Musicians/Artists Have Been Left Behind!
TORONTO, Nov. 17, 2020 /CNW/ - Nine months into the lockdown, the live music industry remains shut down while other crowd industries have been given the green light to open or partially open. Artists, on the other hand, are struggling to survive and many music venues have already permanently shuttered. Why have we been forgotten by the Ontario Provincial Government?
To be clear, Arts, entertainment and recreation is the industry most deeply affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic in Canada, with an incomprehensible 45.86% decline in real GDP between August 2019 and August 2020. The next most affected industry is Accommodation and Food Services with a 28.87% decline. (Source: Statscan Table: 36-10-0434-01 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3610043401
The music industry, including the Toronto Musicians' Association, has offered Premier Ford, Minister McLeod and Minister Phillips, the ministers responsible for re-opening Ontario, a solution for the safe reopening of live performance venues, signed by hundreds of artists, many of whom are award winning musicians. We asked the Ministers why similar gathering/crowd sectors have been allowed to open at much higher capacity, such as movie theatres, malls, airplanes, churches, schools and even strip clubs, yet the same safety measures for re-opening live performance venues have not even been on their radar. Just this past summer, many sectors re-opened with malls and airplanes packed; however, concerts, festivals and events were restricted to no more than 50 people which did not make it economically feasible to resume live music performances.
The Ontario Provincial government and its Public Health Measures Table have marginalized our industry creating untold harm to the livelihoods of thousands of Ontario musicians, venues and the collateral industries. Re:Venues: A Case and Path Forward for Toronto's Live Music Industry (https://canadianlivemusic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Re-Venues-FINAL-REPORT.pdf) found that Toronto's venues alone contribute $850 million annually and represent the equivalent of 10,500 full-time jobs. Further restricting the live music industry threatens an economic driver, and more importantly the very soul and culture of our province.
The province's COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open (https://files.ontario.ca/moh-covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open-en-2020-11-08.pdf), a colour-coded path to safe re-openings released on November 3rd, outlined the parameters for many industries to thrive while making it impossible for live performances to survive! Even further, though many artists are registered as sole proprietorships, virtually none had CRA Payroll accounts on March 15, and are therefore excluded from the $300 million property tax and energy cost rebates being offered to businesses in regions under the heaviest gathering restrictions (https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/59051/ontario-releases-covid-19-response-framework-to-help-keep-the-province-safe-and-open).
Artists have been betrayed, and selected unfairly to shoulder the burden of the pandemic far more than anyone else. Not only are we being asked to live on a fraction of our earnings for an indefinite period of time, but we are also facing the total loss of our careers. How can the Government impose measures to keep some people safe from harm while causing significant harm to others?
What happened to "We are all in this together"?
SOURCE Brass Transit Music
Tony Carlucci, [email protected], 416.452.6292; Ian Jutsun, [email protected], 647.240.0106
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