Government Issue What Will Prime Minister Stephen Harper’S Arts and Culture Legacy Be?

Home , August Schellenberg, Colm Feore, David Adams (dancer), Don Harron, Ezra Schabas

EQUITY QUARTERLY Fall 2009

Time for a cultural policy review Adrienne Clarkson on the arts EQ Can a union change a country?

The Government Issue What will Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s arts and culture legacy be?

1932 – Prime Minister R.B. Bennett initiates the creation of the CBC

1951 – Louis St. Laurent asks Vincent Massey to chair the Royal Commission on culture, which recommends the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts, established in 1957

1983 – The Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee, appointed by the Trudeau government, issues the Applebaum-Hébert Report on cultural policy

2000 – The government of Jean Chrétien creates the Tomorrow Starts Today arts funding initiative

2008 – Harper government cuts the Trade Routes and PromArt touring programs President’s message

After writing the end-of-term summary for the last EQ, and then the full online report, I’m not certain what I have left to say. People who know me well will want to mark this occasion down in their diary or note it in their blog. Perhaps some kind of celebration is in order.... We are fast approaching the end of the Council term, and by the time you read this we will be in the middle of elections for the next. It has been an honour serving both Council and the membership as President for the past three years. It was a lot of work, but enormously fulfilling. That said, I need to remind everyone that the President is not at the top of the governance structure; that position belongs to Council itself. I am deeply grateful for the energy, wisdom and persistence of my fellow Councillors as we ploughed our way through an enor- mous agenda. I remember telling them that I foresaw the workload easing after the first half-year or so. Well, colour me naïve – Council has more than enough on its plate to keep busy well into the future. Council has used these last few months to consolidate its to-do list, and to ensure that topics under discussion have enough impetus to successfully jump the gap into the new term. Unlike most political systems, Council issues do not “die on the order paper” when an election is called. What a waste of effort! The needs of Equity members do not suddenly evaporate every three years, and neither will our work on your behalf. One of most enjoyable final tasks for the term is the awarding of the annual Equity Honours. For 2009, Council is pleased to announce that Life Memberships will be presented to both Martha Henry and Nora Polley, and the Larry McCance Award will go to Barbara Gordon. Designer Susan Benton has been chosen for Honorary Membership in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the performing arts. These honours are given to members and others in our community that the Equity membership has let us know are worthy of special recognition, and will be presented at the first meeting of the new Council in November. I cannot conclude this last column without acknowledging a recent sad event. Long-time Coun- cil member, Bill Forbes, passed away suddenly in late July. Bill was an extraordinarily caring and conscientious representative for Atlantic Canada for many years and, to his many theatre colleagues over time, a valued and wickedly funny friend. We’ll miss you, Bill. All the best to all of you,

Allan Teichman President

Spring 2009 Equity Quarterly 1 EQUITY QUARTERLY Fall 2009 EQ volume 3 number 3

A great moment for an iconic Canadian production

1 President’s message 6 A shared background 3 noTES FROM ARDEN RYSHPAN 8 Time for a new 4 letterS to the editor cultural policy 5 eq moves 12 Interview with 16 eQ&A Adrienne Clarkson 17 eQ Tribute 18 fondly remembered 14 Australian Equity 20 eq classifieds influences election 21 eq flashback

EQ Coming issue: winter 2010 Subscriptions are available at an annual rate of $35, including GST. Equity members are encouraged to submit articles, submissions and accompanying Publications Mail Agreement No. 40038615 Fall 2009 – Volume 3, Number 3 EQ is published four times a year by Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. photos, notices of births, marriages, memorial notices and letters to the editor via email Executive editor Lynn McQueen ([email protected]) or on disk with accompanying hard copy. The copy deadline for submis- National Office 44 Victoria Street, 12th Floor, Toronto, ON M5C 3C4 editor Barb Farwell sions is November 16, 2009. EQ reserves the right to edit for length, style and content. Tel: 416-867-9165 | Fax: 416-867-9246 | Toll-free: 1-800-387-1856 (members only) [email protected] | www.caea.com design F resh Art & Design EQ Equity Quarterly (ISSN 1913-2190) is a forum to communicate to Equity members www.freshartdesign.com the activities of the Association and issues of concern to the Association. With the Western Office 736 Granville Street, Suite 510, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1G3 DEsign & Layout C hris Simeon, exception of the editorial staff, the views expressed in solicited or unsolicited articles Tel: 604-682-6173 | 604-682-6174 | Toll free: 1-877-682-6173 (members only) September Creative are not necessarily the views of the Association. [email protected]

Cover: Cartoon reproduced with great thanks to Aislin, The Gazette, Montreal Inside Front Cover: Excerpt from the 1983 Applebaum-Hébert Report written by the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee Above: December 1971: Norman Campbell, Grace Finley and Don Harron pose before boarding the plane to take Anne of Green Gables – The Musical™ on tour to New York. Is it possible to continue to achieve these great moments with reduced government support for the arts? Notes from Arden Ryshpan

“No appraisal of our intellectual or cultural life can leave one complacent or even content. If modern nations were marshalled in the order of the importance which they assign to those things with which this inquiry is concerned, Canada would be found far from the vanguard; she would even be near the end of the procession.” From Page 272, Part Two – Introduction. ROYAL COMMISSION ON NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE ARTS, LETTERS AND SCIENCES 1949-1951 (The Massey Commission Report)

For years – maybe forever – Canadians have been searching (and researching) for our cultural identity. Along with many nations, we have looked to government to support and sustain the cultural industry through direct financial support and the development of progressive policies. The gap between what we have and what we need requires periodic re-evaluation. And there are times, and now is one of them, where that gap is widening. Culture used to be a prominent element in government policy, domestic and foreign. That no longer seems to be true. For this issue of EQ, we asked a selection of people who have spent many years working to improve the lives of Canadian artists how they see the current policy landscape. We also requested an interview with the Minister of Canadian Heritage, James Moore, on July 6. As the youngest person to hold the port- folio, Minister Moore grew up in the age of new media and we were curious to find out how that has shaped his perspective and goals for the department. After more than three weeks of waiting, his office could still not confirm if the Minister would do the interview – so we proposed he write a “Voices” column in which he would answer some specific questions for us. You will not find his submission in the pages of this magazine. On the very last day of our very extended deadline, we received something completely different. We received what I can only (charitably) characterize as “recycled material” as it appears to have been written for another use. He did not answer any of the questions we asked, the piece was extremely generic and mentioned neither Equity nor live performance. Instead, it talked about a grant the government was making to a completely different sector of the arts! (For those of you who really want to read it, it is available on the website in the members-only zone, along with our questions.) It is disappointing that the Minister of Canadian Heritage chose not to take advantage of an opportunity to communicate with his constituents. Frankly, we would have preferred a flat out “no” right from the start rather than the protracted and ultimately frustrating process we went through. This all drives home the point that arts organizations and artists alike need to participate in elevating and shaping the debate about our cultural policies. The last truly thorough review was the Applebaum- Hébert report in 1982. Successive governments have responded by dealing with individual issues or sectors as problems have arisen. With the advent of new technologies that effectively render us borderless, the time has come for another comprehensive look at our cultural policies. If that same parade of nations was assembled today, where would Canada be and what would we need to do to ensure a space for ourselves at the front of the line?

