A petition has been delivered to the Canadian government demanding assistance for musicians
Back in November, an organization called the Canadian Musicians’ Coalition launched a petition (sponsored by Liberal MP Ron McKinnon for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam in BC) designed to pressure the government to help Canadian musicians earn a living wage. When the petition closed, they had 2,066 signatures.
The petition states:
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
- Create an ongoing Canadian Musicians’ Support Fund to (i) provide sustainable financial relief to professional musicians so they can earn an annual living wage, (ii) support rebuilding our music economy by providing professional live music performance incentives to venues, (iii) provide additional funding for creative grants to support new Canadian music creation, as well as for public school music education to foster the development of future Canadian musicians;
- While currently amending the Broadcasting Act, consider which regulatory tools would be most suitable to address fair and transparent remuneration for music artists.
The government has 45 days to respond. Steve Sainas, one of the drivers of the petition, has been invited to submit a Brief to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
A letter-writing campaign to Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in support of Petition e-2995. Canadians can tweet: @s_guilbeault I support Petition e-2995
Let’s see where this goes.
