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16 July 2020
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Deputy Minister Freeland, Minister Morneau and Minister Guilbeault:
We represent tens of thousands of artists, writers, technicians, and performers from many backgrounds and regions across Canada. Our voices are united; we call upon the Government of Canada to ensure the financial well-being of all residents by implementing a permanent Basic Income Guarantee.
The pandemic’s wrath on lives has been swift. Millions are still out of work. Those whose financial situation was not previously precarious find themselves sinking into financial quicksand, their lives instantly upended through no fault of their own. The arts, culture, heritage, tourism, and creative industries have been deeply affected: productions have been canceled, venues shuttered, and livelihoods lost. In these unprecedented times, millions of Canadians, including those in the arts and culture sector, exist in a precarious reality. In this new reality, we are all vulnerable to unexpected changes in circumstances and unexpected hardships. Poverty can become a reality for all of us, abruptly, without warning.
Financial insecurity and the cracks in our health- and social-support systems have been highlighted by the pandemic, but they were always present. Structural inequalities disproportionately affect vulnerable and marginalized communities, making it more likely for people with disabilities, LGBTQ2+, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, refugees and immigrants, women, single mothers and others to slip into systemic cycles of poverty and poor health.
Many support programs have been eroded during the last few decades, with federal, provincial and territorial income assistance and disability support systems consistently failing to provide economic dignity or meet basic human needs. Furthermore, employment-insurance programs have not adapted to the realities of the gig economy or the self-employed, and a large proportion of workers do not meet their required criteria, which is often based on full-time work. If workers do qualify, they often face barriers to re-entering the labour force in the form of reduced support when short-term employment opportunities arise.
The gig economy is undermining decades of worker protections. As participants, many arts-and-culture-sector workers are subject to precarious short-term contracts, without access to benefits, paid sick leave, or even employment insurance. Today, the world of general labour is looking a lot like the way art labour has looked for decades. We write to express our collective concern regarding the precarious state of labour that is in urgent need of reform and redress.
Canada is at a crossroads. The government can continue to look the other way, allowing our most vulnerable to fall through the cracks of a systematically broken social safety net and perpetuate a history of economic insecurity, anxiety and fear. Or, we can take this opportunity to bring about much-needed change and make a meaningful difference that will lead to a brighter future. Establishing a Basic Income Guarantee will help to create a healthier, more equitable social safety system that provides financial support, elevating people and ensuring that no one is left behind.
We commend your leadership and the work of the Government of Canada in implementing and extending the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and other measures, including support for the arts, sports, and cultural sectors. However, too many are still being left behind, held back by barriers beyond their control. A Basic Income Guarantee would build on your existing programs, including CERB, and provide financial security to meet people’s basic needs and allow them to participate in society, living with dignity regardless of their work status.
As stakeholders of the arts and culture sector, we ask you to give Canadians the chance not only to survive, but to live.
Towards this:
We, the undersigned, are calling upon the Government of Canada to honour its commitment to poverty reduction and instate a Basic Income Guarantee to make a historic investment in a better tomorrow;
We call upon the Government of Canada to hereby reduce the inequities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: to remove the financial obstacles faced by our most vulnerable, to alleviate gender-based poverty, and to address the economic inequality based in persistent racism and colonialism;
We call upon the Government of Canada to implement a universally accessible and unconditional basic income program that guarantees an income floor to anyone in need.
In the pandemic’s wake, the arts communities, versatile and adaptable, are evolving in new and exciting ways. Artists, writers, technicians, and performers will continue to create and to inspire the world around them. Their creation of novel forms of digital culture, music and performance art, online entertainment, movies, literary works, arts and crafts will allow people to weather times of solitude, hardship, and ruptures in social behaviour and contribute to their overall well-being.
We envision a Basic Income Guarantee that ensures financial stability without eroding the existing federal support for arts and culture programs. Unconditional access to a basic income will support the remarkable creative capacity of individuals and provide employment opportunities, bold visions and community inspiration.
Great challenges are often the catalyst to transform societies and our ways of being – the challenges we face today are no exception. We require a Basic Income Guarantee. The opportunity for change is here and now.
