SoVote

Mr. Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Kootenay, NDP)

Mar/25/22 10:30:48 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I agree with almost all of the member's speech and I would especially like to bring up some more issues on the tourism and hospitality sectors that she briefly mentioned. I have been working a lot on that file lately. The tourism and hospitality recovery program was brought in before omicron, when it was assumed that the pandemic was over, yet it is not. Businesses are still struggling. She mentioned some of the companies that do not qualify, such as start-ups. Another group of businesses that do not qualify for the program are businesses that are seasonal. Many tourism operators in Canada are seasonal, and yet these companies are basically prohibited from qualifying for this program. I wonder if she could comment on that.

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Context: House Hansard - 46 - Mar/25/22

Ms. Andréanne Larouche

Mar/25/22 10:31:53 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It gives me an opportunity to come back to something that I was only able to talk about briefly, and that is help for sectors that will continue to be affected for quite some time because of the pandemic. My colleague is right that this program dates back to December, before the arrival of the omicron variant. That seems like a lifetime ago because a lot has happened since then. Since we are talking about tourism, I would say that we are coming to the realization that we still have a long road to travel. That is why I talked about the importance of having more flexible, more tailored programs for sectors like tourism and cultre that are still going to be affected for quite some time. In committee, we asked the following question: Can we get resources to provide more support to self-employed workers in the cultural industry? We were told that it was too complicated technically speaking. In 2022, can we find solutions, provide support and show some flexibility in order to help them? Yesterday, members of the Bloc Québécois talked a lot about the importance of predictability. While attending meetings of the Haute‑Yamaska RCM's strategic business intelligence committee, I noted that this is what tourism operators are calling for. The Government of Quebec and the provincial governments have a plan for lifting restrictions, but the federal government does not. It is important for businesses to be able to plan ahead. These are measures that Ottawa could do something about in order to help these sectors, which will continue to be affected by the pandemic for quite some time.

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Context: House Hansard - 46 - Mar/25/22

Mr. Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, CPC)

Mar/25/22 12:03:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my riding of Niagara is the number one leisure tourism destination in the country, yet since April 2020 there has been zero representation from Niagara on Destination Canada's board of directors. This means that, through the whole pandemic, which has hit our national tourism sector the hardest, Niagara has been without a voice at the table, despite there being two vacancies right now in need of appointment. Does no one in this NDP-Liberal government understand the significance of Niagara to Canada's tourism economy? When will they reappoint someone from Niagara to Destination—

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Context: House Hansard - 46 - Mar/25/22

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Mar/25/22 12:03:51 p.m.
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The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance.

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Context: House Hansard - 46 - Mar/25/22

Ms. Rachel Bendayan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Mar/25/22 12:03:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Niagara is a beautiful part of this country and we are absolutely looking forward to welcoming tourists to Niagara and to tourism destinations right across Canada. In fact, just recently, Destination Canada was thrilled by our announcement to change our border measures. We are opening up to the world. Tourists are coming back and Destination Canada is going to play a key role in that. I and the minister will work with Destination Canada to complete the board of directors appointments.

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