Too many artists and performers live in poverty because they don't share the same employment standards and protections as most other workers, a delegation of some of Canada's most prominent stars said Monday.

Actors Gordon Pinsent, Wendy Crewson, Peter Keleghan and Art Hindle have joined their union, ACTRA Toronto, to lobby the Ontario government for the same basic rights that they say many other workers take for granted.

They also want better protections for child performers written into law instead of merely having guidelines for their union.

"Child actors are actually protected well under ACTRA, but they have no protections outside of that except for guidelines that have no teeth," complained Keleghan, star of The Newsroom and The Red Green Show.

"There's no consequence for abusing a child's hours or anything else, which is extraordinary."

ACTRA, which has more than 15,000 members across the country, said artists earn about 37 per cent less than the average worker in Canada.

The actors had three specific goals for their meetings with Ontario politicians Monday:

• Include artists in the province's Employment Standards Act.
• Confirm collective bargaining rights for actors.
• Provide firm legal protections for child performers.

ACTRA pointed out that government-commissioned reports have cited cultural industries as one of the key sectors vital to Ontario's economic future.

However, they complained the Liberal government has done little to help artists other than passing a law in 2007, the Status of the Artist Act, that they say had virtually nothing in it.

"Despite being crucial to Ontario's economic well-being and the cultural vitality, growth and development of our province, many artists live on the poverty line," growled Pinsent, perhaps the most recognizable of all the actors assembled for the news conference.

"If the Ontario government is serious about supporting our creative industries and those who work in them, then they would realize that means we must invest in more than just bricks and mortar. It means supporting the creators as well."

Bill a disappointment: NDP

The New Democrats called Ontario's Status of the Artist Act, a major disappointment, and said the government had done nothing to follow up on promises that more would be done.

"It failed to improve the economic status of Ontario's artists," NDP critic Peter Tabuns said in the legislature.

Tabuns tried in vain to get Culture Minister Aileen Carroll to say what more the government would do for artists, but she simply talked about the government's past funding levels for arts programs.

Some producers still deny ACTRA is a union, said Crewson, and artists who aren't a member of a union have an even more difficult time of making sure they are treated fairly by employers.

"Despite a long history of negotiations, we have still found our status as a union called into question by producers," said Crewson, star of the Showcase series ReGenesis.

"Many have found it all but impossible to compel their employers into collective bargaining because a legal framework that recognizes the specific nature of artists work does not exist in Ontario."

ACTRA seeks to help non-members

Keleghan said ACTRA was trying to use its clout to help other artists and performers who aren't represented by a union to get the employment standards and working conditions they deserve.

"We've got a strong union, but there's an awful lot of other artists out there that don't have the rights and privileges that we as this union do have," he said. "We're trying to, as a collective having a voice, garnish some rights for everybody."

"And share the wealth," added Mayko Nguyen, who plays Goth Girl in the television series Rent-a-Goalie.

ACTRA complained that the Liberals had failed to act on a 2006 government report that recommended many of the changes they have demanded to better protect workers.

"Artists are still waiting for something — for anything — that would help make it just a little bit easier for them to make a living from their art," said ACTRA Toronto president Heather Allin.