ARCHIVED - Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal - Report

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Chairperson’s Message

I am pleased to present to Parliament and Canadians the Departmental Performance Report of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.

The Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal administers a collective bargaining regime for professional self-employed artists and producers in federal jurisdiction. Under Part II of the Status of the Artist Act, the Tribunal defines sectors of artistic and cultural activity for collective bargaining, certifies artists’ associations to represent artists working in those sectors, and deals with complaints of unfair labour practices and other matters brought forward by parties under the Act.

Parliament passed the Status of the Artist Act in 1992 as part of a commitment to recognize and stimulate the contribution of the arts to the cultural, social, economic and political enrichment of the country. The Act reflects the recognition that constructive professional relations in the arts and culture sector are an important element of a vibrant Canadian culture and heritage.

Since its inception, the Tribunal has defined 26 sectors of artistic activity and certified 24 artists’ associations to represent them. Certified artists’ associations have concluded nearly 170 scale agreements with producers, including government producers and broadcasting undertaking, since their certification. Nine percent of these are the first agreements that the parties have ever concluded.

The Tribunal has a single strategic outcome: constructive professional relations between self-employed artists and producers under its jurisdiction. In working towards its strategic outcome, the Tribunal in the past focused most of its work on certification. Most sectors are now defined, and artists’ associations are certified to represent them. The work of the Tribunal is now more related to complaints and determinations, changes in the definition of sectors and in representation, and assisting parties in the bargaining process.

In addition, the Tribunal now places greater emphasis on outreach to its stakeholders and on research in support of the collective bargaining process. The Tribunal needs to ensure that the Act is widely known and well understood, and that its services are understood and known by the stakeholder community. It focuses much of its effort on fully informing and assisting artists, artists’ associations, and producers of their rights and responsibilities under the Act and of the services that the Tribunal can make available to them.

The Tribunal’s outreach role, and the careful disposition of matters brought before it, help to promote productive professional relations in the cultural sector, and contribute to a thriving Canadian culture.

Section I – Departmental Overview

Raison d’être

Responsibilities

The Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal is an independent, quasi-judicial agency that administers Part II of the Status of the Artist Act, which governs professional relations between self-employed artists and federally regulated producers. The Tribunal reports to Parliament through the Minister of Labour. The Minister of Canadian Heritage also has responsibilities pursuant to Part II of the Act.

The Tribunal is one of four federal agencies that regulate labour relations. The other three are the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which deals with labour relations between private sector employers in federal jurisdiction and their employees, the Public Service Labour Relations Board, which deals with labour relations between federal government institutions and their employees, and the Public Service Staffing Tribunal, which deals with complaints from federal public service employees related to internal appointments and lay-offs.

The Tribunal’s jurisdiction over producers is set out in the Status of the Artist Act, and covers federal government institutions, including government departments and the majority of federal agencies and Crown corporations (such as the National Film Board and the national museums), and broadcasting undertakings under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Roughly 1,200 broadcasters and 165 federal government institutions come under the Act.

The Tribunal’s jurisdiction over self-employed artists is also set out in the Status of the Artist Act, and includes artists covered by the Copyright Act (such as writers, photographers, and music composers), performers (such as actors, musicians, and singers), directors, and other professionals who contribute to the creation of a production, such as those doing camera work, lighting and costume design. Some 100,000 artists in Canada fall within the ambit of the Act.

The Tribunal has the following statutory responsibilities:

• To define the sectors of cultural activity suitable for collective bargaining between artists’ associations and producers,
• To certify artists’ associations to represent self-employed artists working in these sectors, and
• To deal with complaints of unfair labour practices and other matters brought forward by artists, artists’ associations, and producers, and prescribe appropriate remedies.

An artists’ association certified under the Status of the Artist Act as a bargaining agent for a specific sector has the exclusive right to negotiate scale agreements with producers. A scale agreement specifies the minimum terms and conditions under which producers engage the services of, or commission a work from, a self-employed artist in a specified sector, as well as other related matters. Twenty-four artists’ associations have been certified as bargaining agents under the Act, representing 26 sectors of cultural activity.

The Status of the Artist Act and the Tribunal’s regulations, decisions, and reports to Parliament and central agencies can be found on the Tribunal’s Web site at www.capprt-tcrpap.gc.ca.

Figure 1 illustrates the Tribunal’s responsibilities and the key processes under the Status of the Artist Act, Part II.

Figure 1. Tribunal Responsibilities and Key Processes

STATUS OF THE ARTIST ACT

[D]

Under subsection 10(1) of the Status of the Artist Act, the Tribunal is composed of a Chairperson (who is also the chief executive officer), a Vice-chairperson, and not less than two or more than four other full-time or part-time members. Members are appointed by the Governor in Council. Currently, the position of the Chairperson of the Tribunal is vacant, and the Vice-Chairperson acts as the Chairperson. The Tribunal has three other members at present. Under subsection 13(2) of the Act, three members constitute a quorum for meetings or proceedings of the Tribunal. The Vice-chairperson and the other members are part-time appointees.

The Executive Director and General Counsel heads the Tribunal Secretariat and reports to the Chairperson. Ten staff members (when the Secretariat is fully staffed) carry out the functions of legal counsel, registrar, planning, research, communications, and administrative services. The Tribunal outsources some standard corporate services that are not required full-time, such as informatics and human resources. Figure 2 illustrates the Tribunal’s organizational structure.

