WHY WRITERS NEED A STRONG STATUS OF THE ARTIST LEGISLATION IN ONTARIO

Provincial Status of the Artist legislation could prove to be one of the greatest opportunities for writers to protect their rights and improve their status. There is currently an opportunity to lobby for such legislation in Ontario. The following primer is designed to answer members’ questions about Status of the Artist legislation and assist in advocating for Status of the Artist legislation with their local Member of Provincial Parliament.

Why do writers need a strong Status of the Artist Legislation?
A Status of the Artist Act which has a strong, well-worded labour relations component that includes mediation and arbitration would force producers to negotiate with creators’ organizations for minimum terms agreements. Such agreements negotiated by the Union and the publishers in a particular province would mean improved terms for most writers.

What is a Minimum Terms Agreement?
A Minimum Terms Agreement would establish the minimum terms that a publisher could offer an author. It would likely address minimum royalty rates, minimum advances, standard terms under which the rights would revert to the author, etc. An author could negotiate a contract with terms that exceeded the minimum terms, but the publisher could not offer any author terms that were below the minimum negotiated between the Union and the publisher.

Isn’t there Federal Status of the Artist legislation?
The federal Status of the Artist Act came into force in 1995. The Act was intended to improve the working conditions and economic circumstances of artists. The first part of the Act recognizes the importance of artists in Canadian society and establishes the Canadian Council on the Status of the Artist, which would be responsible for supporting and promoting the professional status of artists in Canada. However, the Council essentially ceased to function soon after the Act was implemented. The second part of the Act establishes a framework to govern collective bargaining between professional artists and federal producers. Under the Status of the Artist Act, the Union has been certified by the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal to negotiate with federal producers. However, since almost all book publishers are provincial producers, the Union’s Federal certification does not authorize the Union to negotiate with these publishers on behalf of its members.

Why Ontario? What about the other provinces?
Ideally the Union would like to see Status of the Artist Acts in all provinces. There is Status of the Artist legislation in Quebec that contains a labour relations component, although the Act covering writers has not resulted in any agreements. Saskatchewan has a Status of the Artist Act, but without the labour relations component. Provincial Status of the Artist legislation would allow the Union to negotiate minimum terms agreements with provincial publishers. Since Ontario’s book publishing sector accounts for 39% of the country’s book publishers, produces 49% of new or reprinted titles, and generates 71% of total book publishing revenue, Minimum Terms Agreements with Ontario’s publishers would likely have a very big impact on writers all across the country.

A well-worded Status of the Artist Act in Ontario would allow the Union to negotiate minimum terms agreements with publishers in Ontario, where the majority of Canada’s publishers reside.

Why is provincial legislation needed at all?
Without Status of the Artist legislation, negotiations with producers by The Writers’ Union of Canada could be considered a breach of the Competition Act (as the publishers claimed on a previous occasion years ago when the Union commenced negotiations with the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Canadian Publishers Council.) Labour statutes specifically allow trade unions to bargain collectively for their members – an activity that might otherwise be seen as an improper interference with free markets. Status of the Artist legislation would provide similar protection for creators’ organizations.

So what has happened so far?
The Liberal Government, under Dalton McGuinty, promised to produce a report on Status of the Artist Legislation for Ontario within the first two years of its mandate, the government is now in the third year of its mandate and while it has undertaken a consultation on the issue it has yet to release the report.

The Union has been urging the Government of Ontario to keep its promise of enacting provincial Status of the Artist legislation. The Ontario Minister of Culture’s Advisory Council for Arts and Culture established a Status of the Artist Sub-Committee. In November 2005 the Union submitted a brief to the Committee.

What did the Union’s brief recommend?
The Union’s brief called for an Ontario Status of the Artist Act that would provide:
· a labour relations regime for self-employed artists and producers, including certification of artists’ organizations and mandatory collective bargaining for minimum terms agreements with producers;
· income tax relief for artists;
· protection of artists from insolvencies of producers;
· legal aid for artists’ issues; and
· welfare of senior artists.
(The Union’s brief can be found here.)

Where do we go from here?
The Union and its members need to keep pressing the Ontario Government to introduce Status of the Artist legislation with a strong, well-worded labour relations component that would allow for collective bargaining between associations of self-employed artists and provincial producers. Writers need to remind their provincial Member of Parliament, Premier Dalton McGuinty, Minister of Culture Caroline Di Cocco, and Minister of Labour Steve Peters that:
· Ontario’s cultural industries contribute more than $5.3 billion to Ontario’s economy and generate more than 40,000 highly skilled jobs in Ontario. At the core of this multi-billion dollar sector are the creators who produce the intellectual property on which cultural industries are built. Ontario-based book publishers alone generated $1.7 billion in revenues in 2000-01. Total book publishing revenues in Canada for that year were $2.4 billion. The direct impact on GDP for Canadian-owned Ontario-based book publishers is $98.8 million. Culture is big business in Ontario. And yet a 1998 study reported the average net income for Canadian freelance book and periodical writers as $11,480.
· Writers who are self-employed are not provided with the same benefits as other workers, i.e. collective bargaining rights, health and safety, insurance, training, income protection.
· Writers need Status of the Artist legislation to protect their rights, enhance their working conditions, and ensure they are fairly compensated for their work which is at the basis of a multi-billion dollar cultural sector which employs tens of thousands of workers.
· Fair treatment of Ontario’s writers and other artists will ensure that they can continue to create for the benefit of all citizens of Ontario and Canada.
· Art and Culture “enrich the social fabric of Ontario and foster critical thinking in the development of strong local identity…[I]t is the government’s responsibility to provide stable funding and status to Canadian artists in order to create a climate in which they can excel.” Mr. Rosario Marchese (Member of Provincial Parliament for Trinity-Spadina, N.D.P.)

Members need to contact their M.P.P.’s etc and remind them of the importance of this legislation.

How do I contact my M.P.P.?
Addresses and contact information for Members of Provincial Parliament by riding can be found at: www.ontla.on.ca/index.htm, under members. Members are asked to contact and/or copy their letters to:
Hon. Dalton McGuinty
Queen’s Park
Rm 281, Main Legislative Building
Toronto ON M7A 1A4

Hon. Caroline Di Cocco
Ministry of Culture
900 Bay Street, 5th Floor, Mowat Block
Toronto ON M7A 1C2

Hon. Steve Peters
Ministry of Labour
400 University Ave. 14th Flr.
Toronto ON M7A 1T7

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