Montreal: Acting on a complaint, a carload of agents with Citizenship and Immigration Canada raided the Pointe Claire, Que. set of a General Electric commercial shoot on Sept. 13 seeking information about five u.s. actors. The action was based on information five female actors, who were not members of the Screen Actors Guild, had been illegally smuggled into the Montreal area.

Robert Gervais, a spokesperson for Immigration, confirmed the department’s action with Playback, saying people were on the set when Immigration officials arrived, but filming appeared to have stopped. ‘The people there confirmed there were five American actresses on location that morning. They finally admitted it. They [an unnamed person on set] gave us the names and dates of births of the five actresses.’

Immigration ran a check on the five individuals, says Gervais, but found no existing work permit authorization in its database. ‘So if they were Americans they would have to have been in possession of a work permit, which was not the case.’

Work permit applications for five American actresses were indeed filed, but denied by Human Resources Development Canada following consultation with actra, according to the performers’ guild. actra claims the refusal was based on the availability of qualified Canadian talent. At least four of the five roles involved ‘no dialogue or a maximum of four words,’ says Ray Guardia, actra’s executive director, eastern region.

Industry’s response

Tina Petridis, president and executive producer with Industry Films in Toronto, the shoot’s service provider, says the consumer press coverage has ‘presented the facts inaccurately.’ Petridis feels actra is blowing the story out of proportion. ‘Unfortunately, people are not getting it and our name is being slaughtered and I resent that.

‘I’m quite angry because we’re getting nailed with something that has nothing to do with Industry Films,’ she says. ‘Our client was hkm, a production company in Los Angeles we are affiliated with. Industry Films is the roadhouse company that takes care of production, meaning the crew, the film, etc. Our client was hkm. hkm’s client is bbdo, New York. So bbdo, New York, is as responsible as any client is for [the] talent. They pay the talent…it has nothing to do with Industry Films. They [bbdo, New York] knew exactly whatever our recommendations to them were, and they wanted to behave accordingly, to do whatever they decided to do. And that’s what they did.’

Petridis says the vast majority of her business is based on foreign director assignments, ‘and every time they come in they come in through the proper channels.’

‘Industry Films will always respect and be governed by the rules of Immigration Canada and of the unions, and if there is an investigation we will respect that,’ says Petridis.

Immigration has reported the incident to Canada Customs’ officials, and has sent a ‘first-infraction’ letter to the spot’s producers ‘informing them of their obligations in relation to the Immigration Act.’

Gervais says the letter indicates the department ‘believes they [the producers] violated the Immigration Act, and if they commit an offense under the Act they are liable to a fine or even in certain cases, prison terms. You can call it a warning if you want, but we want to make sure they fully understand the law as it exists.’

Gervais says in the event of a subsequent infraction, the department will give the names to the rcmp. Federal crown prosecutors would subsequently be obliged to prove ‘they [had] knowingly violated the Act. If it does happen a second time they obviously cannot plead ignorance of the law.’

Gervais concedes the incident ‘is not the most important event of the year at Immigration, but there is a procedure to be followed and we have done so in the case of the five individuals and in the case of the company. After all, it is a serious infraction. We expect everybody to respect the law, and if a company systematically ignores the law a second and third time, there are legal consequences.’

Immigration was called to the set after production personnel refused actra’s request for on-set verification of the nationality of performers listed on the call sheet. By the time the feds got to the set, all the foreign actors had cleared out, but the inspectors were subsequently able to find photos of the missing u.s. performers, along with their New York City and Brooklyn addresses, according to actra’s Guardia.

Guardia says actra lawyer Colette Matteau of Montreal law firm Brodeur Matteau Poirier has written to bbdo in New York asking them to sign actra’s National Commercial Agreement, the industry standard for rates and conditions covering broadcast performers in commercials. bbdo in New York has declined actra’s offer, however, bbdo, Toronto, is a signatory. actra says it also intends to pursue the matter through an artists grievance procedure established by Quebec’s Bill 90. *