Arden R. Ryshpan Executive Director

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 3 Letters to the editor

Status of the Artist Act for actors of specific ethnic backgrounds, Letters on subjects of concern to Equity Executive Director Arden Ryshpan, in her the producers are then flooded with members will be considered for publication. Letters must be signed, but names will be withheld on request for interview in the summer 2009 issue of résumés from the “usual suspects.” those letters that may affect members’ employment. Letters that include artistic criticism of Equity members or EQ, explained that most of Equity’s col- Acknowledging someone’s ethnicity is not letters that are antagonistic or accusatory, either implied lective bargaining is based on voluntary a racist act. If a producer asks for woman or expressed, may be withheld or edited at the discretion of the editor. Opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor recognition, with Equity’s certification as to play Medea, is he/she being sexist? are not necessarily those of the Association. I have been an actor for over 25 years. a bargaining agent in Alberta a notable PHOTO AND PRODUCTION CREDITS exception. I want you to know that it’s always won- Cover: Courtesy of Aislin, political cartoonist Terry Mosher. Another important exception is in areas derful to see that a casting director is look- Inside front cover: Photo: Chris Blanchenot for Equity. ing for someone of my description. Yes, Page 2: Wagner International Photo Inc. Courtesy of the of federal jurisdiction, where Equity has Confederation Centre of the Arts. been certified since 1996 as a bargain- I should be playing people who aren’t Page 5: Photo: Bretta Gerecke. Nevermore (2009) by ing agent under the Status of the Artist defined by their colour or ethnicity as well. Jonathan Christenson produced by Catalyst Theatre. Directed by Jonathan Christenson with choreography by Act. The Act provides a legal framework I send my résumé in for those, too. I cross Laura Krewski. Cast: Shannon Blanchet, Sheldon Elter, my fingers that the director will be “non- Beth Graham, Ryan Parker, Garett Ross, Vanessa Sabourin for certification and bargaining. Certifica- and Scott Shpeley. Stage managed by John Raymond tion for a sector gives a bargaining agent traditional” or “colour blind” but, when assisted by Candice Charney. a show like Doubt or A Raisin in the Sun Pages 6 & 7: Photos: Tim Matheson. Mixie and the exclusive rights to bargain with producers Halfbreeds (2009) by Adrienne Wong and Julie Tamiko on behalf of artists working in that sector. comes along, it makes me feel special. Manning produced by Neworld Theatre. Directed and There is something unique about these choreographed by Maiko Bae Yamamoto with music Equity has negotiated a number of scale direction by Joelysa Pankanea. Cast: Julie Tamiko Manning agreements under this legislation. characters that gives me an edge. and Adrienne Wong along with local jobbers. Stage managed by Danielle Fecko assisted by Benjamin Cheung The Canadian Artists and Produc- As it is now, I know major producers (apprentice). ers Professional Relations Tribunal that bypass the listserv. They feel that they Page 8: Photo: Ken Bell. Giselle (1953) produced by The would have to censor their audition calls. National Ballet of Canada. Music by Adolphe Adam with (www.capprt-tcrpap.gc.ca) administers choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Cast: David Ironically, these producers tend to be from Adams, Celia Franca and artists of the National Ballet of the labour relations provisions of the Act. Canada. the very ethnic groups that they are ask- In addition to defining sectors of artistic Page 9: Top photo: Anthony Monsarrat. The Apple Cart activity and certifying bargaining agents ing for. (1982) by George Bernard Shaw, produced by Neptune Marcia Johnson, Theatre, Halifax. Directed by Tom Kerr and Equity Life to represent them, the Tribunal can hear Member John Neville. Featured cast: John Neville, and Equity member Sean Mulcahy. Stage managed by Bayle Gorman. Courtesy complaints on specific matters related to of the Neptune Theatre Collection. collective bargaining. Bottom photo: Tim Matheson. No Exit (2008-2010) Executive Editor’s note: by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated from the French by When I read the interview, I contacted Paul Bowles produced by Electric Company Theatre & Beginning mid-October, Equity will insti- Arden, and we both had a chuckle, The Virtual Stage. Directed by Kim Collier. Cast: Lucia tute improvements to e-drive, our online Frangione, Laara Sadiq, Andy Thompson and Jonathon Young. Production stage managed by Jan Hodgson. because she and Equity have been among subscription mailing list. In answer to Mar- the strongest supporters of status of the Page 11: Top photo: Mac Parry. The Ecstasy of Rita Joe cia’s comments on diversity, any theatre (1967) by George Ryga produced by the Playhouse artist legislation and of the Tribunal. Her with an ethno-cultural mandate, or produc- Theatre Company. Directed by George Bloomfield with choreography by Norbert Vesak. Cast: Ed Brooks, Rae oversight was my opportunity to draw tion to be cast with a specific ethno-cultural Brown, Jack Buttrey, Merv Campone, Robert Clothier, attention to the Tribunal and the Status group, will now be able to identify these Patricia Gage, Chief Dan George, Frances Hyland, Walter Marsh, Ann Mortifee, Henry Ramer, August Schellenberg, of the Artist Act. artistic decisions in their e-drive posting. A Paul Stanley and others. Stage managed by Joel Miller Brian K. Stewart, Director, Planning, second e-drive upgrade will encourage more assisted by Graham Cook. Bottom photo: David Cooper. Beyond Eden (2010) by Research and Communications detailed information from theatres working Bruce Ruddell co-produced by Vancouver Playhouse under the Canadian Theatre Agreement Theatre Company and Theatre Calgary. Cast: Tom Canadian Artists and Producers Jackson, Jennifer Lines and John Mann. Stage managed by when posting general audition notices (pro- Professional Relations Tribunal Rick Rinder assisted by Stacey Kotlar. ductions in the upcoming season, dates of Page 12: Photo: Pierre Maraval. Courtesy of Adrienne engagement, play synopses and roles to be Clarkson. Concerns about e-drive cast etc.). Hopefully, this change will assist Page 14: Photo courtesy of Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, Australia. My issue with the e-drive listserv is that Equity members with audition preparation Page 16: Photo courtesy of Isabel Metcalfe. it sometimes does the opposite of what it and increase audition opportunities across Page 21: Photo courtesy of Theatre Museum Canada. intends. By not allowing producers to ask our membership.

4 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 EQ Moves Onward and upward with the arts

Scott Shpeley and Shannon Blanchet perform in Nevermore, presented by Edmonton’s Catalyst Theatre. Laura Krewski won a Sterling Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the production

Baritone singer John Fanning, C.M., was named a member of Technology, awarded to an individual not actively involved in the the Order of Canada this past May for his contribution as a musi- technical disciplines of the Canadian live performance industry, cal ambassador for Canada, his role as a respected teacher and but who by virtue of their position has contributed significantly mentor, and for generously contributing his time and talent to to the development of technical disciplines within Canada. Miriam worthy causes. was recognized for her contribution to health and safety standards in the live performance industry. Equity member and NDP candidate Lenore Zann won her seat in Nova Scotia’s Truro-Bible Hill riding in the provincial election in August. This Nancy Webster has been named Managing Director of the is the first time the NDP has ever won a seat in this Conservative Party National Arts Centre’s English Theatre. She takes over the posi- stronghold as the NDP swept to victory in the province. tion this fall.

