The heads of the country’s tourism industry groups are warning their sector has been decimated by the months-long coronavirus lockdown and needs federal help to survive through “very, very dire” straits until next year.
“It is, across the board, a very, very dire situation,” said Charlotte Bell, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
“Every other sector’s allowed to recover and we’re not,” added Susie Grynol, president and chief executive officer of the Hotel Association of Canada.
Speaking as part of the industry committee’s hearings into the government’s coronavirus pandemic response, the groups stressed that while the sector as a while understands the importance of the physical distancing rules put in place to limit the spread, they urgently need financial help.
Tourism association partners have seen their revenues drop by between 61 and 100 per cent as a result of the restrictions, while hotels have seen a drop of between 70 and 90 per cent since March, they said.
Since the first cases were documented in China at the end of last year, the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 19.9 million people worldwide and killed 732,467.
In Canada, there have been 119,497 confirmed cases and 8,981 deaths so far.
2:44 Coronavirus: Minister MacLoed says theme parks and water parks ‘pose significant threat’ to spreading virus
Coronavirus: Minister MacLoed says theme parks and water parks ‘pose significant threat’ to spreading virus
Cases have continued to grow rapidly around the world with the World Health Organization warning that although officials there are seeing “green shoots of hope” towards containing the spread, the continued focus must be to “suppress, suppress, suppress.”
Countries around the world responded to the pandemic’s rapid spread by shutting down their borders and implementing varying degrees of societal lockdowns.
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In Canada, those have included stay-at-home orders and domestic travel restrictions in many regions.
Destination Canada in July redirected roughly $30 million from its budget normally used for international marketing towards encouraging “staycations” over the next 18 months, including promoting domestic travel through print advertising and social media campaigns.
They also paid four influencers — Peter Mansbridge, Simon Durivage, Rick Mercer and Gregory Charles — to share their takes on the importance of domestic travel in a video series with roughly six million total views so far online.
A spokesperson for the minister of economic development and official languages would not say how much those individuals were paid, citing the “commercial” nature of the contracts.
But the committee heard the seven industry heads make their case that more needs to be done.
In particular, the organizations said the wage subsidy needs to be extended until next spring or summer, when the industry hopes to be able to begin generating revenue again.
They also want direct financial aid immediately.
“I’m not talking here about loans.,” said Martin Vézina, head of public affairs at the Association Restauration Québec.
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“I’m talking about outright aid for us, to allow us to get through this time and deal with the new hygiene measures. It is difficult.”
1:59 Federal government invests in multiple central Ontario wineries and breweries
Federal government invests in multiple central Ontario wineries and breweries
Tax credits or grants for domestic travellers were raised as one possibility by several witnesses, who said that even with an extension of the wage subsidy and any federal aid, Canadians will still likely need some form of incentive to begin domestic travel when it is safe to do so.
That’s a move already announced by New Brunswick to encourage travel within the province this year.
The provincial tourism body, Explore NB, announced earlier this summer a $3 million rebate program to cover up to 20 per cent of the expenses incurred by local residents travelling within the province.
Carol Alderdice with New Brunswick’s Tourism Industry Association in June billed the move as an “incentive” for some of the costs of hotels, motels, campsites, restaurants and the like.
Grynol said that hotels in particular played a strong role in helping the government respond to the pandemic by accommodating patients moved out of hospitals to make room for COVID-19 patients as well as housing quarantined evacuees and travellers returning to the country.
“We helped flatten the curve,” she said, adding the hotel industry was “hit first, hit hardest and will be the last to recover” from the economic devastation.
She said while the broad support programs rolled out so far made sense in the early response stage, the need now is support that reflects the unique circumstances of different industries, especially those not able to adapt to the curbside pickup and delivery models being adopted by many restaurants and stores.
“Our future is in your hands.”
1:54 Summer staycation: How Saskatchewan is faring for provincial tourism
Summer staycation: How Saskatchewan is faring for provincial tourism
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
