Bill 35, which addresses artist status reform that Quebec’s cultural community has long awaited for years, was adopted Friday in the National Assembly. Nathalie Roy, the Minister of Culture and Communication, will therefore win her bet to adopt this bill in a few weeks, as it was filed on 27 April.
To expedite the study of the bill, its review was entrusted to the Committee on the Economy and Labor, which was less overwhelmed than the Committee on Culture and Education. Time is running out because the parliamentary session, the last before the provincial elections this fall, will end on June 10. However, the change in the law on artist status is a promise made by the CAQ in 2018.
Those working in cultural circles will now have a new tool when negotiating a contract or determining their working conditions, for example whether on a film set, a recording studio or behind the scenes of ‘ a theater.
This law in fact updates two existing artist status laws that were enacted during the Liberal reign, in 1987 and 1988, and have become obsolete. The new Act that respects the professional status of artists in visual arts, film, recording, literature, arts and crafts and the stage also expands their scope.
This should have the effect of ensuring better socio-economic conditions for artists.
The law also aims to better protect them in terms of psychological and sexual harassment, as well as in terms of labor relations.
It expands the system of collective bargaining agreement in the fields of visual arts, fine crafts and literature.
A huge success
The enactment of the new law was honored as a big win of the art community.
Finally! The writers earned, for the first time in Quebec history, the right to collectively negotiate their working conditions and from now on all artists will be able to defend their individual and collective rights to before the Administrative Labor Tribunal, which will ensure that they are respecteddeclared, in a joint press release, nine associations of artists, including the Union of artists (UDA), the UNEQ (Union of Quebec writers and writers) or the APASQ (the Association of arts professionals of the Quebec scene).
This is a new era that will open, a new era that will begin for Quebec authorssaid Suzanne Aubry, president of UNEQ, in a separate press release.
Catherine Dorion’s pleasure
MNA for Taschereau and Québec solidaire spokeswoman for Culture, Catherine Dorion, was also pleased with the adoption of Bill 35, although she wanted the new legislative text to be more in-depth.
I don’t want to end my mandate without completing this important battle, he reacted in a press release. Artists have suffered greatly over the past two years, but before the pandemic, the status quo was no longer acceptable.
This is a big win for the artists and it shows that when we work together and leave partisanship at the entrance to the Blue Room, we can make huge progress.he added.
Source: Radio-Canada
