Status of the Artist Act (S.C. 1992, c. 33)

Marginal note:Questions may be referred to Board

• 41 (1) An arbitrator or arbitration board shall refer to the Board for hearing and determination any question that arises in a matter before it as to the existence of a scale agreement, the identification of the parties to it or the application of the agreement to a particular sector or artist.

• Marginal note:Arbitration proceeding not suspended

  (2) Referral of a question to the Board under subsection (1) does not suspend the proceeding before the arbitrator or arbitration board, unless the Board so orders or the arbitrator or arbitration board decides that the nature of the question warrants suspension of the proceeding.

Marginal note:Filing of determination in Federal Court

• 42 (1) Any person or association affected by a determination of an arbitrator or arbitration board may file a copy of the determination, exclusive of the reasons therefor, in the Federal Court.

• Marginal note:Registration

  (2) The Federal Court shall register the copy of any determination of an arbitrator or arbitration board filed pursuant to subsection (1), and after registration the determination has the same force and effect, and all proceedings may be taken thereon, as if it were a judgment obtained in that Court.

Marginal note:Provision for settlement continues in force

• 43 (1) Notwithstanding anything in a scale agreement, the provision for final settlement required by subsection 36(1) remains in force after termination of the agreement and until such time as pressure tactics are permitted under section 46.

• Marginal note:Power of arbitrator where agreement terminates

  (2) Where a difference described in subsection 36(1) arises during the period beginning on the date of termination of the agreement and ending on the date that a period described in section 46 begins, an arbitrator or arbitration board may hear and determine the difference, and sections 36 to 42 apply.

Compulsory Check-off

Marginal note:Association dues to be deducted

44 At the request of an artists’ association, a scale agreement shall include a provision requiring the producer to deduct and remit to the association without delay from the remuneration of each artist subject to the scale agreement, whether or not the artist is a member of the association, the amount of the dues regularly paid by a member of the association in accordance with its by-laws.

Settlement of Labour Disputes

Marginal note:Mediation

45 The Minister may, on request or of the Minister’s own motion, name a mediator to confer with parties who are unable to reach agreement and to assist them to enter into a scale agreement.

Prohibitions and Remedies

Pressure Tactics

Marginal note:When pressure tactics are permitted

46 No artist, artists’ association or producer shall participate in, authorize or apply pressure tactics except during the period

• (a) beginning thirty days after a scale agreement binding the producer and the artists’ association expires and ending on the day that a new agreement is entered into in respect of that sector; or

• (b) beginning six months after the date of certification of an artists’ association and ending on the day that a scale agreement is entered into, where there is no scale agreement binding the producer and the artists’ association in respect of that sector.

Declarations respecting Pressure Tactics

Marginal note:Declaration — association’s pressure tactics unlawful

• 47 (1) If a producer alleges that an artists’ association has authorized or applied pressure tactics, or that artists have participated, are participating or are likely to participate in pressure tactics, as a result of which an artist was, is or would be in contravention of this Part, the producer may apply to the Board for a declaration that the pressure tactics are unlawful.

• Marginal note:Declaration and prohibition of pressure tactics

  (2) If an application is made under subsection (1), the Board may, after affording the artists and the artists’ association an opportunity to be heard, declare the pressure tactics to be unlawful and, if the producer so requests, make an order

  • (a) requiring the association to cease or revoke its authorization of the pressure tactics;

  • (b) enjoining artists from participating in those pressure tactics and requiring them, where applicable, to resume the work for which they were engaged; or

  • (c) requiring an artists’ association or any officer or representative of an association of which any artist subject to an order made under paragraph (b) is a member, to give notice of the order to all artists in the sector who are members of the association.

Marginal note:Declaration — producer’s pressure tactics unlawful

48 If an artists’ association applies to the Board alleging that a producer has authorized or applied pressure tactics in contravention of this Part, or is about to do so, the Board may, after affording the producer an opportunity to be heard, declare the pressure tactics to be unlawful and, if the association so requests, make an order

• (a) requiring the producer or any person acting on behalf of the producer to renounce or to discontinue those pressure tactics and to permit the artists to resume their work, where applicable; or

• (b) requiring the producer to communicate the contents of an order made under paragraph (a) without delay to all artists in the sector engaged by the producer at the time the order is made.

Marginal note:Order’s terms and duration

• 49 (1) An order that is made under section 47 or 48 shall be on any terms that the Board considers necessary and sufficient to meet the circumstances of the case and, subject to subsection (2), shall have effect for the period indicated in the order.

• Marginal note:Application for supplementary order

  (2) If anyone affected by an order made under section 47 or 48 applies to the Board and gives notice of the application to the parties named in the order, the Board may, by supplementary order, continue or modify the order for any period that is indicated in the supplementary order, or may revoke the order.