The national governing council of ACTRA has elected Ferne Sara Meurling is the new Managing Director at Factory Theatre in Downey as ACTRA National President by acclamation. Her two- Toronto. She took over the position in early September. year term is effective immediately. Ferne has served as an elected Ship’s Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, has announced representative for ACTRA for 18 years, including two terms that Matthew Tiffin will be its next Artistic Producer. Originally as Vice-President Communications and President for ACTRA from Ottawa, Matthew will take over from outgoing Artistic Pro- Toronto, and three terms as National Treasurer. ducer Pamela Halstead in November. Eric Coates, Artistic Director of Blyth Festival in Blyth, Ontario, has Equity members celebrated the 2008-2009 performance been elected President of The Professional Association of Canadian season with award ceremonies from coast to coast. A Theatres (PACT), and Gaylene Buckle, General Manager of Theatre complete list of Betty Mitchell Award (Calgary), Dora Newfoundland Labrador in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, has been Mavor Moore Award (Toronto), Elizabeth Sterling elected Vice President Internal. Both will serve two-year terms. Haynes Award (Edmonton), Jessie Award (Vancouver) Equity Business Representative Miriam Newhouse was the recipi- and Les Masques (Montreal) nominees and winners is ent of Honorary Membership in the Canadian Institute of Theatre linked to www.caea.com.

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 5 Lost and found in the Blonde Forest

A magical journey to discover what it means to be of mixed race

By Barb Farwell

When they first met, Adrienne Wong and Julie Tamiko Manning joked about putting together a punk rock band called Mixie and the Halfbreeds. “We had worked with lots of mixed-race people, and we joked we should all get together and form a band,” says Wong, who like Manning, is “half Asian and half something else.” Instead of a band, the two actors turned Mixie and the Half- breeds into a play that explores the search for identity they had experienced in their own lives. “I remember as I child I felt alone, like there was no one else like me,” says Manning. “When I realized that I wasn’t the only one, that I shared similar experiences with others of mixed race, I felt less alone. Finding a community of mixed-race people changed my life, certainly my life as a theatre artist, for the better.” Unlike an immigrant story, where people come to a new country to start a new life, Mixie and the Halfbreeds is about people born and raised in Canada who have roots in places they may never have been to, says Wong. Instead of trying to identify themselves by their background, they learn it is who they are right now – to VanCity Culture Lab in June of 2009 with Wong playing Trixie and the people around them – that defines them. Manning playing Mixie. The play sold out six of eight shows. In the play, Trixie is a young woman who is running away from “I think we managed to reach our target audience – not only her mixed-race background, while Mixie knows who she is, but people who were mixed-race, but people who were in a mixed- feels isolated and alone. race marriage or relationship,” says Wong. “It was exciting to play The two get lost in a surreal world called the “Blonde Forest,” the show for people who got the jokes.” where everyone is – you guessed it – blonde. “When they first Even though half (get it?) of the audience was not of mixed land in the forest, they are clueless as to what they are sup- race, Manning says it’s important to continue to tell stories like posed to be doing there. They assume things about themselves these on Canadian stages. and each other throughout their journey in the forest,” explains “In Canada, diversity has always been a fact. Perhaps some Manning. “Their moment of recognition comes at the end. They people are only learning about it now, so to have it reflected on finally see beyond their assumptions to find something that they our stages will only strengthen live performance. When have weren’t looking for – friendship.” we ever benefited from not sharing? There are so many differ- Manning and Wong originally pitched the idea for Mixie as a ent voices in our country that need and want to be heard, and radio series to the CBC, but it got lost in the work stoppage created people who will come to the theatre because they want to hear by the 2005 lockout. They decided to rework it as a stage play. those voices.” The two women had never collaborated together before, and to make matters more complicated – Wong lived in Vancouver In October, Julie Tamiko Manning will be performing in Talisman Theatre’s production of Rock, Paper, Jackknife by Marilyn Perrault in Montreal, and then in and Manning lived in Montreal. “A couple of weeks a year we November she will join the National Arts Centre’s 40th Anniversary English Theatre got together, and the rest of the time we worked through the Acting Company. Internet,” says Wong. Adrienne Wong is co-artistic director of Neworld Theatre and is currently workshopping After working on the play off and on for five years, the Neworld a series of new projects, including PodPlays, a series of five audio plays designed for the streets of Vancouver. In November she will perform Lives Were Around Me, a Theatre production of Mixie and the Halfbreeds debuted at The site-specific roving theatre work that explores the notions of history and evidence.

6 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 Lost and found in the Blonde Forest

Opposite page: Adrienne Wong plays Trixie, a young woman running from her mixed-race background This page above: Extras performed as “living scenery” when Mixie and Trixie become lost in the Blonde Forest This page left: They joked about forming a band called Mixie and the Halfbreeds, but instead Wong (left) and Manning (right) created a play about their shared mixed-race experience This page below: Mixie (left), played by Julie Tamiko Manning, and Trixie (right), played by Adrienne Wong, take a journey into a surreal world to discover themselves and come to terms with their backgrounds

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 7 Experts weigh in on what a cultural policy might look where is our national arts policy?

By Matthew Hays

Keith Kelly says he wasn’t entirely were singularly lacking in any kind of vision beyond the status surprised when the Conservative government cut some of the quo. That lack of vision was stunning to me.” travel budgets for artists who were planning national and inter- And Kelly would know a thing or two about cultural policy in national tours last year. After all, Tories frequently talk of fiscal Canada. A former director of public affairs at the Canada Council belt-tightening and occasionally seem tone-deaf when it comes and also a former National Director of the Canada Conference of to culture. the Arts, his knowledge of the national arts scene is encyclopedic. But what he found more telling was the response of the other Kelly cautions that we’re not entirely without a cultural policy in political parties – the ones who are supposed to be more up on Canada, but that it’s more like a series of policies, with little con- culture and its consequences. “The other parties had one response sistency across the board. He says Canada’s cultural communities to the cuts,” he recalls. “Their answer was simply that if they were would gain from such a policy, or at the very least, gain from dis- in charge, they would put the money back in. That was it. They cussion and dialogue around what such a policy would contain.

8 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 like – and the need for one now where is our national arts policy?

