Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here.
My first question goes to Mr. Allan and Mr. Williams. I was reading in the documents that were submitted by your respective groups that Canada used to be second in the world as regards arrivals. However, now it is only somewhere in the top 10. Also, Canada ranks 11th concerning total spending by international travellers in our country. So we can see that there are problems. These are only two elements among many.
In addition, according to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, the government states that it invests $400 million per year in tourism, but we can see that is done with no overall strategy or overarching action framework. You referred to this earlier with the previous member.
You stated that the federal government has only recently recognized the importance of tourism by promising to collaborate with other partners and to explore the numerous opportunities for public-private partnerships.
You said that the government states that it invests $400 million. But does it really do so? We see that there is a lack of strategy. Please explain to me what public-private partnerships would consist of. How can we solve these problems? It is clear that there has been a substantial decline in tourism. Please give us some suggestions because this appears urgent.