Called for years by the cultural community, the reform of the status of the artist now has a good chance of coming into force by the end of the parliamentary session. The Legault government has officially accepted Québec solidaire’s proposal to study the bill in another parliamentary committee in order to speed things up.
According to our information, Bill 35 should exceptionally be studied within the framework of the Committee on the Economy and Labor, which is less busy these days than the Committee on Culture and Education, where the legislative text would normally have had to be examined.
If that had been the case, the overhaul of the status of the artist would have had virtually no chance of being voted on by the election. The bill would thus have died on the order paper, and the next government would have had to start the process all over again.
A few weeks ago, everyone was betting on this scenario. Many criticized the Minister of Culture, Nathalie Roy, for having delayed too long before presenting her reform. But in the end, the modification of the parliamentary committee changes the situation. “A light at the end of the tunnel,” rejoices Québec solidaire.
Important issues
All the political parties in the National Assembly agree on the urgency of thoroughly reviewing the two laws on the status of the artist, which have governed minimum working conditions in the cultural industry since the end of the 80. Most artists’ associations also welcomed Bill 35 last week when the Minister presented it at the Blue Room.
This vast reform provides, in particular, for broadening the jurisdiction of the Administrative Labor Tribunal in the cultural sector. It also seeks to add provisions concerning psychological and sexual harassment in the workplace. But above all it would repeal one of the laws on the status of the artist in order to keep only one. Thus, writers would be entitled to the same framework for negotiating their conditions as singers or actors. The Union of Quebec Writers (UNEQ) could become a full-fledged union, as is already the case for the Union of Artists (UDA) in the performing arts and audio-visual.
In short, a whole revolution in the world of Quebec literature. The publishers have also expressed fears about this new balance of power and have asked the minister for more details in the law.
Despite the caveats of publishing houses, Minister Roy’s office reiterated on Monday that the government fervently hoped the adoption of Bill 35 before the end of the parliamentary session next month.
Discussions are still ongoing so that the study of the legislative text in parliamentary committee takes place in a condensed form. If all goes as planned, the various interest groups should be able to testify in parliament in three weeks.