ACTRA issued the following open letter to John Barrack, Lead Counsel for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) today.

Dear John,

As you are aware, yesterday both you and I were contacted by a concerned industry group, including some of Toronto’s major producers. We were both invited (and urged) to resume settlement discussions immediately. The group volunteered the offices of a member of the CFTPA who has called on both of us to get this dispute settled. They proposed talks begin at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.

ACTRA has agreed to attend these talks at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. I am hopeful you’ll confirm both to us and to the production community as a whole that you will also attend, with reasonable proposals and an intention to settle.

We are of course also prepared to meet next week.

As you are aware, the court did not come to any view about the legality of our strike action or tactics. It threw out your application for an injunction on grounds you were not able to provide any cause for such an injunction. And the court directed both of us to litigate any remaining process issues through an arbitrator. As you are aware we demur on this second point as a point of law. In any event, the process the court has asked us to follow is about process issues, not about the substance of this contract dispute - which can only be resolved through negotiations.

We will be there at 2:00 pm tomorrow. I hope to see you there.

Thank you.

Stephen A. Waddell
National Executive Director