Evidence of meeting #50 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was aircraft.
A video is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
Senior Director, Public and Governmental Affairs, Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec
Jean-Michel, do you want to start to answer as a business owner, or do you want me to?
5 p.m.
Jean-Michel Ryan
I can start.
It's really about having predictability and being able to anticipate what's coming. Will the border reopen in three months or six months? What impact will the forecasts have in terms of returning tourism clientele and potential revenues?
The answers to those questions will tell us whether we can keep our staff, as I mentioned earlier. We need to be able to keep our core employees and let them know they can continue working for us; being able to bounce back means we cannot lose them or make drastic investment and staffing cuts. Having that predictability will allow us to plan accordingly and make certain infrastructure upgrades.
Just take Quebec's Croisières AML, for example. Getting ships ready doesn't just happen at the touch of a button. Ensuring the ships are in suitable operating condition requires thorough preparation ahead of time, investments, maintenance and so forth.
Without that predictability, tourism operators cannot plan accordingly and will therefore not be ready when the economy reopens. On top of that, they probably will not have the staff in place after having laid workers off, to say nothing of how difficult the labour shortage will make it to hire new workers.
5 p.m.
Senior Director, Public and Governmental Affairs, Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec
This lack of predictability is a major irritant for tourism operators. For the past 15 months, they have been running their businesses while earning a tiny fraction of what they normally do. In terms of predictability, they can look no more than two or three months ahead.
That is why they are calling for a border reopening plan; it will inform the investments they need to make to keep up infrastructure and hire workers, something that is even tougher during a labour shortage. Right now, our counterparts in Europe and elsewhere are coming up with plans, so there are models we could follow or, at least, look to for inspiration.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Thank you.
I was actually struck, Mr. Ryan, by your mentioning the cruise industry specifically, because we had some questions this afternoon in the House on that. What we have seen on the west coast is that the discrepancy in vaccination rates between Canada and the United States is a driver behind simply skipping Canada. The necessity of ongoing health measures in Canada in absence of mass immunization being achieved.... Cruises are just going to bypass the Canadian ports on the way to Alaska.
The east coast also has a cruise industry. You mentioned it. Is there any hope for a cruise industry? I know there are a number of ports in eastern Canada that are popular with both American and domestic tourists.
5 p.m.
Jean-Michel Ryan
I mentioned Croisières AML, the largest private company in Canada offering cruises on the St. Lawrence River.
With respect to the international cruise industry, as you pointed out, Canada has not finished vaccinating its population and unpredictability remains regarding when the border will reopen. International cruise lines will build their itineraries around destinations outside Canada. The same goes for conventions, which are hugely important events for the country's major urban centres, including Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver and Toronto.
Without predictability as to the reopening of the border and other factors, we may have new tourism customers in 2023, but we will likely miss out on them in the 2022 season—yet again. Hotels and local businesses in big cities rely on the convention and cruise ecosystems. Clearly, the repercussions are enormous, highlighting the importance of support measures in the interim, while businesses wait for the border to reopen.
Another reason the sector needs to know when the border will reopen is so that it can negotiate agreements with tour operators and major contract givers.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
We will have to end it there.
Thank you, all.
We will turn to Mr. Fragiskatos, who will be followed by Gabriel Ste-Marie.
Peter.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses today.
Mr. Ahmed, that was a really interesting presentation, with very important issues being raised, obviously. I take your point, and I agree with you that where the government has acted, it needs to be acknowledged that it's done a lot, a great deal, over the past few months, especially to ensure that we have an adequate supply of PPE going forward and that we also have facilities being supported in Canada to produce vaccines well into the future. Clearly, we're going to see something materialize in Quebec in August of this year, but we've also seen a number of announcements that are really critical as far as securing the long term.
The question I want to put to you, though, is about critical drug shortages. How concerned are you, and as a way of getting to that question, can you define what we're actually talking about when we talk about critical drugs, just so that we're on the same page?
5:05 p.m.
Physician, Critical Drugs Coalition
To answer the first part of your question, which is about my concern, I'd say that it's kind of a low-level baseline of anxiety, not something that would wake me up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat.
We know that the drug shortages have increased in time, and the lengths of the shortages have been increasing. Particularly with the extraordinary powers that the Minister of Health has had in the last year, Health Canada has moved really quickly with urgent importation. We were getting differently labelled propofol—it was, like, in Swedish—and things like that. We really have moved quite nimbly and with agility, but these issues are increasing and we really need a long-term solution.