Last cultural discussion was in the 1980s The last time such a discussion took place was in the early ’80s, when the federal Liberal government appointed composer Louis Applebaum and writer and publisher Jacques Hébert to co-chair extensive committee hearings on Canada’s cultural policies. The Applebaum-Hébert committee tabled three reports that contained over 100 recommendations. Their conclusions urged enhanced support for the Canada Council, funding for international promotion of Canadian artists and a new broadcasting act. Some of the committee’s recommendations were followed through with (the establish- ment of the Canadian Heritage Council, for example) while some weren’t (greater assistance to campus radio stations). But beyond its tangible achievements, the process ignited a far-reaching discussion between government, the arts community and the Canadian public about the role of culture in the lives of Canadians. And that’s something Kelly says we may well be due for all over again. And he’s not alone. Robert Sirman, Director of Canada Council for the Arts, agrees. “Having a discussion of this sort allows us to attempt to forge a common language where culture is concerned,” says Sirman. “This would allow for an exchange between Canadians and the government to accept and adopt common terms about culture. The government then responds to it – this can be very powerful.” Garry Neil, an expert in cultural policy and an advocate for cultural diversity, says the advantages of developing a new cultural policy would have several key advantages for Canada’s arts communities. “Right now, we have elements of a cultural policy. But a national discussion around them would mean we could come

Opposite page: The National Ballet of Canada was formed in 1951, the same year the Massey Commission issued its report on Canadian culture and advocated government support for a wide range of cultural activities. In the photo, David Adams and Celia Franca perform with Artists of the Ballet in Giselle, one of the National Ballet’s early productions This page top: John Neville and Sean Mulcahy in the 1982 production of The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw at Neptune Theatre in Halifax – the year the Applebaum-Hébert report was issued This page bottom: Moving beyond cultural policy – using innovation and technology, action is broadcast and mixed live on video from a fully contained hotel room out to the audience in Kim Collier’s bold reimagining of Sartre’s No Exit. Produced in Vancouver by Electric Company and The Virtual Stage in 2008, and touring Canada in 2009-10. Andy Thompson as Cradeau, Jonathon Young as the Valet, and Laara Sadiq as Inez

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 9 Experts weigh in on what a cultural policy might look

up with more consistency. Having a coherent, overarching, spe- tive and adaptive, something needed in this economic climate. The cific policy would be an excellent idea – it would provide more Canadian and Ontario governments have just sunk several billion certainty than we usually have.” dollars into the auto sector to protect 70,000 jobs. The federal government spends just over $2 billion on culture and media, including A consistent, overarching policy the CBC, and yet that generates far more employment, at far less Neil adds that, as of now, “our cultural policy is largely a defensive cost. We need to wean ourselves from traditional agriculture and one. We have a program here or a program there, and it would resource-based economies. Everyone acknowledges the economy is be an awful lot easier if there were one larger strategy in place.” not going to exist that way. But we’re not moving in that direction, And Neil says once such policies are ironed out, they have huge and there’s not much vision to do so.” advantages for all artists and arts administrators, but especially “Personally, I’d like to see much more public acknowledgment for those involved with live performance. Many see the value of a that there’s a lot of employment in the cultural sector,” says Sirman. film or music industry, for example, because those industries have “These jobs are every bit as worth saving as any others – like those a higher profile and are often associated with the big bucks. And in the auto industry, farming or forestry. People in our sector need that’s not necessarily the case with, for example, live theatre. to pay rents and feed families as well. A policy discussion would “Once a commission like this could establish an overriding emphasize the value of saving jobs or keeping employment at cur- policy that clearly acknowledged the importance of creating live rent levels. And then it would allow us to go to the next step: How theatre, you wouldn’t have to go back to make that argument do we create more jobs? How do we increase compensation?” again. You could argue for more detailed and focused elements of a cultural policy regarding the theatre, rather than having to The impact of the Internet make those basic arguments all over again. It wouldn’t solve all Neil, Kelly and Sirman all argue that the time for a new cultural the problems, but it would make it much easier to lobby.” policy couldn’t be better, especially given one epic shift in cultural Sirman concurs, citing the large numbers of people involved distribution and production since the early ’80s: the Internet. “The in the cultural sector, something that’s often overlooked when whole nature of the sector has changed, because the technology discussion of the arts comes up. “I think that the Canada Council has advanced,” says Kelly. “Artists can now produce and distrib- would be interested in seeing how the not-for-profit sector is ute their own work independently. There needs to be acknowl- situated within the larger cultural sector. There is much discussion edgment of this massive shift.” of film and broadcasting, and of Canada as a Hollywood North. And the burgeoning cyberspace universe will mean an intriguing So where is much of that talent nurtured? Many of those people, thing for live performance artists: a new acknowledgment of their working in higher-profile industries, usually got their start in the unique and distinctive power. Newspapers and print media, TV, not-for-profit sector. And that’s our area of concern.” film and recorded music have all been threatened by the ability of Internet users to simply download content for free. But as Neil The economy of ideas points out, live performances cannot be duplicated through a com- Kelly and Sirman argue that in the context of the current eco- puter screen. An inherent part of appreciating them is seeing them nomic upheaval, such a discussion makes perfect sense. “I think live. “Live performances are ephemeral in nature. The performance one of the main objectives should be how the cultural sector fits you get tonight is not the same as the next night.” Whatever into the creative economy,” says Sirman. “People are now talking content such a broad policy might entail would have to include a about the economy of ideas, which includes high tech, universities discussion of the specific drawing power that stage performances and medical research, as well as culture. We need to assess the of theatre, opera, ballet, spoken word and the circus contain. contribution the cultural sector is making to the new economy. And while the Internet seems to have created a border-free The fact is, in the world economy today, manufacturing and natu- world, Neil contends that the globalization of the cultural economy ral resources are being overtaken by the generation of new ideas. makes a coherent cultural policy all the more vital to Canada’s art- Canadians need to enhance their competitiveness in this area.” ists. “We need absolute recognition of the challenges we face in Kelly says Canada is actually behind in recognizing the importance producing domestic product. There are 24 million Canadians who of new opportunities surrounding the creative economy. “Arts and share a language with the greatest producer of English-language cultural industries are among the fastest growing labour markets product in the world. There must be recognition of what kind of in the country,” he says. “The cultural community is often innova- disadvantages we face – that competitive disadvantage must be

10 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 like – and the need for one now

part of the policy. These technological changes make discussions of our national identity all the more important. It doesn’t matter if we’re putting on a play about beavers playing hockey. The content doesn’t matter – the important thing is that Canadians are creating their own work. The question is not, ‘What is the story about?’ But rather, ‘Are Canadians telling the story?’”

Policy discussions Down Under And there are very real examples of national cultures being but- tressed by such policy discussions. In July of 1992, the Australian government appointed a panel of accomplished Australians to examine the country’s cultural sector and to make detailed recommendations for the formulation of a national cultural policy. Two years later, the group tabled Australia’s first national cultural policy, and the impact it had on thinking about culture and the jobs it can create was massive on the media, citizens and government of the country. Among its strongest statements, the report foresaw a “culture-led economic future,” asserting that “Culture creates wealth… Culture employs… Culture adds value, it makes an essential contribution to innovation, marketing and design. It is a badge of our industry. The level of our creativity substantially determines our ability to adapt to new economic imperatives.” Still, given our current government, those in the know predict little movement on such a policy discussion – at least one led by the federal government. As one artist put it to me recently, “The Tories think culture is something that grows on bread when you leave it on the counter for too long.” But Neil says this is no reason to leave the idea behind. “I don’t think we need the government to initiate or to hold a discussion on what our cultural policy should be. We could design a dialogue within the community, one that would allow us to discuss our needs while hearing about what Canadians have to say about the arts and culture in general. “I know there are many people who say this idea’s time has come.”

Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based journalist whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Walrus, The Guardian and The New York Times. He received a Canada Council grant for his first book, The View from Here, which won a 2008 Lambda Award. He also serves as a programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival.

