New petition: "Don't ruin live music with $425.00 charge per international artist per performance in Canada"

A new rule was established in Canada that quietly came to effect on July 31st which "will double, triple or even quadruple the cost of bringing in international artists" for each show they play at a Canadian venue such as a bar or club. 

The new fee, as the Calgary Herald explained, is:  

 "an application fee of $275 per musician and those travelling with the band (tour manager, sound person, guitar tech, etc.) when it applies for a Labour Market Opinion, or LMO, to allow those outside workers to perform and work in their establishment. That’s also in addition to an extra $150 for each approved musician and crew member’s work permit."

In response to this new rule, a petition was created on change.org a few days ago that has already generated 84,346 supporters in opposition to these new fees:

"This huge increase in cost hurts small artists and businesses because it has exemptions for big festivals and artists who have longer tours, but not the average up and coming artist just trying to build a fan base."

To support this petition, you can read and sign it by clicking here.