44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 24, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/24/22 1:50:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that many of those who work in long-term care are not fully vaccinated.
I want to point out for the member opposite that it is unfortunate that he does not care about the travel and tourism industry and all of the statistics I provided in my speech. Clearly, for somebody who has a riding as beautiful as the member's, it is unfortunate he does not care about the travel and tourism industry.
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- Mar/24/22 1:52:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this tourism sector cannot take anything else. That is what I am here to talk about today. That is my role, to stand up for this sector that cannot survive another season of closure. There are no more plans. How do we not have a plan? How do we not have these mandates being lifted when they have been lifted in every other province? We are the last in the travel industry worldwide.
That is what I am asking for today.
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- Mar/24/22 1:53:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola we have three valleys. The Okanagan Valley is well known for tourism, but so are the Similkameen and Nicola valleys. In fact, Experience Nicola Valley recently received the 2022 marketing program of the year award from the Canada Prestige Awards program. They are sharing the stories that get people to come to places like Nicola Valley, but unfortunately, many of the restrictions on travel are stopping people from coming.
Could the member please say what needs to happen to allow groups, such as Experience Nicola Valley, to capitalize on their good work? What other things can the government do to make it better for our tourism sector?
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- Mar/24/22 2:54:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I come from the Quebec City area, the most beautiful tourist city in North America. The city has suffered enormously over the past two years, economically speaking. Everyone is talking about our businesses, restaurants and hotels.
How can the Minister of Health, who is the member for Quebec, justify to the hotels, restaurants and tourism industry in his riding that he is maintaining health measures at the border?
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- Mar/24/22 2:56:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, exactly two years ago, I was the first MP to ask the government to close the border. It was taking too long. It took too long. People in Quebec died because it took too long.
Now the situation has changed, and it is taking too long to reopen the border and lift the senseless restrictions. If tourists want to visit Quebec City to, say, go to the summer festival in the minister's riding, they cannot understand the Canadian system. They do not understand what they are supposed to do.
Will the government end all the complicated measures and give the tourism industry a chance to make a comeback?
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- Mar/24/22 3:31:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think this is the first time I have gotten in on today's opposition day debate on mask mandates, so I will ask my hon colleague from Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook a question.
He and I are from coastal ridings with a lot of tourism, which we love, and I have heard a number of members opposite say that mask mandates in the federal civil service are blocking tourism. I wonder if the hon. member would agree with me that it would have been much more fruitful today to spend a whole day talking about what the tourism sector really needs. It needs financial support now. It needs to know that as we move out of the COVID restrictions, we will give help to businesses that are going under. I do not think a mask mandate debate for an entire day is what the tourism sector would have wanted.
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- Mar/24/22 3:32:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague always has good questions, and I appreciate this question. We could have had a much better progressive discussion. However, this does give me the opportunity to share that our government has announced a mainstream program that will help tourism right across the country and help various organizations. We are on the right track on that front.
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- Mar/24/22 3:46:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the comments of some of my colleagues who talked about the need to ensure Canada's tourism industry recovers. There are a lot of other ways that we can do that. One part of it is that the tourism and hospitality recovery program funding will be cut by 50% and will end in May. Also, many seasonal tourism operators were excluded altogether because of the 40% revenue loss requirement for each month, and I am sure the member knows that many tourism businesses are seasonal.
What is the government going to do to ensure that these businesses are not left behind?
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- Mar/24/22 3:46:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is nice to see you this afternoon.
For my hon. colleague from Victoria, let me be as direct as I can. Our family took our first vacation, even with our five-month-old, to Quebec City for three days over the March break. I encourage all Canadians to get out and start travelling when they can and if they can. That is why we are opening up. That is why we are removing restrictions for Canadian travellers who are coming back internationally.
Victoria is a wonderful place to visit, so I encourage all Canadians to do so. We have had the backs of business owners. There are a number of programs in place for tourism operators. I would be more than glad to send the links on that front. Let us get back to travelling and, if we can, stay domestically for a period of time before we wander off to other places.
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- Mar/24/22 4:13:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have asked consistently. Last year, we had a motion before the House asking for a plan to be put forward to end the restrictions and the mandates. We have done so again, and we continue to be told no by the government and its supporters in its coalition.
We need a plan to get out of COVID. The people of Niagara Falls, those tourism workers, simply want to go back to work. They want to get back to their jobs. They want to welcome those millions of visitors who come to our community and make it the vibrant tourism community that it is. That is being denied by COVID, and we need to get back to those days.
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- Mar/24/22 4:15:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to say the member's riding is just as wonderful and beautiful as mine from a tourism perspective, but mine is the number one tourism destination in all of Canada. Let us not forget that.
I would like to reiterate that the government has taken vaccines from that COVAX program, and that is something that is abhorrent. What we need to be doing is supporting those countries in order to prevent variants from coming forward again, so people can get vaccinated and so we can prevent the spread of COVID-19. What the government did was deny that from happening. That is my response to that question.
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- Mar/24/22 4:28:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in my riding, Shefford, I attend the meetings of an economic and strategic watch committee established by the Haute-Yamaska RCM that brings together players from the economic and tourism sectors, as well as municipal elected officials and Quebec MNAs. Everyone agrees on one thing. We need predictability to keep many sectors of our economy going, including tourism, which is so important to the riding of Shefford.
It is therefore a cautious yes, as Quebec and the other provinces are saying. The federal government, however, has no timeline and no predictability when it comes to reopening measures, even though that would help us plan for next steps and ensure a better recovery. It is important that the federal government act within a specific timeframe to be able to clarify all this.
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- Mar/24/22 4:29:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the biggest obstacle in the tourism sector, in my opinion, was the pre-arrival test needed to enter Canada. Now that those tests will no longer be required as of April 1, I think that will mean fewer barriers to tourism, especially within Canada.
I am sure there are many Canadians who would like to visit my colleague's beautiful region. What I heard from my constituents, however, was that they were more concerned about the required tests that were so expensive.
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