That was then (top): Frances Hyland and Chief Dan George in Vancouver Playhouse’s 1967 production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, NAC’s first English theatre production This is now (bottom): John Mann, from the band Spirit of the West, will be performing in Beyond Eden by Bruce Ruddell at the Vancouver Playhouse in January 2010. Tom Jackson and Jennifer Lines will also star

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 11 The journalist and former Governor General

Adrienne Clarkson on Cultural Policy

By James Bradshaw

To be frank, Adrienne Clarkson hasn’t been think- Good ideas, good intentions ing about cultural policy much lately. Earlier attempts at forging an identifiable Canadian cultural policy The arts are never far from mind for the former Governor General have taught Clarkson cautionary tales about how hard it is to and journalist, but her views about how best to drive Canadian arts forge initiatives that work across the country and are backed by seem to grow organically from a truth she holds to be self-evident, the will and resources to see them through. She cites the Massey rather than from any deliberate intellectual rigour. Commission of 1951 as an example of policy that worked, yield- “Culture is the country’s identity. That’s it,” she says. “I’m not ing the Canada Council for the Arts at a time when state support the first to say it but, in 100 years, will people remember the presi- for the arts was broadly unpopular in North America. But since dent of Nortel, or will they remember Michael Ondaatje or Margaret then, Clarkson can’t call to mind any great leaps forward in how Atwood? It’s so shortsighted of people to think the things that are Canadians support and craft their culture. done for eternal reasons – beauty, truth, reason – are not the ones Artist Mary Pratt, Clarkson’s good friend, was a member of the that will last.” Applebaum-Hébert Committee (officially titled the Federal Cultural At 70, Clarkson has long been a globetrotter, travelling “specifically Policy Review Committee, or Applebert for short), which from 1980 to look for things, and look at things.” With two decades as a journal- to 1982 took the last serious stab at drawing a cultural roadmap for ist, stints as a book publisher and diplomat, she knows the scenes in Canada. The committee’s final report set out over 100 recommenda- Paris and London and is an avid attendee of opera festivals, but can tions and, while the report does boast some achievements such as equally be grabbed by the “things going on that people self-start.” the creation of a new Broadcasting Act, Clarkson rightly suspects that Her travels have given context to her appraisal of Canadian arts and numerous ideas were soon orphaned. culture. On the one hand, she says, the “cultural product” (she admits “We periodically set something up like that with wonderful people to using an “industrial term”) Canada produces “is first rate.” On the on it, they come up with wonderful ideas, and then we really don’t other hand, its arts have tended to derive from a loose association of have any follow-through on it,” Clarkson laments. forces rather than a coherent country-wide vision, with Quebec a Any new policy work, Clarkson says, must not be a government’s possible exception. way of “shunting off, of saying ‘Oh, let’s keep the artists quiet by “I don’t think we know what our policy is the way, say, Europeans having a report,’” nor can it be the arts community’s attempt at know. All of them know what their policy is. All of this is taken for simply garnering more money. If we invest the time and energy granted as part of their cultural fabric.” needed to sculpt a new policy, we must avoid “getting into a

12 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 tells us what’s on her mind

bureaucratic muddle. You don’t need things to be managed, you When the discussion turns to Canada on the world stage, Clark- need things to be created,” Clarkson says. son turns to Canada’s artistic heavyweights: Robert Lepage, Mar- garet Atwood, Colm Feore, Wajdi Mouawad and a close Clarkson Policy the Good and Policy the Bad friend, Robert Carsen. Though she calls for a prominent role for government in Canadian These are the people Clarkson feels should be at the fore of arts, particularly financially, Clarkson firmly believes the policy any plan to export Canada’s arts, which should in turn focus on change must be drafted by artists themselves. international collaboration and co-production. “If you look at it from a governmental, bureaucratic point of Clarkson shows no direct frustration with the Conservative gov- view, you’re going to be writing policy the way you write a policy ernment’s decision last fall to cancel PromArt and Trade Routes, for how you will develop soft fruit growing in Ontario. It’s not two federal programs supporting cultural exports. Though she about that. It’s about this magical thing that has to do with cre- cannot vouch for the effectiveness of the cultural attachés paid ativity,” she says, gesturing excitedly. for by Trade Routes and tagged as too expensive by the Tories, She shies away from the word “comprehensive” when discuss- she readily trumpets their potential benefits if properly selected ing arts policy, emphasizing the importance of respecting how and supported. varied Canadian arts are across the country and avoiding anything “Why could Foreign Affairs not have them? Every G20 country that might seek to define Canadian culture too uniformly. has cultural officers,” she says. Rather she believes in building around cultural pillars. Whereas After leaving the fifth estate in 1983, Clarkson was appointed the CBC, Clarkson’s home for two decades while she hosted Take as Agent General for Ontario in France, a five-year posting dur- Thirty, the fifth estate and Adrienne Clarkson Presents, once pro- ing which her signature accomplishment was luring a Renault car vided Canada with a cultural binding “the way the railway gave plant to Brampton, creating thousands of jobs. a binding,” its role is diminished in Clarkson’s eyes. Into that void “The culture was the sweetener on it to make people think have stepped organizations with national and international reach that the place existed. ‘Is life possible in such a place?’ is what such as the Royal Conservatory of Music and, most importantly, the French would say to me, and what that means is, is there the Canada Council for the Arts, which she posits as the new theatre, is there music, are there movies to see? Toronto [was] “pivotal point, like the foot of a compass, for the country.” just a blank to them.” “I think what you want to make sure you do in any arts policy To help win the French over to Canadian art, she brought a is help artists not to starve,” Clarkson says, pointing out that even dance troupe to partner with the Centre Pompidou in Paris in a with grants, she has known “so many” artists who bolstered their production entitled Aujourd’hui Ontario Danse, which featured incomes with restaurant or shop work. Robert Desrosiers and Danny Grossman, among others. The proj- “With the Canada Council, they are able to get some help to ect was a model of frugality: The Pompidou provided the the- live. It’s not huge. But sometimes $5,000 or $10,000 is going to atre and the publicity, Air Canada chipped in free flights, and the prove to somebody, ‘Somebody thinks I’m worth it. I’m validated.’ whole endeavour cost just $17,000. Perhaps that’s what we’re really talking about: validation. As for PromArt, Clarkson doesn’t think grants for touring Cana- “If a government is going to do anything about the arts, it dian productions are enough by themselves. Instead, she wants should show it cares about them.” to see support for companies collaborating to produce works For Clarkson, the Canada Council also offers a useful model together and internationally. for arts policy: It is strictly arm’s-length, insulating it from vote- And she warns that any cultural export program, or any wider hungry governments; and it employs the jury model, which she cultural policy, is set up for failure if those driving it and staffing it, thinks lends legitimacy and taste to funding decisions, though she however bright, don’t engage in the details – regional, territorial, acknowledges how hard it can be to coax the best and brightest linguistic and artistic – that inform each piece of Canadian art. into sitting on panels given the myriad demands on their time. “Knowledge has to be the clue to it. You can’t say, let’s talk Still, with this model providing ground artistic support, “then about culture and let’s talk about the arts. You’ve got to talk everything flowers up in different ways in different parts of the about specific things: what kinds of plays, who’s writing them, country,” she says. what are they about, what are they reflecting? Are we transposing books into films, are we transposing theatre people into films? The export imperative What kind of exporting are we doing of all that?” For the time being, one issue sits firmly atop Clarkson’s arts policy As in most matters, Clarkson’s summation is frank. “If you agenda: ensuring Canadian arts and culture flourish abroad. don’t have that element of taste and judgment, then the money “We have to export our best things. We just have to. We’ve is wasted. It’s not worth thinking about.” always been an exporting country,” she says. James Bradshaw is an arts reporter at The Globe and Mail.