Sincerely,
Craig Berggold – Media artist / Team leader, Case for Basic Income and the Arts, Ontario Basic Income Network
Zainub Verjee – Laureate, 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Outstanding Contribution
Clayton Windatt – Independent artist / curator
With, and on behalf of:
Organizations
- International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
- Canadian Federation of Musicians / Federation canadienne des musiciens
- Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (CAEA)
- Fédération culturelle canadienne-française (FCCF)
- Kehewin Native Dance Theatre
- Canadian Artists’ Representation / Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC)
- Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec (RAAV)
- Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT)
- Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference / Conférence des collectifs et des Centres d’artistes autogérés
- Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC)
- Independent Media Arts Alliance / Alliance des arts médiatiques indépendants
- Canadian Crafts Federation / Fédération canadienne des métiers d’art
- Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick
- League of Canadian Poets
- Canadian Dance Assembly / L’Assemblée canadienne de la danse (CDA / ACD)
- The Writers’ Union of Canada
- Dancer Transition Resource Centre/Centre de ressources et transition pour danseurs
- Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois (UNEQ)
- Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA)
- Electric City Culture Council Peterborough
- Canadian Federation of Musicians, Ottawa Local 180
- CARFAC – Ontario
- New Brunswick Crafts Council
- Basic Income YYC Arts Collective, Calgary
- Prospect Human Services, Studio C
- Kingston Arts Council
- CARFAC – Alberta
- Media Arts Network of Ontario
- Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts
- Quinte Arts Council
- Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/West
- Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/East
- CSARN (Canadian Senior Artists’ Resource Network)
- Associated Designers of Canada
Individuals
- Moridja Kitenge Banza – 2020 Sobey Art Award – Quebec / Multidisciplinary Artist
- Ruth Cuthand – 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual Artist
- Jorge Lozano – 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Filmmaker
- Anna Torma – 2020 Saidye Bronfman Award / 2020 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts
- Marlene Creates – 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Lifetime Artistic Achievement
- Alison Duke – 2019 ByBlacks People’s Choice Award Winner, Best Film Director
- Ali Kazimi – 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Filmmaker and Media Artist
- Gertrude Kearns – 2019 Member of the Order of Canada / Visual Artist
- Andrew James Paterson – 2019 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts
- Midi Onodera – 2018 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Media Artist
- Adrian Stimson – 2018 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual and Performance Artist
- Marcus Youssef – 2017 Siminovitch Prize for Theatre Laureate, Playwright
- George Elliot Clarke – 2017-16 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate
- Mike Hoolboom – 2017 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Filmmaker
- Christopher House, C.M. – 2017 Member of the Order of Canada / Choreographer
- Glenn Lewis – 2017 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual Artist
- Colleen Murphy – 2016 & 2007 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
- Emma Donoghue – 2016 Nominated for Academy Award – Best Adapted Screenplay / 2010 Finalist, Man Booker Prize
- Jayce Salloum – 2014 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Media Artist
- Peggy Baker CM, O.Ont, LLD, Dlitt – 2009 Governor General’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance
- Adrianne Pieczonka, O.C. FRSC – 2008 Officer of the Order of Canada / Opera Singer / Chair in Voice, Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music
- Lata Pada – 2008 Member of the Order of Canada, Choreographer / Dancer
- Eric Metcalfe, R.C.A., LL, lit – 2008 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Interdisciplinary Artist
- Vera Frenkel – 2006 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Multidisciplinary Artist
- Paul Wong – 2005 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Video Artist
- Vern Thiessen – 2003 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
- Jamelie Hassan – 2001 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Visual Artist
- Djanet Sears – 1998 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
- Colleen Wagner – 1996 Governor General’s Award for Literary Merit, Drama
- Judy Rebick – Writer
- Lillian Allen – Poet / Writer / Performer
- Rosa John – Artistic Director, Kehewin Native Dance Theatre
- John Greyson – Video / Film Artist
- Richard Fung – Professor Emeritus, Ontario College of Art & Design Univ.
- Carole Conde – Independent Artist
- Karl Beveridge – Independent Artist
- Min Sook Lee – Filmmaker / Teacher
- Indu Vashist – Director, South Asian Visual Arts Centre
- Peter Morin – Faculty of Art, Ontario College of Art & Design University
- Giovanna Riccio – Poet
- Krisztina Szabo – Opera Singer
- Carol Podedworny – Director, McMaster Museum of Art
- Devyani Saltzman – Director of Programming, Art Gallery of Ontario
- Gerald Beaulieu – Visual Artist / Former President CARFAC National
- Peter McGillivray – Baritone / Opera Singer / Council Member, Canadian Actor’s Equity Assoc.
