the ESF, the 2020 Fall Economic Statement included $181.5M to support the planning and presentation of COVID-19 safe events and the arts in 2021-22 – including both live and digital - and to provide work opportunities to artists and workers in these sectors. This amount includes a one-year renewal of additional funding for the CAPF and the CMF originally provided in Budget 2019.

Open for signature
September 1, 2020, at 11:14 a.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
October 31, 2020, at 11:14 a.m. (EDT)
Presented to the House of Commons
Laurel Collins (Victoria)
November 20, 2020 (Petition No. 432-00252)
Government response tabled
January 25, 2021
Photo - Laurel Collins
Victoria
New Democratic Party Caucus
British Columbia