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 13 Union members take it to the street

Australian performers take a stand

and help bring down a government

By Simon Whipp

As we all know, there’s power in a union. that won suffrage for women and recognition and voting rights History has taught us that by banding together and acting col- for Indigenous Australians. lectively we can wield the kind of hard power that enables us to It was collective action way back in 1941 by dancers that influence our workplaces and win better working lives through showed how performers could band together and improve their improved terms and conditions. working conditions. Australia has a particularly proud history in this respect. From the earliest days of settlement, workers organized and won con- The Silk Stocking dispute cessions – our very independence as a nation and the develop- The Silk Stocking dispute was over the ridiculous fine imposed on ment of our modern political system is bound up with workers ballet dancers if they had a run in their stockings. The dancers not banding together to work for a fairer life. only won on the issue but also gained the respect and support of The Eureka Stockade revolt of 1854 saw gold miners agitate for the broader community that campaigned with them. better conditions in a movement that ended up achieving univer- Unions can wield soft power as well and the Media, Entertain- sal male suffrage in the then-colony of Victoria. ment & Arts Alliance, which represents actors as well as journal- Australian unions have consistently worked together for a fairer ists, crew, musicians and a range of associated trades and crafts, way of life – it was support and collective action by trade unions wields soft power better than most groups of people.

14 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 When it comes to influencing the views of the broad commu- ernment of John Howard and spurred them to throw him out of nity, who better than our membership? Our federal president, power in a landslide election in November 2007. Patricia Amphlett – or Little Pattie as she is affectionately known in every household, was the pin-up girl for the election of reform- Shaking confidence in the government ing Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam back in 1972. What the campaign did was to highlight the Howard government’s Her song, “It’s Time” was top of the pops and her appearances repressive “WorkChoices” industrial relations legislation, which on the campaign trail helped Whitlam sweep to power after 23 had made it virtually impossible to take industrial action, made col- years in the political wilderness. lective bargaining very difficult (even where the union represented More than 30 years on, Pattie is still getting out in front on 100% of the workforce) and had pretty much removed unfair- key issues. She was with us recently when we toured Parliament dismissal laws. Workers had never been under such pressure. House as part of our campaign to secure a better funding deal But the union movement knew that Australians have a very for our national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corpo- strong sense of what is fair, going back as far as the Eureka Stock- ration (ABC). ade and the first inklings of universal suffrage. The Alliance played its part. We wore out shoe leather delivering Fighting for the national broadcaster leaflets and knocking on doors. Our talented newspaper cartoonists The ABC’s recent past has been a 25-year spiral of cuts, rollbacks, designed T-shirts proclaiming “Your Rights at Work,” which became squeezing and making do with our public broadcaster starved a must-have fashion accessory. Our musicians played benefit gigs, of the funds it needed to put towards making really top-class and our actors raised money in special performances. Performers drama. The dramatic reversal of this trend was not achieved with- met with their local politicians, hopped on buses to campaign in out political pressure. marginal seats where every vote counted, and hosted small meet-

Over decades performers have lobbied both sides of government“ using every piece of technology, imagination and performer power we had to hand.

Over decades, performers have lobbied both sides of govern- ings in libraries and big arena events in ”public sporting arenas. ment using every piece of technology, imagination and performer Everywhere, in every public forum across Australia, an Alliance power we had to hand. In 2003, performers fought hard for local member was pushing out the message: You can vote to end these content as the Conservative government of the day negotiated unfair laws and take back control of your working life. a free trade agreement with the U.S. We launched a campaign Australians listened to us. We found that even in those areas in 2004 called “ABC: The eyes and ears of Australia.” We faxed, phoned and doorknocked, and this time we emailed as well. In the that had traditionally always come out in favour of the Howard same year we celebrated 40 years of the ABC children’s show Play- government, people had heard the message and agreed that it School with cupcakes and fairy bread. We were reminded again of was time to do something about it. how important Australian stories in Australian accents had been to And when the country voted in a massive landslide to change us in our childhoods and continued to be to our children. government, even that government’s most staunch supporters in Most recently, Pattie and a gang of top Australian performers the conservative press agreed that it had been the “Your Rights took to the corridors of Australia’s parliament on a charm offensive. at Work” campaign that had been the clinching factor. And it worked. Two months later the government announced the We’re rightly proud of the part we played in this campaign. biggest increase to the funding of the ABC since the current funding arrangements had been put in place decades ago. And it has given us fresh heart and courage to know that there is The lessons we learnt in campaigning for our public broadcaster power in a union and that by working together and making our held us in good stead when it came to our part in the “Your Rights voices heard, we can indeed move mountains. at Work” campaign that made us all so proud. Many people have Simon Whipp is the Director, Equity Section, Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. argued that it was this campaign more than any other factor that The Alliance is the union and professional organization that covers everyone in the shook the Australian community’s confidence in the 11-year gov- media, entertainment, sports and arts industries in Australia.

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 15 EQ&A Lobbying for the Arts An EQ&A with Isabel Metcalfe, Public Affairs Counsel specializing in advocacy for not-for-profit organizations

Engage with politicians. Join a party. “Support a candidate that you believe in.” vants and regulators; and advise ministerial IM: The inception and renewal of the assistants and the Prime Minister’s Office Canadian Television Fund (CTF) is a high- so we get the issues and the organization light. The fund was started by Sheila Copps on the radar screen. and has been a success story. The industry has worked hard to ensure it continued. EQ: How important is lobbying to getting issues heard? Our greatest lobby effort was the “North- ern Lights Luncheon” organized in early IM: Ottawa is a complex and highly com- 2000 for the first renewal of the Canadian petitive place. Lobbying is essential to being Television Fund. Paul Gross, Sonya Smits heard. Not only do you want to ensure that and young performers posed with par- live performers get attention in Ottawa, but Isabel Metcalfe started her political career liamentarians, bureaucrats and political that their work and issues are understood. on Parliament Hill as a tour guide and then advisers. The performers shone, speaking worked for Prime Ministers Pierre Elliott Efficient and effective lobbying gets you and emphasizing the importance of the Trudeau, John Turner and Jean Chrétien. noticed. An effective lobbyist will plan your fund to each and every MP and Minister In 2006 she ran as a Liberal candidate in day for maximum benefit, ensuring that you who appeared. the riding of Carleton-Mississippi Mills in are prepared, punctual, and meeting with the EQ: What’s your best story? Ottawa. As a lobbyist, Isabel has helped right people at the right time. I like to make national arts and culture organizations the day fun and exciting. Sometimes your day IM: Following the luncheon, performers such as the Directors Guild of Canada, the will begin with a group of new backbench attended Question Period, creating excite- Writers Guild of Canada, the Canadian Film MPs from Alberta who may have never met ment in the House of Commons. After- and Television Production Association, the cultural workers of your calibre before. Then wards, Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and we could be meeting with the Bloc Qué- Copps got Finance Minister Paul Martin to the Documentary Organization of Canada bécois MPs, and conclude our day with a attend an impromptu meeting with perform- and PTV Inc. bring their issues to Ottawa. meeting with a Prime Ministerial adviser or ers. She locked the Minister of Finance’s arm Charlie Angus, the NDP Heritage Critic who behind his back and asked them to tell him EQ: How do you get artists’ issues in front still regularly performs as a singer. how important the CTF was to their liveli- of politicians? hood. That magical moment of performers A lobbyist will ensure that everyone is IM: It takes a lot of hard work, a clear and speaking directly to the Minister of Finance briefed prior to the meeting – allowing concise message, consistency, and cour- – telling him that this allowed them to work you to get your point across quickly – and tesy. Using your best representatives – ide- in Canada – was lobbying, public policy, we give the same message to everyone, ally with name recognition – yields the best consultation and dialogue at its finest. whether we are speaking to a backbench results. Public policy decision-makers love MP, a senior public servant, a Ministerial EQ: Any advice for Equity members? to meet and deal directly with the people policy adviser or the Opposition Critic. whose work they influence. We meet with IM: Engage with politicians. When the MPs from the four political parties to dis- EQ: Please tell us about some of your election is called, go door to door with cuss the issues; provide briefings and infor- successful lobbying efforts on behalf of them. Learn about their world. Join a party. mation exchanges with relevant public ser- artists. Support a candidate that you believe in.

