Theresa Tova Elected President of ACTRA Toronto

ACTRA Toronto Council yesterday elected Theresa Tova to succeed David Sparrow as the new President of ACTRA Toronto. The president sits for a two-year term.

Theresa Tova (CNW Group/Alliance of Canadian Cinema Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA)) "This union has nurtured me, inspired me and allowed me to grow into a true arts and labour activist ready to seamlessly move forward on important files," said Ms. Tova addressing council.

A member for over 30 years, Tova has been active in the union since 1992, when she began her long-time work of protecting children in the entertainment industry. ACTRA Toronto's first Child Advocate, she has mentored her successors in the role. Under her dedicated stewardship, Ontario passed the Protecting Child Performers Act, which came into force last year.

As a councillor and vice-president over the years, Tova has worked with many of ACTRA Toronto's most important committees. She has been the executive liaison for the committees, caucuses and concerns of background performers, as well as the Diversity Committee. She founded and continues to mentor ACTRA Toronto's senior committee, Act Your Age. She has built relationships with agent associations and, as Chair of the Entertainment Industry Coalition (EIC), is overseeing the development of an improved code of ethics for EIC talent agents. Tova has held the post of ACTRA Toronto Vice-President, Internal for 10 years and is also currently serving as ACTRA National's Treasurer and Communications Committee Chair. She is a recipient of the Cliff Pilkey Labour Activist Award and the Canadian Association of Labour Media Award. She has sat on the bargaining committees for several of ACTRA's agreements. She volunteers as an On Set Liaison Officer and sits on the Creative Arts Savings & Credit Union board.

Theresa Tova is an award-winning actor, writer and singer. Recognized for her Gemini-nominated role as Marge on the television series E.N.G., Tova has worked in television, film and theatre, including starring roles in the Broadway tour of Ragtime and at the Stratford Festival. Her award-winning Holocaust musical, Still the Night, garnered four Dora Awards and a Governor General's award nomination for Excellence in Dramatic Literature. Tova has released three CDs and is described as a "towering, pan-cultural jazz-cabaret diva." Tova tours internationally playing to multicultural crowds in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Paris, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Argentina, Poland and Luxembourg.

ACTRA Toronto is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing more than 15,000 of Canada's 22,000 professional performers working in recorded media. As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven union that continues to secure rights and respect for the work of professional performers.