Although actra doesn’t get involved in the politics of its u.s. counterpart, the Canadian actors’ union is excited about establishing a relationship with the Screen Actors Guild’s newly-elected president.

On Nov. 5, veteran actor William Daniels, the voice of Knight Rider’s Kit, beat out two-term sag president Richard Masur and third candidate Angeltompkins for the union’s presidency.

‘We look forward to meeting him to see what type of person he is. I hope we’ll work closely to improve working conditions in Canada and the u.s.,’ says Stephen Waddell, actra’s executive director.

Historically, actra and sag have participated in each other’s negotiations and the two unions continue to cooperate in international lobby efforts.

This week, for example, members from both unions are heading to Geneva to meet with the World Intellectual Property Organization on Nov. 16 and 17 to achieve an international protocol on rights pertaining to audiovisual production.

Despite this history, a report commissioned by sag and the Directors Guild of America last summer claimed ‘runaway production’ was responsible for more than us$10 billion in losses for u.s. producers. One of the report’s conclusions was that over the last decade loss of employment for sag members has increased 479%.