16 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 EQ Tribute By Gary Vermier Bill Forbes 1959 - 2009

Longtime Councillor for the Atlantic region, Advisory Committee Chair, Co-chair of the Honours Committee and 25-year member of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association

In 1977, I was a keen young stagehand on The Wizard of Oz. I was mending the Scare- crow’s post when the Scarecrow himself shyly tapped me on the shoulder. It seemed that every night, as he took his place on set, the poor guy had to silently wrench the pole backwards so that he could drape over it without his limbs going to sleep. And every morning, I would dutifully nail it back into perfect perpendicularity. If I felt strongly about a 90-degree post, he told me, he’d work around the numbness. (He didn’t want to be a bother.) But if I could see my way to leaving it askew... This was my introduction to the unforgettable Bill Forbes. During our years at St. FX, we acted together, wrote together and planned our careers together. And, when we wound up at the same dinner theatre on P.E.I. the summer after graduation, we roomed together. One night, we clambered onto our cottage roof to watch a meteor shower. Sitting in the dark, beers in hand, we talked about the wonders that lay in our futures and how we’d set the theatre world on fire. Dear Bill was such a If anyone could, it was Bill. Me, I was an actor – a dime a dozen. Bill was an actor. And a writer. And a director. And a cartoonist. And a designer. And a builder. He could do sweet and gentle being. everything. Tirelessly. Bill was the most spontaneously creative person I ever knew. Name He contributed so much another set designer who received a standing ovation for a scene change! Bill and I performed for years in the same improv troupe. He was the guy we all wanted to Council meetings and in our scenes – because of his frighteningly funny ideas. (He was also the guy who we were the most afraid of when he entered a scene – for the same reason!) One scene we never left the work there. did together still makes me laugh. We were preparing a holiday dinner: me on stage and He always looked at Bill in the wings, warbling as an unseen but belligerent Christmas turkey. Bill had a wicked, wonderful sense of humour. His was a sweet, generous, gentle heart. things with a keen and He served on the ACTRA Maritimes Council and, for many years, as an Equity rep. For a imaginative mind and had short period, he was the regional chair of both organizations – the kingpin of all things actor-y in the Maritimes! He was the chair of our local PAL chapter. He cared deeply great respect for his fellow about performers and worked constantly to make their lives better. Councillors. I don’t ever And make them better, he did. Bill was a presence in our community – an engine quietly purring beneath its hood. A one-man beacon of creativity, caring, humour and remember seeing him angry humility who always sought to make everything (a conversation, a cause, a collaboration) just that much better. He was a very young 50 when we lost him – in the midst of or dismissive. He leaves a the run of Ship’s Co. Theatre’s Ivor Johnson’s Neighbours (and having a great time of it) large gap in this world and when the beacon quietly flickered out. He was just reaching his prime as an actor. He hadn’t begun to tap the well that lived Equity will feel his loss for inside him. We are all going to miss him in ways we haven’t even realized yet. a long, long time. It seemed somehow fitting that a month after his passing, a hurricane bearing his name roared up the Nova Scotia coast. Hurricane Bill proved to be a big, crazy show – but – Councillor Annabel Kershaw nobody got hurt. Just as our Bill would have written it....

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 17 Fondly Remembered

Jan Rubes 1920 - 2009

By Ezra Schabas

In 1949, the fledgling Royal Conservatory Opera Company – soon to be the Canadian Opera Company (COC) – was pleasantly surprised when a tall, handsome Czech bass named Jan Rubes, with several years of operatic experience in his own country and Ger- many, appeared at the company’s office looking for work. The opera directors soon saw that they could now cast a Mephistopheles in Faust, a Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and a Kezal in The Bartered Bride. That same year, Jan was also the right man in the right place when Canadian filmmakers sought him out to take the lead role of a refugee from an undisclosed Iron Curtain country in the film Forbidden Journey. It was shot in Montreal. The young and beautiful American actress Susan Douglas played opposite him. Jan was surprised to find that Susan was also a native Czech, and she helped him a great deal with his rudimen- tary English. Romance and marriage followed. The CBC soon discovered him and cast him in their radio and TV operas – those were the great days of the CBC – and he also devised a 30-minute weekly radio show, “Songs of My People,” that ran for 10 years. Jan’s mellifluous speaking and singing voice made him many friends across Canada. In 1958, he was a member of the COC on its first tour. It took place, courageously, in Eastern Canada in the dead of winter. Jan recalled that the wind was so Many of us remember Jan the athlete, especially on the tennis strong in Newfoundland that the narrow gauge railway they were court. He played with Christopher Plummer, Eli Wallach and R.H. travelling on had to be chained to the tracks for fear the wind Thomson, among others. They were all reduced to size on the would capsize it. It was the first of many COC tours in Canada and courts by their friend, a Canadian national tennis champion. But the U.S. with Jan, the ideal trouper, at once and always the morale never did Jan humble them. They went back to practicing their builder when the rigors of travel wore down company members. serves and strokes untroubled that they had met their master. Their gratitude was, however, often mixed, as Jan’s poker-playing At age 75, Jan took on the leading stage role of Professor Carl skill relieved them of some of their hard-earned weekly salaries. Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, in James Lapine’s play Twelve Dreams As his operatic career began fading in the mid 1970s, he turned at Lincoln Centre’s Beaumont Theatre. Lapine also directed. The increasingly to musicals and theatre, as well as films. A natural septuagenarian, astonishingly, did eight shows weekly for a total actor, he appeared in plays at the St. Lawrence Centre and other of 101 performances before the show closed. Lapine remembered venues in Toronto and elsewhere, constantly surprising colleagues Jan for his “integrity and intelligence, his grace and dignity as and drama critics: “You mean an opera singer who can act?” he served the play…he approached his role sensitively, always When the Australian film director Peter Weir spotted him on a gracious to me and his fellow actors.” That was the Jan Rubes Canadian film he assigned him the key role of the Amish grandfa- in his long lifetime as his fellow performers in opera, theatre and ther in Witness, which won several Academy Awards. Both Weir films remembered him. Never too busy to give a helping hand to and the film’s star, Harrison Ford, praised Jan’s professionalism. young and old, he was special, and, as they say, we shall not see Ford especially noted how Jan helped the boy in the film to gain his like again for a long time. Jan Rubes died in Toronto on June confidence before the camera. 29, 2009, at the age of 89.