Unfair Practices

Marginal note:Prohibitions relating to producers

50 No producer or person acting on behalf of a producer shall

• (a) refuse to engage an artist or to honour an artist’s contract, or discriminate against an artist with respect to engagement, remuneration or any other term or condition of engagement, or intimidate, threaten or discipline an artist, because the artist

  • (i) is or proposes to become, or seeks to induce any other person to become, a member, officer or representative of an artists’ association, or participates in the promotion, formation or administration of an artists’ association,

  • (ii) has testified or participated in a proceeding under this Part, or may do so,

  • (iii) has made or is about to make a disclosure that may be required in a proceeding under this Part,

  • (iv) has made an application or filed a complaint under this Part,

  • (v) has exercised any right under this Part or participated in pressure tactics that are not prohibited by it, or

  • (vi) has been expelled or suspended from membership in an artists’ association for a reason other than a failure to pay the periodic dues, assessments and initiation fees uniformly required to be paid by all members of the association as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership;

• (b) impose any condition in a contract of engagement that prevents or has the effect of preventing an artist from exercising rights under this Part;

• (c) terminate an artist’s contract, or impose a financial or other penalty or take disciplinary action against an artist, because the artist refuses to perform any of the duties of another artist who is participating in or is subject to pressure tactics that are not prohibited by this Part;

• (d) seek by intimidation, threat of termination of a contract, imposition of a financial or other penalty, or by any other means, to compel a person to refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member, officer or representative of an artists’ association, or to refrain from

  • (i) testifying or participating in a proceeding under this Part,

  • (ii) making a disclosure that may be required in a proceeding under this Part, or

  • (iii) making an application or filing a complaint under this Part;

• (e) terminate the contract of, or impose any financial or other penalty on, an artist engaged by the producer, or take any disciplinary action because of the artist’s refusal to perform an act that is prohibited by this Part; or

• (f) bargain for the purpose of entering into a scale agreement, or enter into a scale agreement, with an artists’ association in respect of a sector, if the producer knows or, in the Board’s opinion, ought to know that another artists’ association is certified in respect of that sector.

Marginal note:Prohibitions relating to artists’ associations

51 No certified artists’ association or person acting on behalf of such an association shall

• (a) bargain for the purpose of entering into a scale agreement, or enter into a scale agreement with a producer in respect of a sector, if the association or person knows or, in the Board’s opinion, ought to know that another artists’ association is certified in respect of that sector;

• (b) bargain for the purposes of entering into a scale agreement, or enter into a scale agreement in respect of a sector, with a producer that the association knows or, in the Board’s opinion, ought to know is represented by an association of producers that has filed its membership list under subsection 24(2);

• (c) require a producer to terminate the contract of an artist engaged by the producer because the artist has been expelled or suspended from membership in the association for a reason other than a failure to pay the periodic dues, assessments and initiation fees uniformly required to be paid by all members of the association as a condition of acquiring or retaining membership;

• (d) take disciplinary action against or impose any form of penalty on an artist by applying the standards of discipline of the association to that artist in a discriminatory manner;

• (e) expel or suspend an artist from membership in the association, or take disciplinary action or impose any penalty against the artist, for refusal to perform an act that is contrary to this Part;

• (f) discriminate unfairly against an artist with respect to becoming or continuing as a member of the association or being expelled from it, if the parties have included in a scale agreement a provision that requires membership in a specified artists’ association as a condition of engagement, or that grants a preference in engagement to such members; or

• (g) intimidate, coerce or impose a financial or other penalty on an artist, because the artist

  • (i) has testified or participated in a proceeding under this Part, or may do so,

  • (ii) has made or is about to make a disclosure that may be required in a proceeding under this Part, or

  • (iii) has made an application or filed a complaint under this Part.

Marginal note:Intimidation or coercion prohibited

52 No person shall seek by intimidation or coercion to compel any person or association to become or refrain from becoming or to cease to be a member of an artists’ association or an association of producers.

Marginal note:Complaints to Board

• 53 (1) Any person or organization may make a complaint in writing to the Board that

  • (a) a producer, a person acting on behalf of a producer, an artists’ association, a person acting on behalf of an artists’ association, or an artist has contravened or failed to comply with section 32, 35, 50 or 51; or

  • (b) a person has failed to comply with section 52.

• Marginal note:Time for making complaint

  (2) The complaint shall be made to the Board within six months after the day on which the complainant knew or, in the Board’s opinion, ought to have known of the action or circumstances giving rise to the complaint.

• Marginal note:Inadmissible complaints

  (3) The Board shall hear the complaint unless the Board is of the opinion that it

  • (a) is moot, or is frivolous, vexatious or in bad faith; or

  • (b) is not within the Board’s jurisdiction, or could be referred by the complainant to an arbitrator or arbitration board, under a scale agreement.

• Marginal note:Board’s duty and power

  (4) If the Board is of the opinion that the complaint must be heard, it may appoint a member who was never seized of the matter, or an employee of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada, to assist the parties to settle it and, if the matter is not settled within a period that the Board considers reasonable in the circumstances, or if the Board decides not to appoint a person to assist the parties to settle it, the Board shall hear and determine the complaint.

• Marginal note:Burden of proof

  (5) A written complaint that a producer or any person acting on behalf of a producer failed to comply with section 50 is itself evidence that the failure actually occurred and, if any party to the complaint proceeding alleges that the failure did not occur, the burden of proof thereof is on that party.