Equiflash Archive

On January 15, 2021 the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, published updated mandate letters for many government ministries. These letters outline the objectives that each minister will work to accomplish, as well as the pressing challenges they will address in their roles.

Original mandate letters were issued in 2019. Prime Minister Trudeau has sent supplementary mandate letters to outline further responsibilities and prioritize key areas of focus for the government to fight COVID-19 and ensure a strong economic recovery in Canada.

Equity and our coalition partners (IATSE, the Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM) and the Associated Designers of Canada (ADC)) have been actively advocating the government on a number of issues relevant for our members and our sector. We are heartened to see that many of the changes we’ve been calling for are reflected in these updated mandate letters.

Within the letter to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion can be found these two new mandates:

• Complete the implementation of the Canada Recovery Benefit and make appropriate adjustments as the pandemic response warrants.
• Bring forward and implement a plan to modernize the Employment Insurance (EI) system for the 21st Century. This should include a plan to make EI the primary delivery mechanism for employment benefits, including for the self-employed and those in the gig economy.

Within the letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage can be found these three new mandates:

• Support the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry to introduce sector-specific measures for industries that have been hit hardest by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the art, cultural, heritage and sport sectors.
• Support the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to create over one million jobs, restoring employment to levels prior to the pandemic using a range of tools, including direct investments in the social sector and infrastructure, immediate training to quickly up-skill workers and incentives for employers to hire and retain workers, with a focus on the art, cultural, heritage and sport sectors.
• With the support of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, work to ensure that the revenues of web giants are shared more fairly with our creators and media, and require them to contribute to the creation, production and distribution of our stories on screen, in lyrics, in music and in writing.

This is positive acknowledgement that the government is taking notice of the needs of cultural workers and the cultural industries in Canada.

Equity will continue to advocate to ensure that the needs of our members and our sector remain on the radar of the relevant ministries. We will continue to update you as we learn more.

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Visit www.caea.com and the COVID-19 Advocacy and Resources page for Equity's current updates on the COVID-19 pandemic.<

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