- Sylvie Meste – Directrice générale, Conseil Québécois du Théâtre
- Anne Bertrand – Director, Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference
- April Britski – National Executive Director, CARFAC
- Maegen Black – Director, Canadian Crafts Federation / Freelance Author
- Scott McLeod – Editor, Prefix Magazine
- Sarindar Dhaliwal – Visual Artist
- Florence MacDonald – Playwright
- Andrea Fatona – Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design University
- Peter Flemming – Actor
- Pierre-André Doucet – Pianist / Co-directeur artistique, Été musical de Barachois
- Julien LeBlanc – Concert Pianist / Co-Artistic Director, Barachois Summer Music
- Chris Tolley – Playwright / Artistic Director, Expect Theatre
- Narendra Pachkhede – Writer / Artist
- Clive Robertson – Artist / retired Art History Professor, Queens University
- Judith Marcuse, LL.D.(Hon.) – International Centre of Art for Social Change
- Marie Magistry – Singer
- Dot Tuer – Writer / Cultural Historia
- Brenda Longfellow – Independent Artist
- Glen Richards – Independent Artist
- Lisa Myers – Artist / Curator / Ass. Professor, York University
- Chantal Dionne – Soprano / Voice Teacher
- Kyo Maclear – Writer
- Lee Williams – Interdisciplinary Artist
- John Farah – Musician
- Stéphanie Pothier – Mezzo-Soprano / Classical Singer
- Elisa Paloschi – Filmmaker
- Jennifer Dysart – Filmmaker
- Sky Gilbert – Writer
- Catherine Hahn – Designer
- Paul Kirby – Caravan Stage Society
- Adriana Kelder – Caravan Stage Society
- Susan Lord – Professor, Queens University, Cultural Studies
- Ron Burnett – Writer / Media Practitioner
- Hank Bull – Independent Artist
- Penny Joy – Documentary Video Producer
- Ron Benner – Film / Design
- Velcrow Ripper – Filmmaker
- Nova Ami – Filmmaker
- Marcia Johnson – Playwright / Actor / Dramaturge / Audiobook director / Activist
- Alexis O’Hara – Interdisciplinary Artist
- Sydney Lancaster – Artist
- Dennis Day – Artist/ Editor/ Educator
- b.h. Yael – Media / Visual Artist, Ontario College of Art & Design University
- Antoine Bourges – Film Director, University of British Columbia
- Jessie Golem – Photographer
- Pam Patterson – Performance / Visual Artist, Ontario College of Art & Design Univ.
- Andrea Cohen-B – Director, Meta4films
- Dirk Van Stralen – Independent Artist / Theatre Practitioner
- Atefeh Khademolreza – Video Artist
- Sally Lee – Musician / Arts Manager / Board Member, Wavelength, and CONTACT Photography Festival
- Elaine Brière – Filmmaker / Photographer
- Jude Griebel – Visual Artist
- Henry Tsang – Artist / Assoc. Professor, Emily Carr University of Art + Design
- Reid Shier – Director / Curator, Polygon Gallery
- Cornelia Wyngaarden – Independent Artist
- Mark Parlett – Independent Artist / Musician
- Liz Park – Curator, UB Buffalo Art Galleries
- Tazeen Qayyum – Independent Visual Artist
- Marc Glassman – Writer / Editor
- Judy Wolfe – Writer
- Demetra Christakos – Director / Curator
- Rina Fraticelli – Director
- Stefan St-Laurent – Artist / Curator / Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa
- Bryan Mulvihill – Independent Artist / Curator
- Julia Hutchings – Filmmaker
- Joanne Tod – Independent Artist
- Scott Marsden – Independent Curator
- Phinder Dulai – Author / Editor
- Nadia Myre – Independent Artist
- Shawna Dempsey – Independent Artist
- Lorri Millan – Independent Artist
- Bogdan Luca – Painter
- Rafael Goldchain – Photographer / Professor, Sheridan College, Faculty of Animation Arts and Design
- Gary Kibbins – Video Artist / Teacher, Queens University, Film & Media
- Brian Kelly – Independent Artist
- Barbara Evans – Filmmaker / Professor
- Catherine Osborne – Writer / Editor
- Ananya Ohri – Independent Cultural Worker / Producer