Figure 2. Tribunal's organizational structure

Organization Chart

[D]

 Services provided on contract or by other arrangements (Please see Section II, Financial Management and Comptrollership, for more detail)

The Tribunal administers the following legislation and associated regulations:

An Act respecting the status of the artist and professional relations between artists and producers in Canada (Short Title: Status of the Artist Act)	S.C. 1992, c.33, as amended
Status of the Artist Act Professional Category Regulations	SOR 99/191
Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal Procedural Regulations	SOR/2003-343

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The chart bellow illustrates the Tribunal’s single strategic outcome program activities and the program activities that contribute to it.

[D]

Summary of Performance

2009-10 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
2.0	2.1	1.1

2009-10 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
10	7	3

The Tribunal’s spending and human resource levels are relatively stable, as its plans and priorities are generally stable from year to year and involve no major new initiatives. This reflects the quasi-judicial adjudicative mandate of the Tribunal, as set out in the Status of the Artist Act.

Strategic Outcome 1: The rights of artists and producers under Part II of the Status of the Artist Act are protected and respected.

Performance Indicators	Targets	2009-10 Performance
Cases are resolved in a fair and timely way, with natural justice and administrative fairness observed, Stakeholders have easy, timely access to information about the Act and about Tribunal decisions and activities: Average number of calendar days between hearing and issue of reasons Average time to process cases from application to issue of reason for decision Cases are upheld on judicial review Requests for mediation assistance result in complaints resolved and in agreements reached or renewed Prompt response to requests for Information Timely information bulletins  Stakeholder satisfaction	Average time between hearing and issue of reasons does not exceed 60 calendar days Average time to process all cases from application to issue of reason for decision does not exceed 200 days At least 75 percent of cases are upheld on judicial review 75 percent of requests for complaints mediation assistance result in complaints resolved 75 percent of requests for bargaining mediation assistance result in agreements reached or renewed Information requests responded to within 2 working days Information bulletins published within 60 days of decisions and other major events Stakeholders are satisfied, based on ongoing informal survey	One decision rendered without need for hearing From application to completion – 9 days No applications for judicial review No requests for mediation 90 percent of inquiries responded to within 2 days Two Information Bulletins published Continuing informal survey of stakeholders suggests higher visibility of Tribunal needed

($ millions)

Program Activity	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-101				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
Certification, Complaints and Determination Program		1.2	1.2	1.2	0.7	Vibrant Canadian Culture and Heritage
Internal Services		0.8	0.8	0.9	0.4
Total		2.0	2.0	2.1	1.1

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome(s)

Operational Priorities	Type	Status	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)
Deal with matters brought before Tribunal with high quality service	Ongoing	Met	The CAPPRT, like any administrative tribunal, has a duty to ensure that cases are resolved fairly and in a timely way, fully respecting the requirements of natural justice and administrative fairness.
Fully inform and assist stakeholders	Ongoing	Mostly met	Through its outreach and communication activities, the Tribunal builds stakeholder awareness of the Status of the Artist Act and the rights and responsibilities that flow from it.

Management Priorities	Type	Status	Links to Strategic Outcome(s)
Improve management practices	Ongoing	Met	Like any government agency, the Tribunal must continually strive to modernize and improve its management practices, in order to support the Tribunal in its decision-making and administrative capacities.

Risk Analysis

The nature of the Tribunal’s mandate and its business environment makes the organization relatively risk averse. The same observation could be made of any quasi-judicial organization. Accordingly, the Tribunal has in place numerous management strategies to mitigate potential risks.

Like any court or administrative tribunal, the CAPPRT must be prepared to deal with highs and lows of case volume. The Tribunal’s services must be available to artists and producers as and when the need arises. The Tribunal has certified artists’ associations to represent most sectors under its jurisdiction, so its certification work is relatively predictable. Complaints under the Act and references from arbitrators are less predictable and can arise at any time.

The economic crisis has affected the arts and culture sector, and the full impact remains to be seen. One important area of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, broadcasting, has been in considerable turmoil. If economic problems result in parties having difficulty meeting their obligations under the Act or reaching agreements under it, there may be an increase in demand for the Tribunal’s services. Even certification work could increase, if unstable economic circumstances give rise to challenges to representation.

The Tribunal has traditionally been able to manage the unpredictability of caseloads by judicious planning and budgeting within its existing appropriation levels for both human and financial resources. In years where its total appropriations have not been used, it has returned funds to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Expenditure Profile

The statutory mandate of the Tribunal means that resources are relatively steady from year to year. Planned and authorized spending increased somewhat due to increases in salaries and benefits pursuant to collective agreements signed by Treasury Board that impacted on the salaries of Tribunal employees. In addition, like all government departments, the Tribunal’s operating budget carry forward (5 percent of base budget) from 2008-2009 was added to its authorities. The Tribunal plans for likely maximum use of its services but it has no control over its actual case load and level of activity. The Act allows parties to bring cases to the Tribunal but nothing guarantees how many will do so and how often. In short, the Tribunal’s caseload is not predictable. The Tribunal’s budget increased due to salary settlements ($47K) and carry forward ($90K). Actual expenditures rose by $77K or 8 percent from the previous year, due primarily to salary increases and the increased number of Members needed for the Tribunal to assure quorum.

Like all government departments, the Tribunal returns its unused resources to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Voted and Statutory Items
($ millions)

Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2007-08 Actual Spending	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-10 Main Estimates	2009-10 Actual Spending
20	Operating expenditures	1.0	0.9	1.8	1.0
s	Contributions to employee benefit plans	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1
Total		1.1	2.0	2.0	1.1

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