ACTRA received a letter from CRTC Chair Jean-Pierre Blais on August 31, 2024, in response to a news release sent by ACTRA on August 30, 2024, regarding changes to the minimum point requirements to be eligible to receive funding from the Certified Independent Production Funds (CIPFs). ACTRA’s response to this letter can be found below.
If you, too, are unhappy with the CRTC’s decision and process regarding changes to the CIPFs, take action now and let your voice be heard!
Mr. Jean-Pierre Blais
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
1 promenade du Portage
Les Terrasses de la Chaudiere
Central Building
Gatineau, Quebec
JSX 4B1
September 1, 2024
Re: Certified independent production funds
Dear Mr. Blais,
I received your letter concerning the CRTC’s recent changes to rules governing Certified Independent Production Funds.
As you have no doubt heard, performers, writers, directors, composers and creative talent from across Canada are alarmed by the Commission’s changes.
In your letter you note that, in the absence of public hearings, the Commission did seek comments from the public last October. At that time, our organization was in the midst of complex and delicate negotiations on our largest collective agreement. Those negotiations affected thousands of our members, their livelihoods and the health of our industry. They took much of our collective attention – a fact for which I won’t apologize.
Other organizations representing the creative community did, however, give voice to the concerns shared by ACTRA. We assumed that their cogent arguments and evidence would be given careful consideration. We were wrong.
Instead, the Commission released, with what one reporter described this week as “some stealth,” a decision that will have a significant impact on the entire creative community.
As you’re well aware, ACTRA was an active and vocal participant in the Let’s Talk TV process. In our interventions, our appearances at the public hearings, and in a subsequent published study of the decisions, we consistently argued that Canadian talent is an asset, not a liability, on the world stage. Long before your appointment as Commission Chair by the Harper government, ACTRA members were working to shape regulation that will build our industry. Production funds were created because Canadians want uniquely Canadian stories. The evidence shows that these programs are successful both here and abroad.
The lack of any public hearings on the changes to Certified Independent Production Funds has left many Canadians feeling excluded from the process. The Writers Guild of Canada is raising serious concerns about possible factual errors in the decision. The strength of our industry and the livelihoods of Canadian performers are at stake. Clearly, the CRTC needs to revisit this decision. It’s time for a new process – one that includes public hearings where the many Canadian performers, writers, composers, directors and creative talent who are the foundation of our industry can be heard.
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Ferne Downey
ACTRA National President
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