- Aaron Rotenberg – Media Artist / Spiritual Leader
- Faisal Anwar – New Media / Interactive Artist
- Rosemary Heather – Arts Journalist
- Lynne Fernie – Artist / Filmmaker / Programmer
- Makiko Hara – Independent Curator
- Gary Varro – Artistic Director, Q City Cinema and Performatorium
- Sue Donaldson – Arts Administrator
- Christian Bernard – Singer, Independent Artist
- Scott Miller Berry – Filmmaker / Cultural Worker
- Frances Loeffler – Curator
- Ann MacDonald – Director / Curator
- Peggy Gale – Independent Curator / Arts Writer
- Penelope Stewart – Visual Artist
- Bruce Barber – Independent Artist
- David Lester – Graphic Novelist
- Taien Ng-Chan – Independent Artist
- Flavio Belli – Independent Artist / Curator / Collector
- Jason St-Laurent – Curator
- Lisa Deanne Smith – Curator, Onsite Gallery
- Milly Ristvedt – Self-employed Visual Artist
- Michelle Gay – Independent Artist / Educator
- Shannon Coates, DMA – Voice Educator
- Sharlene Bamboat – Artist / Cultural Worker
- Su Ditta – Curator / Arts Administrator
- Don Bouzek – 2014 City of Edmonton Award of Excellence / 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal / Artist
- Elia Kirby – Great Northern Way Scene Shop and Arts Factory Society
- Vincenzo Pietropaolo – Photographer / Writer
- Pam Harris – Documentary Photographer / Writer
- Shirley Yanover – Visual Artist
- Steve Stober – Photographer
- Karen Knights – Archive Manager, VIVO Media Arts Centre
- Rahul Verma – Playwright / Theatre Director, Teesri Duniya
- Betty Julian – Independent Curator / Adjunct Curator, Prefix ICA
- Ashes Withyman – Visual Artist
- Susan Crean – Writer
- Hamal Docter – Arts Policy Consultant
- Gita Hashemi – Independent Artist / Curator / Writer
- Francesca Vivenza – Mixed-media Artist
- Gary Magwood – Belleville Downtown Documentary Film Festival
- Michael Mirolla – Writer / Publisher, Guernica Editions
- Bryant Didier – Evolutionary Music Cooperative – EvMc
- Meg MacKay – Screenwriter
- Jennifer Smith – Distribution, Video Pool Media Arts Centre / Independent Curator
- Michael Trommer – Sound Artist, Ontario College of Art & Design University
- Camille Turner – Media and Performance Artist / Curator
- Erin Ball – Circus Artist / Owner, Kingston Circus Arts
- Jason Britski – Filmmaker
- Christine Swintak – Artist / Educator / Creative Consultant
- Kevin Barrett – Musician, CFM Toronto Local 149
- Robin Moir – President, CFM, Local 518
- Susie Moore – Kingston Musicians’ Union, Local 518
- Claudia Leduc – Multi-media Coordinator
- Sky Goodden – Publisher of Momus, Editor / Critic
- Norm Foster – Playwright / Actor
- Anna Chatterton – Playwright
- Sunny Drake – 2019 Stratford Festival Playwright in-residence
- Pierre-Luc Landry – Writer
- Colin Miner – Artist / Educator
- Steve Bates – Artist / Musician
- Denise Young – Picture this…Film Festival, Calgary
- Jeffrey Stonehouse – Flutist / Artistic Director, Ensemble Paramirabo
- Kristina Lemieux – Executive Director, Generator
- Carmen Gibbs – Directrice générale, Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick
- Eleanor King – Independent Artist / Teacher
- Catherine Ballachey – President, LMDA Canada Board
- Matt McGeachy – Company Dramaturge, Factory Theatre
- Megan Johnson – Performance Scholar / Dramaturg
- Marie Barlizo – Playwright
- David Geary – Playwright / Dramaturg / Educator, Capilano University
- Joanna Garfinkel – Freelance Dramaturg
- Lindsay Lachance – Artistic Associate, National Arts Centre, Indigenous Theatre
- Pearl Van Geest – Independent Artist / Teacher
- Paula Murray – Independent Artist
- Alexandra Gelis – Independent Media Artist
- Judy Radul – Artist /Professor, School of Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser Univ.
