Writers’ Union briefs are documents or speeches delivered to government or sector partners on behalf of the Union. Briefs explain the position of the Union on legislation that affects the lives of writers. This page publishes briefs to the government by The Writers’ Union of Canada.

2011
Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance 2012 (66.1 KB PDF)
Because the cultural sector has long demonstrated a significant return on investment, strategic investments should be not only continued but, at the earliest opportunity, expanded. No-cost legislative measures - such as a copyright bill that assures creators their rightful revenue streams and a National Digital Economy Strategy that includes the arts - can play an important role in a sustained economic recovery.

2009
Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2010 (42.8 KB PDF)
To support the creative work that is the heart of Canada's cultural economy, The Writers' Union of Canada urges the Government of Canada in its next budget to:
· Introduce a Copyright Copyright-Income Deduction for creators, modeled on that
used in the province of Quebec.
· Exempt from taxation subsistence grants for creators administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
· Increase the Public Lending Right Commissionís budget to bring its hit rate up to a level more aligned with the hit rate established 18 years ago.

TWUC Brief for the Copyright Consultations (38.9 KB PDF)
Copyright legislation must provide the legal protection for our works and allow us to earn a reasonable income from those works. Other countries have recognized the importance of creators by keeping them at the centre of their Copyright Acts. Canada should do the same, because creators are the engine that drives Canada’s cultural industries and the income that copyright generates is their fuel.

Pre-Budget Consultations for Budget 2009 (152 KB PDF)
Creators are at the heart of a knowledge-based economy. We produce the intellectual property on which the entire cultural sector is built. You will receive representations from the cultural industries, the filmmakers and the publishers, the art galleries and museums. Without the individual artist who dedicates her or his working life to creative expression, developing screenplays and composing opera scores, writing books and filling galleries with paintings and sculptures, all of these industries would collapse.

2008
The Writers' Union of Canada's submission to The Senate Committee on Banking, Trade
and Commerce with respect to Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, including amendments in relation to foreign investment entities and non-resident trusts, and to provide for the bijural expression of the provisions of that Act. (32.7 KB PDF)
We believe that the subsection 120(3)(b) of Bill C–10 will lead to increased selfcensorship by writers and other artists and cast a greater chill on expression of ideas. This is unacceptable to a society that has enshrined freedom of expression in its
Charter of Rights, and we call on the Senate to defeat this bill and return it to the
House of Commons.

2007
The Writers’ Union of Canada’s submission to the Standing Committee on Human Services with respect to Bill No. 40 of 2006-07: An Act to amend the Status of the Artist Act, Saskatchewan. (165 KB PDF)
"We call upon you to make recommendations that amend the The Status of the Artist Act in Saskatchewan to include effective measures dealing with a labour relations regime for self-employed, professional artists and producers, including certification of artists’ organizations and mandatory collective bargaining for minimum terms agreements with producers’ organizations, with sectoral bargaining, mediation available, and binding arbitration if necessary.

Submission To The Standing Committee On Canadian Heritage Investigating The Role Of The CBC/Radio-Canada As A Public Broadcaster In The 21st Century.
(76.3 KB PDF)
"Distinctively Canadian in nature – culturally, historically and artistically – CBC/Radio-Canada programming has been deteriorating in recent years because of a lack of appropriate stable funding. Accordingly, the mandate of this cherished institution has fallen victim to shortsighted and unrealistic austerity measures, and ambivalent government approaches to such issues as media convergence, foreign ownership, cultural sovereignty, and cultural funding policy generally. To reverse this deterioration, The Writers’ Union of Canada respectfully makes the following recommendations..."

2006
Brief to the Law Amendments Committee of the Nova Scotia Legislature. (116 KB, PDF)
“We believe that BillC-17, if it becomes law, will infringe the freedom of expression guaranteed by the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it will have the potential to stifle both new and old stories and opinions. This encroachment on freedom of expression is not just an infringement of the right of certain writers and others to write about their crimes or to collaborate with professional writers to tell their stories. Rather, it is an infringement of the right of all Canadians to be participants in a democratic society without unjustifiable restrictions on their right to know.”

Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance: Canada's Writers Promote Canada in a Competitive World. (146 KB PDF)
“To support the creative work that is the heart of Canada’s cultural economy, The Writers’ Union of Canada urges the Government of Canada in its next budget to: invest in the not-for-profit arts sector… introduce a copyright-income deduction… support The Writers’ Union of Canada in its efforts to seek Secured and Preferred Creditor Status for Writers…introduce a Back-Averaging Plan… increase PLR’s budget… [and] extend Employment Insurance Benefits.

2005
Brief to the Ontario Ministry of Culture’s Advisory Council for Arts and Culture Status of the Artist Sub-Committee. (195 KB PDF)
The Writers’ Union of Canada appeals to the government to deal with a labour relations regime for self-employed artists, income tax relief, protection for artists from insolvencies of producers, legal aid for artists, and welfare of senior artists.

Brief to the Standing Committee on Justice on Bill C-2: a criminal code amendment on child pornography. (130 KB PDF)
“We believe that the proposed changes to the law will lead to increased self-censorship by writers and other artists and cast a greater chill on expression of ideas.”

Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance: Writers, Productivity and the Nation's Standard of Living. (112 KB PDF)
“To support the creative work that is the heart of Canada’s cultural economy, The Writers’ Union of Canada urges the Government of Canada in its next budget to: increase funding to the not-for-profit arts sector… introduce a copyright-income deduction… introduce a Back-Averaging Plan… exempt from taxation subsistence grants for creators… grant the Public Lending Right Commission’s request for a budgetary increase… support The Writers’ Union of Canada in its efforts to seek Secured Creditor Status for Writers… extend Employment Insurance Benefits…”

2003
Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Heritage with respect to its statutory review of the copyright act. (96.9 KB PDF)
“Our survival as freelance professionals depends on protection of our copyright works and we consider it imperative for Canada to modernize its copyright legislation to address the domestic and international developments that have taken place in recent years.”

Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee of Banking, Trade and Commerce. (22.3 KB PDF)
“The Government has recognized that it has a role to play in sustaining the book industry, but to date the level of commitment is substantially less than that received by other non-cultural industries. In addition to increasing its direct support to publishers, the Government could: provide a tax deduction… introduce a Public Lending Right Act… increase the base funding for the Canada Council…make the Copyright Act the sole responsibility of the Department of Canadian Heritage… [and] produce a ‘cultural component’ for the Competition Bureau…”

2000
Brief to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on the State of the Book Industry. (113 KB PDF)
“…the existing law — both legislation and case law — is confused and confusing and does little to protect writers, who are currently entirely without preference or security and are unable to protect themselves adequately by contract or to afford to litigate against a trustee or receiver who disputes any rights they do have.”