Evidence of meeting #27 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pandemic.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Right.
You talked about sector-specific funding or the programs that are targeted towards severely affected industries. Does either the regional relief and recovery fund or the highly affected sectors credit availability program do that? For example, do they really target your industry specifically?
President and Chief Executive Director, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
Well, certainly the RRRF has had a sector focus on it, and certainly tourism businesses have been encouraged to apply for that funding, but we know that only about 17% of all tourism businesses that have applied for that funding have at this point been successful in receiving it.
On HASCAP, we're still in early days. We are certainly sharing feedback that we're receiving from the industry with folks in government to ensure that this program is as successful as possible.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
For the other 83% of your members that have applied for the RRRF and have not been approved, have most of them been declined or are they still waiting for answers?
President and Chief Executive Director, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
It's a combination of both.
President and Chief Executive Director, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
I don't at this time.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Okay.
Again, getting back to allowing your industry to recover, you're going to need to know under what circumstances. You mentioned some of the tools that exist, such as vaccines, rapid results testing and therapeutics, things that are being deployed in other parts of the world and are allowing their economies to reopen. The plan to get us there, to reopen the economy, is that what your industry needs most? Is that the biggest priority?
President and Chief Executive Director, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
Absolutely. Travellers are global in nature and we want to make sure that Canada's reopening plans align with what other jurisdictions around the world are also doing. We want to make sure that we're part of that seamless traveller experience and that travel is open to everyone again. For those who are vaccinated, proof of vaccination would be ideal. For those who are not vaccinated, testing and contact tracing would be ideal.
We know that the rapid testing that's available and ever-evolving is proving to be more and more successful. That will help us to get to the point where we can eliminate quarantines.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Thank you.
Perhaps I'll allow you, Monsieur Roy, to also respond. Your industry is quite similar. You're part of the same issue with summer festivals.
I've said it before. I'm a member from Calgary. We have the Calgary Stampede, which is just an incredible part of our community and is facing the possibility of a second loss.
Would you care to comment on the importance of a road map that will allow your members to plan for recovery?
Executive Director, Festivals and Major Events Canada
I'm not sure I understood the question.
A roadmap is certainly essential. What I said to some of you when we met individually was that beyond a vaccination schedule, you need to have an additional step. When we talk about a situation where 20%, 40%, or 60% of the population have been vaccinated, we need to know what that will mean in reality, especially for the tourism and cultural areas.
Once we have almost achieved herd immunity, can we get back audiences comparable to what we had before? That's the question we're asking ourselves right now.
Yesterday, the Premier of Quebec said that by June 24, all Quebeckers who want a first dose will have received it. Does that mean in concrete terms that we can have festivals in June and July? How can we plan for that?
Mr. Kelly, I know that in Alberta, in particular, the government has given some predictability to the sector by releasing a lockdown relief and reopening schedule in four phases. In the fourth phase of that reopening, it is anticipated that festivals and events will be able to resume, which will be when there are fewer than 150 hospitalizations in the province and when that number is going down.
However, in eastern Canada, in Quebec and Ontario, we don't have that kind of predictability. We are dealing with uncertainty.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you, all.
We will move on to Ms. Koutrakis for six minutes, followed by Mr. Ste-Marie.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank all the witnesses this afternoon for their testimony.
I will direct my first question to Mr. Milliard or Mr. Lavigne.
The FCCQ has expressed support for the $500-million airport infrastructure investment in the fall 2020 economic statement. How should this funding be used to maximize returns?
Also, how important is a project like the Réseau express métropolitain, REM, in improving transit infrastructure while also creating jobs and stimulating the economy?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
Thank you, Ms. Koutrakis. That's an excellent question.
We support this investment because our airport infrastructure across Canada, and especially in Quebec, often needs major renovations and revitalization. In my opinion, it's an economic driver.
However, it's good to have airports, but it's even better when planes go to them. There's a serious issue right now in terms of regional air travel, with Air Canada pulling out of some important routes. This is happening in Quebec, Ontario and Atlantic Canada as well. At this point, we're waiting for—if I may say so—a measure from the Minister of Transport to see how connections to Baie-Comeau, Val-d'Or and Gaspé, for example, will be maintained. World-class airports, or at least national airports, are needed to attract foreign investors to the regions, but transportation is also needed.
The REM is a major project. It's one of the largest projects in Quebec at this time. It will be a major political legacy for the provincial and federal governments. We need maximum participation from the federal government in this area, particularly in terms of the connection to Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. I understand that the agreement has been sealed in the past few weeks. This issue must be resolved. A major city such as Montreal isn't really a major city if it doesn't have a direct connection to its airport.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
Yes, indeed. In my mind, Laval and Montreal go together.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
That's right.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Mr. Milliard, you expressed your support for the Canada united small business relief fund, and specifically for the funding provided to provincial chambers of commerce, which will support efforts to raise awareness of small businesses and encourage consumers to buy local.
Can you tell us how you plan to use the funding and how it may benefit small businesses on main street that are recovering from the pandemic?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
Thank you for your question.
This gives me the opportunity to point out that the network of chambers of commerce, in Quebec and across Canada, is in contact with people from Ontario, British Columbia and all the chambers of commerce. The entrepreneurial fabric in Canada is very significant.
A private network of entrepreneurs must talk to the government. The network of chambers of commerce is the only private network in the sea of public organizations. This network must survive the crisis. Several chambers of commerce focus on events, which means that they organize recognition galas, golf tournaments and happy hours. The chambers of commerce must shift to an approach that focuses more on government business and on the relationship with governments.
In terms of the buy local campaign, we really want to see many great campaigns throughout Quebec, much like the ones currently under way in downtown Montreal. There was an announcement about this today. We must ensure that people value buying local. Buying local means purchasing products made locally. However, it also involves local businesses. Buying local means being able to walk to the store and also being able to encourage proximity to physical locations.
As a result of the government's investments, we'll be able to run positive campaigns throughout Quebec and Canada.
Liberal
Liberal
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Okay. My next question could be to anyone who would like to answer.
I'm curious to know and have your thoughts on the HASCAP as proposed in the fall economic statement. Would you suggest any changes to the program to maximize uptake and support? How can we make it better?
President and Chief Executive Director, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
Thank you very much.
That's a great question. There are a couple of points I would like to make.
One is to work with the financial institutions to make sure that they really understand the program. There's a line in the program that says that businesses must be deemed viable by their financial institution in order to be able to receive the HASCAP loan. We want to make sure that everyone is on the same page as to when the viability is being measured. For businesses that haven't been open since 2019 or since February 2020, they can't be looking at their 2020 financial records. There is that concern there.
The other piece is that we do have owners who have multiple properties and multiple businesses. We want to make sure that the program is available on a per-property basis and not by ownership.