- Tam-Ca Vo-Van – Director, SAW Gallery
- Karen Kaeja – 2019 Dance Ontario’s Lifetime Achievement Award
- Allen Kaeja – 2019 Dance Ontario’s Lifetime Achievement Award
- Andrea Donaldson – Artistic Director, Nightwood Theatre
- Melissa R Knive – Artist, Wolf Ears Art
- Allison Cushing – Music Yukon / Yukon Arts Foundation,
- Andrea Clark – Caravan Stage Company
- Dave Babcock – Musician
- Maria Dunn – 2017 Juno-nominated Songwriter, Edmonton Music Prize Artist
- Bob Tildesley – Musician
- Dana Wylie – 2018 Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated Musician
- Patricia Darbasie – Actor
- Jane Heather – Theatre Artist
- Brooke Leifso – Theatre Artist
- Mieko Ouchi – Theatre Artist / Writer
- Kate Ryan – Actor / Theatre Director
- Brian Deedrick – Opera and Theatre Director
- Tim Yakimec – Artistic Director, Edmonton Opera
- Karen Bishop – Visual Artist / Alberta Arts Action
- Jill Thomson – Visual Artist / Co-founder Alberta Arts Action
- Trisia Eddy – Visual Artist / Writer / Alberta Arts Action
- Mary Joyce – Visual Artist
- Jannie Edwards – Writer / Editor/ Teacher
- Paula E. Kirman – Writer / Photographer / Musician
- Myrna Kostash – Writer
- Alice Major – First Poet Laureate City of Edmonton / Founder, Edmonton Poetry Festival
- Lorna Thomas – Chair, Documentary Organization of Canada-Alberta / Filmmaker
- Ava Karvonen – Filmmaker
- Conni Massing – Playwright / Screenwriter
- Kenneth T. Williams – Playwright / Dramaturg
- Denise Roy – Arts Manager, Alberta Arts Action
- Debbie Houle – 2005 Juno Nominee for Aboriginal Recording of the Year as a member of Asani
- Anna Marie Sewell – 2011 Poet Laureate City of Edmonton
- Marek Tyler – 2020 Juno Nominee Indigenous Music Album of the Year as a member of nêhiyawak
- Sophy Romvari – Film / Design
- Justine A. Chambers – Contemporary Dance Artist
- Daniel Akira Stadnicki – Musician
- Yvonne Ng – 2016 Jacqueline Lemieux Award, Canada Council for the Arts
- Belinda Cornish – Actor / Writer
- Collette “Coco” Murray – 2019 Toronto Arts Foundation Community Arts Award / Dance Educator
- Johanna Householder – Artist / Professor Emerita, OCAD University
- Pamela Tzeng – Independent Artist / Dancers’ Studio West
- Kristi Hanson – Actor
- P. Megan Andrews – Dance Artist
- Jason Hardwick – Actor
- Ame Henderson – Choreographer
- Robert Binet – Creative Producer of CreativAction, The National Ballet of Canada
- Kevin Ormsby – Dance Artist / Choreographer / Artistic Director, KasheDance
- Sheldon Elter – Actor
- Mary Jo Major – Writer
- Christine Hanson – Cellist / Composer
- Caterina Edwards – Writer
- Colleen Huston – Visual Artist
- Marce Merrell – Writer
- Sydney Lancaster – Visual Artist
- Miriam Dunn – Poet
- Maurice Mierau – Poet
- Lana St-Louis
- Valentin Brown – Independent Artist
- Mitchell Ellam – Executive Director, White Water Gallery, North Bay
- Ayumi Goto – Independent Artist
- Cari Green – Film Producer
- Michelle van Beusekom – Executive Director, Documentary Organization of Canada
- Anna Mae Alexander – Producer / Actor
- Maggie MacKenzie – Actor
- Kurt Archer – Playwright / Director / Actor
- Aurora Borin – Musician
- Ariella Pahlke – Video artist / Curator
- Jessica Hallenbeck – Lantern Films
- Bill Kimball – Public Energy: Artistic and Executive Director Performing Arts
- Gabe Pollock – Journalist
- Chad Hogan –Market Hall Performing Arts
- Kate Story – Dancer / Writer / Actor / Director
- Peg McCraken – Peterborough Singers
- Vonnie Von Helmolt – Film Producer
- Nadine Changfoot – Professor Trent University, Art and Disability / Dance / Film
- Alex Bierk – Visual Artist
- Elisha Rubacha – Writer / Publisher
- Lesley Fletcher – Executive Director, League of Canadian Poets
- Rajinderpal S. Pal – Poet
- Colin Wolf – Artistic Director, Gwaandak Theatre, Whitehorse
CC’ed to:
Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, P.C., M.P., President of the Treasury Board
Hon. Diane Lebouthillier, P.C., M.P., Minister of National Revenue
Hon. Carla Qualtrough, P.C., M.P., Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion
Hon. Filomena Tassi, P.C., M.P., Minister of Labour
Hon. Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P., Minister of Economic Development
Hon. Wayne Easter, PC, M.P., for Malpeque, Prince Edward Island
Hon. Senator Patricia Bovey, FRSA, FCMA
Hon. Senator René Cormier
Hon. Senator Kim Pate, CM
Hon. Andrew Scheer, P.C., M.P., Leader, Conservative Party of Canada
Hon. Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc Québécois, M.P., Leader of Bloc Québécois
Hon. Jagmeet Singh, NDP, M.P., Leader, New Democratic Party
Jo-Ann Roberts, Interim Leader, Green Party of Canada
