Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to our witnesses.
First of all, I want to say it's great to be talking about an industry that's near and dear to my heart. Today I'm here as a parliamentarian, looking at the big picture here in terms of how government can consider some of the issues that you've brought before us today.
One of the first things--and I'll direct this to TIAC, if I can--is that when you look at the preponderance of statistics in our industry, in particular we're citing growth levels in tourism of around 4.3% in 2007, and the fourth quarter was up 1.4%. We're seeing other indications from the industry that in fact would suggest this culture or this climate of crisis that you describe in your report isn't necessarily substantiated by the numbers we're seeing. We're seeing an industry that in fact is growing. Yes, there have been some changes, but even spending by Canadians is up 6.5% in 2007. I just looked at a Pannell Kerr Forster report for the accommodation industry, and they're seeing continued growth in things like average daily room rates and occupancy levels, even right out to 2010.
So when you look at that situation and compare it with this state of crisis that we're in--and I appreciate where you're coming from and have been on that page before--what can we do to work to improve the industry's position and not be so taken astride by Canada's rankings? Isn't it more important to look at the performance of our industry in terms of growth in profits, growth in expenditures, and actual tourism GDP? Shouldn't that be our first and foremost consideration in these issues?