Thank you for asking me to clarify what I mean by critical drugs, because it is a working definition that we have so far. Certainly, the critical drug reserve that the Minister of Health announced is 12 drugs so far; it's for COVID-19. The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. has created a similar list, but it actually looked at all the inputs. It even looked at oxygen, masks and those kinds of things required for COVID-19. I would say that it's really the medication in the absence of which there would be irremediable harm or death. There are plenty of those medications needed for the people I see in the ER every day and in ICUs.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you very much.
Are there particular critical drugs that you and the organization you're speaking on behalf of today are especially concerned about?
I note that because in your presentation you mention propofol several times, ketamine several times and fentanyl several times. Is that where the issue is?
5:05 p.m.
Physician, Critical Drugs Coalition
It has been a major issue for sure.
The interesting thing is that a lot of these medications are generics and have been generics for decades. About 77% of the medications that do go short are generics, so we should be able to make them relatively easily. It's just a matter of money.
The reason I brought up the sedatives, in particular, is that I've heard from many intensivists in the hospitals down south that they've had to do rotations, so they conserve supplies and have to switch to another formulation. None of this is ideal.
The terrible thing when it comes to fentanyl and other opiates, for example—we did have morphine shortages—is that those are used in palliative care as well, so there is a lot of concern. We were liaising with the palliative care associations on that since, obviously, that can cause undue suffering for people at the ends of their lives.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Dr. Ahmed, I don't believe that any MP on this committee is a medical doctor. Can you clarify for us propofol, ketamine and fentanyl because you are pointing to those drugs as a real concern? What do they do? What are they used for?
5:05 p.m.
Physician, Critical Drugs Coalition
They will sedate you and allow us to put you on a ventilator, but they can also be used for pain control, procedures, end-of-life suffering and all sorts of things. We use fentanyl and morphine. They're all kind of derivatives of opiates.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
We're largely dependent on the importation of those right now. Is that fair to say?
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you for your advocacy and your work on this. It's deeply appreciated.
As you said, the government has taken important steps with regard to PPE and vaccinations, but there's clearly more to do. We'd love to hear more from your organization in the coming weeks, months and beyond.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you, both.
Before I turn to Mr. Ste-Marie and then Mr. Julian, I will say that I know that the finance committee is used to an hour and a half panel, but we have two hours this time.
On the list is Mr. Ste-Marie, Mr. Julian, Ms. Jansen, Mr. Fraser and Mr. McLeod.
Do you want in, Mr. Fast, before Mr. McLeod? Okay.
We'll likely have time after that, as well, which is unusual for this committee.
Go ahead, Mr. Ste-Marie.
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I must say, these discussions are very informative.
Mr. Paquet and Mr. Ryan, it's clear how important predictability is for the industry. Not only do you need it right now, but you also need it for the 2022 season. We heard you loud and clear, and I hope the government responds accordingly.
Mr. Paquet, you said that some countries were already rolling out their plans and that we could look to them for inspiration.
Can you give us examples of actions that are starting to emerge in other countries, actions the government could implement to better support your industry?
5:10 p.m.
Senior Director, Public and Governmental Affairs, Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec
Yes, of course. A number of things are happening in Europe, where mobility and travel is the subject of much discussion, especially in Great Britain. We can look to that part of the world for guidance on the rules to implement and the technologies to use.
I know proof of vaccination is also an issue that is being discussed. Tourism operators have no problem with such a requirement, provided that it does not hinder their business, of course, and that there is some consistency in the proof selected and the technology required.
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
Very good. Thank you.
You flagged a number of challenges facing tourism businesses: crippling debt, employee retention in the midst of a labour shortage, and harder hit segments of the industry such as business conventions and cruises.
What is morale like among your members? How are they doing?
5:10 p.m.
Senior Director, Public and Governmental Affairs, Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec
I am responsible for the Conférence économique de l'industrie touristique québécoise, a group that brings together a dozen men and women who own businesses in the tourism sector. I will tell you that, when I ran last week's meeting, the mood wasn't exactly great. However, the government's announcements about the easing of restrictions are providing some relief.
A number of businesses are on their knees. Many once-thriving businesses have had to go millions of dollars into debt. Small businesses weren't necessarily the only ones scraping by before the pandemic. In many cases, businesses with significant strategic infrastructure, big companies and big employers are worse off than they were pre-pandemic. I won't name them, but some companies that had up to 250 employees are now down to 60 or so.
As everyone knows, last summer, businesses in some regions did quite well during that specific period of time, but overall, businesses are in worse shape financially. Since the lion's share of tourism revenue this summer will come from local tourists, we expect the fall to be tough.
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
That is duly noted. Thank you.
Do I have any time left, Mr. Chair?
5:10 p.m.
Liberal