ARCHIVED - Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal - Report

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Message from the Chairperson

I am pleased to present the 2011-2012 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal ("CAPPRT" or "the Tribunal"). This report outlines the Tribunals intended direction for the next three years.

The Tribunal is committed to the development and maintenance of constructive professional relations between artists and producers, and to the economic and social well-being of its stakeholder community. As one of more than twenty federal organizations supporting a vibrant Canadian culture, the Tribunal is an important part of a complex whole, making a critical contribution to long-term progress for the cultural sector.

The Tribunals principal responsibility is to adjudicate matters brought before it under the Status of the Artist Act. The Tribunal will continue to provide fair and timely resolution of these matters, and continue to develop a solid body of precedents and case law that can be used to help resolve future cases.

In addition, the Tribunal plays an informative role, promoting increased collaboration between artists, artists associations and producers, increasing their understanding of their rights and obligations under the Act, and supporting the collective bargaining process by providing impartial, timely information.

Ultimately, the work of the Tribunal contributes to harmonious professional relations in the cultural sector, which in turn contributes to better conditions of engagement for artists and a more stable, predictable workforce for producers.

In 2011-2012, the Tribunal will continue its efforts promoting and supporting collective bargaining in the area of its jurisdiction. It will provide access to useful information on its website, such as scale agreements and analyses of them, for parties engaged in or contemplating bargaining. It will continue to inform artists and producers about the Status of the Artist Act, in order to permit them to fully exercise their rights and fulfil their responsibilities under the Act. It will encourage mediation to help parties conclude scale agreements, manage their relationships, and resolve complaints without the need for formal hearings. And it will maintain close contact and communication with its stakeholders and partners to ensure the relevance of its services and activities.

The Tribunal will continue to assist the parties in the negotiation process under the Status of the Artist Act, ensuring that they have ready access to information and assistance when they need it. It will provide a high quality of service in dealing with adjudicative matters within its statutory responsibilities. These include complaints of unfair labour practices and other matters brought forward by artists, artists associations, producers, and labour arbitrators, determination of sectors of cultural activity suitable for collective bargaining, and certification of artists associations to represent self-employed artists working in these sectors.

Integrity, timeliness, confidentiality and impartiality are among the values that guide the ongoing activities of the Tribunal. The Tribunal members and staff will make every effort in the year ahead to promote harmonious professional relations in the cultural sector. I look forward to leading the Tribunal in this endeavour.

Section I - Overview of the Tribunal

Raison d'être and Responsibilities

Raison d'être

Responsibilities

The Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal administers Part II of the Status of the Artist Act. Its objective is to contribute to Canadas cultural community by encouraging constructive professional relations between artists and producers in federal jurisdiction.

The Tribunal has the following main responsibilities:

• To define the sectors of cultural activity suitable for collective bargaining between artists associations and producers within the Tribunals jurisdiction, and certify artists associations to represent self-employed artists working in these sectors; and
• To deal with complaints of unfair labour practices and other contraventions of Part II of the Act brought forward by artists, artists associations or producers, and prescribe appropriate remedies.

Parliament passed the Status of the Artist Act 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 specialty television services, since their certification. Nine percent of these are the first agreements that the parties have ever concluded.

The Tribunal reports to Parliament through the Minister of Labour.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The Tribunal seeks to achieve the following strategic outcome:

The chart bellow illustrates the Tribunal’s program activities, which contribute to its strategic outcome.

[D]

Planning Summary

Financial Resources ($ millions)

201112	201213	201314
2.064	2.064	2.064

 

Human Resources (FTEs)

201112	201213	201314
10	10	10

 

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

Performance Indicator

Targets

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% of cases are upheld on judicial review 75% of requests for complaints mediation assistance result in complaints resolved 75% 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

Program Activity	Forecast Spending 201011	Planned Spending			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		201112	201213	201314
Certification, Complaints and Determination Program	.690	1.614	1.614	1.614	Vibrant Canadian culture and heritage
Total Planned Spending		1.614	1.614	1.614

 

Internal Services

Internal Service	Forecast Spending 201011	Planned Spending
		201112	201213	201314
	0.370	0.450	0.450	0.450

 

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

Operational Priorities	Type	Links to Strategic Outcome	Description
Deal with matters brought before Tribunal with high quality service	Ongoing	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.	Deal with matters brought before Tribunal with high quality service
Fully inform and assist stakeholders	Ongoing	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.	Fully inform and assist stakeholders

Management Priorities	Type	Links to Strategic Outcome	Description
Improve management practices	Ongoing	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.	Improve management practices

 

Risk Analysis

The nature of the Tribunals 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 Tribunals 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.

Continuing uncertainty in the world economy has affected the arts and culture sector, and the impact is not likely to diminish in the immediate future. 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 Tribunals services. Even certification work could increase, if an unstable economy gives 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

[D]

The Tribunal has not had any significant increase or decreases in expenditures over the past four years as indicated by the graph. However, the level of activity surrounding the caseload, a caseload that the tribunal does not control or regulate in any way, has been less than planned and, as a result, actual expenditures have been less than planned. As mentioned earlier, monies not spend by the Tribunal are returned to the Consolidated Revenue Fund at the end of each fiscal year. Planned spending over the 3 year planning period, however, is based on a "full" case load.

Estimates by Vote

For information on our organizational votes and/or statutory expenditures, please see the 2011–12 Main Estimates publication. An electronic version of the Main Estimates is available on the Treasury Board website.

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