18 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 Lorena Gale 1958 – 2009

By Marie Clements, edited by Diane Roberts

Our relationship really was about her being a writer, me being a Lorena lived as if this life, her writer. About loving and hating the world of writers. It was about time here, was the first time, her ideas, and identity, about Gods, and women, the whys, the hows, only time. She lived accordingly. the who did you say you were? Writing, writing, thinking…God She maintained so much dig- let me get through another day. About family, and love, and sex, nity and grace even while fight- about food and wine, and laughing till you cry and crying till you ing like a warrior an illness that laugh, about work and words and verbs and swearing and red tried its utmost to rob her of her wine, and great dinners in fine restaurants, about arguing about dignity. In her worst days she reached a new level of Lorena- life and living, arguing about death and dying, about looking for hood— challenging me, and those around her, to live our full truth, begging for it, eating it, being skinny, being fat, being black, potential. being brown – about being stupid, beautiful, ugly, superior and Even now, it still feels strange to that say Lorena ‘was’ because put down, about saying I love you, what do you need, what I she is and continues to be a lasting legacy. have is yours, take it, take it, I have your back, cry if you need to And I will continue to see this, your Gale-forced legacy, mani- but stand up, stand up, stand up, get up and write, write, love, fest in the fleeting “aha” moments when a young artist discusses love your man, love your beautiful son, put a dress on, bring it on, your work for the first time – in the residues of you in Montreal, and laugh because you are alive. How brilliant. Vancouver, and Paris (the city of your heart) – in those moments And that was just usually one night’s conversation. I choose to listen and live my best self.

Shirley Sutherland 1937 – 2009

By Phillip Clarkson

Shirley Sutherland After moving to Vancouver in the early 1980s, she spent many passed away on years stage-managing shows for the Arts Club Theatre, The Rich- June 4, 2009, at age mond Gateway Theatre, as well as the Grand Theatre in London, 72 from complica- Ontario, for Martha Henry. She also managed a tour of China for tions from pneu- the musicians in a project called “Music ’91.” monia, after endur- Shirley loved to travel. She went to Mexico many times, to the ing Alzheimer’s U.K., where she had relatives, St. Croix in the Virgin Islands where disease for several her partner had a beach-side condo, and Positano, Italy, where a years. She will long friend had a cliff-side villa. be remembered as a Shirley loved seeing classical theatre in both London, England, and feisty stage manager for many theatres in Vancouver and other Stratford, Ontario. She was an avid gardener, a consummate Scrab- Canadian cities. ble player, a brilliant cook who frequently brought in pots of chili to She emigrated from Yorkshire, England, in the early 1950s to feed hungry crews, a voracious reader who always returned books. Toronto, and worked at Birks in the china department (she col- And she always enjoyed sharing a drink or three with friends. lected great china), and also posed as an artist’s model for the She is survived by her twin sons, Philip and Mark, whom she bohemian crowd she met there. She began stage-managing an raised as a single divorced mother in Toronto in the ’60s. amateur theatre company and made many long-time friends with Please raise a glass (Scotch preferred) to a great lady of the the actors and technicians she stage-managed for. theatre and of life! Cheers, Shirley...and merde!

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 19 EQ Classifieds

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20 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 The Birth of the EQ Flashback Canada Council for the Arts

The Kingston Conference in 1957, held at the The Canada Council for the Arts was one of the recommendations of the 1951 Massey Royal Military Institute, marked the founding Report on culture, and was created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 with a broad man- of the Canada Council for the Arts. Honoured date – “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works guests were: Raoul Jobin, opera, Montreal; in, the arts.” At that time the government set up an Endowment Fund of $100 million David Pitt, Newfoundland; Richard MacDonald, Theatre DDF, Ottawa; Doug Fullerton, First to generate revenue for the Council to fund artists and arts organizations. In its first year Treasurer of the Canada Council; Jean-Louis of operation, the Council awarded $1.4 million in grants. Roux, theatre, Montreal; Tomm Patterson, Annual appropriations from the government were eventually established, and in 2007- theatre, Stratford; Herbert Whittaker, theatre, 08 the council received $182.5 million and awarded more than $164 million in grants. Toronto; Gweneth Lloyd, ballet, Winnipeg; Wal- By maintaining an arm’s length relationship from government, the Council is able to ter Homberger, music, Toronto; Herman Geigel- Torel, opera, Toronto; Mavor Moore, theatre, develop policies and programs and make decisions without undue political pressure or Toronto; Michael Langham, theatre, Stratford; influence. Today the Canada Council continues to provide crucial funding for live per- Gut Glover, CBC-ballet, Montreal. formance throughout the country.

Fall 2009 Equity Quarterly 21 EQUITY QUARTERLY

2009-2010 National Annual General Meeting

Held October 5th, 2009 Now available online at www.caea.com: in Montreal, QC • The 2008-2009 Financial Statement • President Allan Teichman’s AGM remarks • Executive Director Arden R. Ryshpan’s EQ AGM remarks Equityonline www.caea.com

• 2009-2012 CTA rates • ITA rates for 2009-2010 • Member Only zone (update contact information online) • “e-search,” our online digital search tool for the opera, ballet and theatre JUNE 9 - 19, 2010 agreements • News, e-drive, links and more! Presented by Canadian Actors’ Equity Association in association with the upcoming Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.

The Masterclass is open to both mid-career directors and established theatre Don’t artists making a transition to directing. Participants will be led and mentored by National Arts Centre Artistic Director Peter Hinton who will guide the nine days forget to vote of instruction, including a three-day session with a senior Canadian director and a second three-day session led by an acclaimed International director. Election nominee The directing sessions will be augmented with a special workshop featuring a statements are posted professional lighting designer discussing the development of an effective and cre- online at www.caea.com ative relationship between theatre direction and lighting design. October 19 is the last day to mail election ballots Applicants must be Equity members in good standing. Each participant’s tuition will be subsidized as part of the Association’s mandate to support high-quality Election ballots must be received in the National professional development opportunities available to Equity members. Participants Office by October 29 will also be provided with artists’ passes to 2010 Magnetic North Theatre events. The election results will be announced on October 30 The deadline to apply is November 15, 2009. The application form is available The 2009-2012 Council will hold its first meeting on on EQUITYONLINE at www.caea.com or email [email protected] for more November 29, 2009 information.

Publications Mail Agreement #40038615 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: EQ Canadian Actors’ Equity Association 44 Victoria Street, 12th Floor Toronto, ON M5C 3C4 [email protected]

22 Equity Quarterly Fall 2009 EQ is shipped in a recyclable polybag