Political Action
ACTRA Appears Before Finance Committee in Ottawa
ACTRA National President Eleanor Noble and National Executive Director Marie Kelly appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance in Ottawa, raising the issues of performers to government in preparation for the next Federal Budget.
Protecting performers’ careers against corporate greed, union busting practices, unchecked artificial intelligence and bolstering Canadian content on our screens are just some of ACTRA’s submissions which you can read more on below in our Federal Budget 2024 Submission post.
AI Submission
ACTRA recognizes the existential threat Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses to members, and we are aggressively lobbying the Federal government as it prepares to introduce the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) this fall.
ACTRA believes AI technology must evolve in a way that respects human inspiration and ingenuity. Three core principles must underpin any new AI legislation:
Consent: performers should have the right to consent to, and be credited for, the use of the Name, Image, Likeness Rights (NIL Rights).
Compensation: performers should be compensated for all AI uses of their NIL Rights.
Control: performers should be able to control the use of their name, image and likeness.
Read our executive summary and formal submission on Bill C-27.
Read our AI Survey Results available in English and French.
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Federal Budget 2024 Submission
ACTRA’s National President Eleanor Noble and the union’s National Executive Director, Marie Kelly, will be appearing before the federal Standing Committee on Finance on Octover 19, 2023 to lobby for more supports for performers to build sustainable careers.
ACTRA is proposing that the first $15,000 of professional artistic income must be tax free. We also want a four-year back-averaging system for professional income to ensure tax fairness, and changes to Employment Insurance to permit self-employed artists to receive regular benefits.
ACTRA is asking Ottawa to operationalize Status of the Artist Act by requiring all every producer of Canadian content that recieves governmemt funding must adhere to the terms and conditions of the appropriate collective agreements negotiated by ACTRA and other unions and guilds with bargaining rights.
ACTRA is demanding the federal government’s procurement policy be revised to forbid the use of replacement workers, directly or indirectly through subcontractors and to ensure the federal government’s advertising “Agency of Record,” be signatory to ACTRA’s National Commercial Agreement.
Read more in ACTRA’s full 2024 Budget Submission.
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