Perhaps the CHANGE.ORG petition, with over 143,000 signatures protesting the previous random tweaks to the Temporary Foreign Worker program as it pertained to touring artists - had a positive effect on this latest tweak. Thanks to all who signed that petition, and to the bureaucracy for listening. Conservatives quietly do away with international musician fee BY THE CANADIAN PRESS ON JUNE 25, 2014. OTTAWA – Ottawa has effectively eliminated a fee charged to international musicians that critics complained was deterring acts from abroad from playing in Canadian bars, pubs and restaurants. The removal of a work permit requirement for foreign musical acts, part of the government’s overhaul of the controversial temporary foreign worker program, went largely unnoticed amid a spate of other measures announced last week. Last summer, in their zeal to start cracking down on temporary foreign workers in the face of mounting criticism, the Conservatives added a $275 processing fee on top of a $150 work permit for each member of a musical act from outside the country who were hired to play small Canadian venues. The government said at the time the fee was aimed at helping to cover the costs of determining whether a Canadian should be hired instead of a temporary foreign worker in the music sector. NDP MP Andrew Cash, a longtime musician who was harshly critical of the fees, had faint praise for the Tories, saying they had corrected something “incredibly dumb that they shouldn’t have implemented in the first place.” The music sector wasn’t abusing the temporary foreign worker program, he said, and no one asked for the additional fees. The regulation also penalized small businesses; larger venues and concert halls didn’t have to pay it. The music industry has praised the Tories for doing away with what it had dubbed the “tour tax.” - Lee-Anne Goodman
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 01:43:50 +0000
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