I'll start with the end. We should go back to the old program--an enhanced version of the old program. That's what should happen. If we want Canada to be seen as receptive to foreign visitors, we have to recognize that tourism is an export. Other exports aren't charging their foreign customers GST, so why is tourism the only export that charges their foreign customers the GST at a time when we have a number of other challenges? It's just not right. We need to fix that.
The FCTIP, which is the foreign convention and tour incentive program that replaced the old program, is a welcome announcement. I think it recognizes that the volume segments of what was going to be lost were critical. The tour package element is important for Canada; it's how we price ourselves in foreign countries.
As I already mentioned, without the GST problem, in two to five years from now the conventions are going to be shaking Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax. The cities that attract foreign conventions are already going to have a pricing challenge and the GST was going to create a tremendous hardship for our industry. So the convention side is working fine.
We know that with the tour incentive program, the tour package side is an administrative challenge. We're trying to get a handle on that. We don't want to say it's not working without doing due diligence. We talked to the tour operators around the world, who sell Canada, to find out how they are positioning it. Some are saying it's too administratively burdensome, and some are adding the GST and if the customers don't like it they sell them something else. The ramifications of that will be felt two to three years from now. We need to get an indication of the challenges around the tour operator program from all parties, report that to government, and fix this.
We need that individual program. We're the only one of the top 20 OECD countries that doesn't give our visitors the GST back. Are we worried about giving GST back? Are we a poor nation that can't afford it? Is it that we don't care about export revenue to our country? Do we not recognize that the travel deficit is going to hit $8 billion--the highest on record? Do we not care about that?
Most of these people are buying accommodations and goods. I have store owners who are complaining because the crafts they used to sell--whether that's Inuit art or crafts made by Canadians--aren't being sold as souvenirs from Canada because there's no GST rebate.
It's the principle here. We have too readily discounted that individuals don't value their rebate. They do. Even if it's 13%--not the 3% that was reported--it's important.