2:00 pm, ET
11:00 am, PT
Member Exclusive / Free Registration (Portal login required)
45 minutes
Live Captions Available
Hosted on Zoom
Join us for a live info session and Q&A about health benefits for writers through the Writers’ Coalition Program, offered by AFBS, an artist-owned not-for-profit insurance provider. This session will be led by Jason Saulay, Assistant Director, Benefit Operations at AFBS about what the program covers, who’s eligible, potential tax benefits, and more. Hosted by TWUC CEO John Degen. TWUC members will have access to a recording of the session for a limited time.
The Writers’ Coalition Program was born when author and past TWUC Chair Susan Swan found herself musing on the fact that access to an affordable health care safety net — something enjoyed by many salaried workers in the private and public business sector — was denied to too many people in the creative and artistic world. The results of her conversations and considerations ultimately led to AFBS launching the Writers’ Coalition Program in 2009, and the Arts & Entertainment Plan followed in 2011. Both are the first Canadian health insurance plans specifically geared towards self-employed artists and writers. Members of TWUC are eligible for the Writers’ Coalition Program. Learn more here (Portal login required).
Jason Saulay is the Assistant Director, Benefit Operations at AFBS. Jason is responsible for managing client relationships, growing the business across the country, and assisting with benefit operations. Jason has been in the benefits space for over 25 years and prides himself on the industry relationships he has developed and on providing great customer service.
John Degen is Chief Executive Officer of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC), and Chair of the International Authors Forum (IAF) in the UK — serving and representing over 800,000 authors worldwide. He is a poet and novelist with four published books.
John has worked for many years as an arts administrator, arts funder, and policy advocate on cultural issues. He is the previous Literature Officer at the Ontario Arts Council, where he administered funding for Ontario’s writers, publishers and literary presenters, and was active in expanding the granting reach for that office into Ontario’s northern and Indigenous communities.
His essays and opinions have been published widely, including in The Globe and Mail, Publishing Perspectives, the Toronto Star, THIS Magazine, The Hill Times, Canadian Notes and Queries, and the Literary Review of Canada. He has served on many boards and advisories in the literary and arts sector. His most recent book is Seldom Seen Road, a murder mystery set in Northern Ontario from Latitude 46 Publishing.
The Union thanks AFBS for generously sponsoring TWUC’s work to improve the conditions of writers in Canada.
