TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 25, 2012) -
Editors Note: A photo associated with this press release is available on the Canadian Press picture wire via Marketwire.
Today, Members of Provincial Parliament mingled with Canadian actors at a Queen's Park reception hosted by ACTRA Toronto. The reception marks the start of ACTRA Toronto's Respect the Artist lobby campaign. The campaign urges provincial politicians to throw their support behind measures to improve the lives of artists in Ontario.
Ontario, home to more than half of Canada's artists, does a poor job of protecting their artists - a highly educated, highly motivated, yet unfairly taxed and under-protected resource whose work is the cornerstone of an important economic sector.
As MPP Peter Tabuns prepares to present a private member's bill to recognize long-standing artists' collective agreements under labour law, performers urged MPPs to support the bill as a first step toward comprehensive Status of the Artist legislation.
"This is the second time that MPP Peter Tabuns has introduced legislation to respect our long-standing collective agreements," said Heather Allin, President of ACTRA Toronto, referring to Bill 137 which was introduced in 2010. "The last time the bill passed second reading but died on the order table. We need to get this done."
ACTRA Toronto President Heather Allin was joined at the reception by many well-known performers including: R.H. Thompson, Jayne Eastwood, Wendy Crewson, Art Hindle, Jim Codrington, Fab Filippo, Nick Mancuso, Aidan Devine, Melanie Nicholls-King, Rick Howland, Michael Seater, Joel Keller, Tabby Johnson, Jani Lauzon, Julian Richings and Adamo Ruggiero among others.
ACTRA Toronto is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing over 15,000 of Canada's 22,000 professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven organization that continues to secure rights and respect for the work of professional performers.