At least six unions led by the Union of Quebec Artists (UDA), the Guild of Musicians of Quebec (GMMQ) and the Association of Directors of Quebec (ARRQ) are calling on the Quebec government to “revise the mechanisms for allocation, distribution and … to redefine “circulation of public money”.
Posted at 2:06 p.m.
“Despite significant investments in culture in recent years, artists and artisans in Quebec continue to become poorer, leading to a crisis of confidence in the various public institutions in the ecosystem of our cultural industry. For some it has become impossible to practice their profession with dignity,” they write.
In addition to the UDA, the GMMQ and the ARRQ, the six unions also include the Quebec Association of Image and Sound Technicians (AQTIS), the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) and the Society of Radio, Television and Cinema Authors (SARTEC) denounce inequalities in the distribution of public funds.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY UDA
The President of the Union of Artists, Tania Kontoyanni.
“We see gray areas in the distribution of public money for the cultural industry, and that worries us,” they explain. Funding culture seems to be a lucrative windfall for some, to the detriment of the artists and artisans who are at the heart of creation, its diversity, its quality and its reputation. »
In their letter to the Minister of Culture and Communications, Mathieu Lacombe, and the Prime Minister, François Legault, the six unions raise a series of questions that are causing increasing unrest in the artistic community.
“How can production companies that receive subsidies sit on the boards of companies that themselves provide these subsidies while the artists are absent? Why do certain large companies in both the audiovisual and music sectors receive significant recurrent funding, thereby reducing the share of smaller companies that could carry out innovative projects but face difficulties in obtaining financing? How can production companies that live exclusively on public money become so lucrative that listed consortia buy them? »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESS ARCHIVE
Director Martin Villeneuve
Filmmaker Martin Villeneuve (“Mars et Avril,” “The 12 Labors of Imelda,” “Red Ketchup”) supported the call for change launched by these unions.
“It is high time to review our system, in which SODEC and Telefilm Canada officials in particular have too much power to the detriment of filmmakers,” he wrote in a letter to La Presse. As Jean-Claude Lauzon said: “Cultural officials make their living from cinema, but not me.” The filmmakers make the films, not the officials, but the latter decide the fate of projects and careers in Quebec. »
Read Martin Villeneuve's letter
The Quebec Media Production Association (AQPM), which represents about 160 companies in independent film, television and web production, defended the Quebec government in a press release issued Monday afternoon, calling the six unions' arguments “false accusations.”
“Minister Lacombe has been informing us for several months of his intention to launch a project to examine the financing of our sector,” writes its president Hélène Messier. The latest expert report on the discoverability of French-language content, presented on January 31, also recommended “carrying out a review of the financing mechanisms for the production of cultural content in Quebec, in particular to ensure that the content financed is broadcast in a digital environment to ensure this content diversify (…).”