It’s Pride month, and on behalf of Council, I wish our LGBTQQ2SIA+ members a Happy Pride, even if our parades and parties have to wait 'til next year! The times we find ourselves in remind me of a pre-show half-hour call: it’s nearly showtime but I don’t quite feel ready. We’ve all been standing by for 16 months, and even though it’s not quite time to hit the stage, I can feel that time coming.

Your Council has been meeting regularly through the pandemic and staff has been working hard on supporting members and engagers' online work. The federal lobbying efforts that helped extend and open up the CERB; the very well-attended series of member meetings (Bystander Intervention, Stage Manager Focus, Talking Council, Insurance Explained, Safer Workspaces, the Canadian Theatre Agreement (CTA) ratification, Intimacy Direction, Mental Health during COVID-19 and our National Annual General Meeting) plus negotiating new Stratford Festival 2021 COVID-19 Addendum and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Agreement are just some of what’s been happening on behalf of members.

I’ve heard concerns from a few of you about our recent basic dues billing, and Equity would like to thank all the members who paid their basic dues after May 1. We are on-track to achieve the same level of revenue as the November dues billing which means that we are also on track to meet our revenue target for basic dues for the fiscal year. Your support is much appreciated. Of course, we understand that the payment of basic dues may be financially challenging for some members at this time. If you or anyone you know is in this position, please reach out to us to discuss available options. Email membership@caea.com to start the conversation.

Equity is also pleased to be participating in the Faster Together campaign. Uniting organizations from all across the country and from every sector of the economy, the Faster Together campaign encourages those who are medically able to tolerate vaccination, to get vaccinated. This important action protects members, colleagues, communities and will help to enable the live performance sector to safely re-open sooner. Speak to your friends and family about the importance of vaccination so that we can get back to working live, together. Vaccination is integral to our collective recovery.

In May, Equity joined many organizations across the country in bearing witness to the sad news out of Kamloops, BC. Our statement offered our condolences to Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation as well as all Indigenous communities across Canada. As news breaks of more unmarked graves at Canadian former residential schools, Council reiterates our call upon the federal government to act on the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Finally, Councillor Kerry Davidson recently posted online about using the current CTA contract templates. I’m sharing it here:

If you have a contract for a PACT theatre company, please make sure they are using the most current CTA inclusive contract templates. They were all updated with gender neutral language, but some companies are still using the old ones when they don't need to. The updated language templates are available from PACT! And if you are given a contract for the CTA and notice that the language is gender specific, maybe contact the company to see if they are using the most up-to-date template, or send a quick note to busrep@caea.com to let them know in case something got missed and/or they can follow up with the engager to let them know they aren't using the most current versions!

I’m not quite enough of an optimist to say that the end of our industry shutdown is in sight, but I definitely believe we’ll slowly start to be together and working again in the not-too-distant future. I’ve missed theatre so very much...and when the time finally comes for our places call, your Equity Council and hard-working staff will be there for you. As ever, our individual emails are listed at caea.com, and my inbox is always open at vicepresident2@caea.com.

See you on the other side of summer!

2nd Vice President