With no concrete measures to plan for recovery,
a theatre season is inconceivable

 
Montréal, June 19, 2020 —  The Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT) declares its dissatisfaction at the lack of an announcement for arts and culture in the complementary budget statement presented today by Finance Minister Éric Girard.

When the Plan de relance économique du milieu culturel was unveiled on June 1, the CQT indicated that it did not respond to the immense challenges faced by the theatre community and showed major shortcomings. In addition to the government’s denial of the losses generated by the crisis, no support other than an advance of liquid assets to compensate for losses and damages resulting from the health crisis was provided for in the plan. Also, this recovery plan did not provide any support for theatre producers whose current business model would not be able to survive with limited audiences.

The theatre sector was entitled to expect concrete measures. Over the past two weeks, the office of the Minister of Culture and Communications (MCC) mandated the CQT to urgently submit an economic brief. The purpose was to document and detail the needs of the theatre sector and the conditions necessary for its recovery, in anticipation of the June 19th. budget statement.

An advisory committee was immediately created by the CQT to answer the express request of the MCC cabinet to produce a summary of the impacts of the pandemic on the theatre industry. The financial requests expressed were intended, among other things, to support the MCC in its development of scenarios to support the loss of ticketing revenues. The CQT developed various estimates for this purpose, either $17 million (a scenario in the event that physical distance standards were in effect until December) or $30 million (if the entire next theatre season were to be designed according to these same standards).

Today's budget statement makes no mention of the quantified stimulus requirements or losses associated with lower ticket sales. The Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet with the MCC cabinet on Monday, June 22. At this time, the MCC has now all relevant information from the CQT and the CQT fully expects to receive tangible answers regarding a timetable for the implementation of concrete measures and the amounts to be allocated to them.

Without these immediate measures, the fall season is now severely threatened.

Earlier this week, Minister Roy announced the reopening of venues, including theatres, as of June 22. However, there can be no reopening without programming. "The MCC does not seem to understand the importance of processes that allow for an alternative season to be planned for the fall. Our artists are ready to go to work, they are motivated, but they still need additional and tailored financial measures to support them. They cannot be left to be announced later in August.  In order to prepare for a season that starts in September, these measures must be confirmed now " says Anne Trudel, actress and President of the CQT.

"Our community has shown patience, resilience and great strength to date. The CQT has responded assiduously to the MCC's requests. It was essential that Minister Nathalie Roy respond to these requests today. The survival not only of our venues, and our creative companies, but also of the thousands of men and women who constitute both the most precarious link in the artistic chain and the creative heart of the performing arts ecosystem is at stake. Without them, it would be impossible to adequately restore the sector's economic activity."  concludes Sylvie Meste, Executive Director of the CQT.

The CQT reminds everyone that on June 1st., when the first measures for cultural recovery were announced, Premier François Legault stated that "if there's not enough, we'll look at it! " referring to financial support, while specifying that "culture is the soul of the Quebec people.”  It is now up to the Legault government to move from words to action.
 
About the Conseil québécois du théâtre
The Conseil québécois du théâtre (CQT) is a national group that brings together and represents professional theatre practitioners and organizations in Quebec to promote the development and outreach of the theatrical arts in all their diversity. The CQT is a political force and a well-known forum that allows the Quebec theatre world and its artisans to use it to express the challenges of their artistic practice and the issues of the future.

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CONTACT
Sylvie Meste
Director general
dge@cqt.qc.ca