Evidence of meeting #95 for International Trade in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was witnesses.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Mr. Baldinelli had the floor, and then you interrupted him to ask if we should dismiss. Now we're in some weird speaking chamber. We're either letting the witnesses go or not, and then we're back to Mr. Baldinelli. It's not a new round of talking.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
If they have something to comment on as to whether or not the witnesses should go, not go or whatever, then I need to give them a minute to have the floor.
Go ahead, Mr. Miao.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Wilson Miao Liberal Richmond Centre, BC
Madam Chair, I know that in past committees we discussed the importance of this study, especially the free trade agreement with Ecuador. That's why all our witnesses are here today. We shouldn't take up too much of their time, because it's important work. The NDP put forward this motion.
Of course, the member opposite mentioned the CARM study and also incorporating the additional point to my motion. Let's not take this time up for them. Let's just move on and call a vote or whatever it is. Let's do the important work.
Thank you.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
No. I was on the list to speak after Mr. Baldinelli.
Mr. Baldinelli still has to speak to this motion.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Tony Baldinelli Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to my colleague for allowing me to continue.
Are we now, Madam Chair, going to discharge our witnesses?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
[Inaudible—Editor] the committee to do that, so you continue on until we can have a vote on these items. Let's vote on it.
4:05 p.m.
Conservative
February 27th, 2024 / 4:05 p.m.
Conservative
Tony Baldinelli Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
Again, the issue with regard to ArriveCAN, its deficiencies, its impact and its devastating economic impacts, not only on our commercial trade corridors but also on our tourism economy, goes back to as early 2021. Again, I first raised that issue on December 7, 2021, with regard to the issues impacting my one constituent.
Sadly, the government could have taken action, and much sooner, to rectify the problems. We could have avoided everything and those devastating comments in the Auditor General's report that we're seeing today. Unfortunately, that did not occur.
On May 19, 2022, Madam Chair, my colleague, the member for Thornhill, tabled an opposition motion for debate in the House of Commons. Given the importance of the tourism industry in my community, I naturally devoted time to this topic and delivered the following remarks. I said:
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for South Surrey—White Rock.
It is an honour for me to rise in my place today to speak about a pressing issue facing Canadians and international travellers entering and exiting through Canada's various ports of entry, including airports, land border crossings, bridge border crossings and even CBSA marine reporting sites for small vessels.
My hon. colleague from Thornhill has brought forward an excellent and timely motion today, one which I will be fully supporting. Ultimately, it calls on the government “to immediately revert to pre-pandemic rules and service levels for travel.” In short, the Liberal government's outdated COVID-19 protocols at airports and other international ports of entry are causing extreme delays, lineups, bottlenecks and missed connections.
Again, we're talking about supply chain issues. I continued:
Worst of all, they are acting as a disincentive for those wishing to travel to Canada.
While the focus of our opposition motion today is on airports, it is very important and relevant that other international ports of entry are mentioned and included as well, because they are all connected in our economic ecosystem. These ports of entry support businesses and economic opportunities in many sectors, including tourism, which is very important in my riding, as we have the city of Niagara Falls and the towns of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie.
My Niagara Falls riding has four international bridge crossings. They are managed by the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, respectively. These are the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge and the Peace Bridge. All have been hit hard by the two-year pandemic, and the federal government has done nothing to support these bridges, despite the heavy hardship of lost traffic due to extended border closures.
It was supply chain issues. I went on:
One of the biggest issues I hear about at our international bridge crossings is that of backlogs and delays being caused by the ArriveCAN app. In an email from March 24, 2022, the general manager of the Buffalo and Fort Erie [Peace] Bridge Authority warned local politicians that their analysis showed the continued mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app would result in much longer processing times and lengthy border waits, which would significantly depress cross-border traffic at a time when we were moving into the 2022 summer tourism summer season.
Fast forward two months, and here we are. His prediction was right. I raised this issue with the federal government as soon as I could. What did it do to prepare for these border backlogs? It doubled down and decided to spend $25 million more in budget 2022 to continue to support the mandatory use of this application.
Again, Madam Chair, the government, in 2022, doubled down and spent another $25 million on an app it knew didn't work as early as 2021. In fact, because of the Auditor General's report, we know—and the government has yet to provide additional documentation—it could be up to $60 million, and perhaps even more. That's why we're here today. That's why we're trying to get this added to our supply chain study.
I'll continue with what I said then:
Along my border community riding, there are also a number of CBSA marine reporting sites for small vessels. They include the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club, the Smugglers Cove Boat Club, the Greater Niagara Boating Club, Miller's Creek Marina, Bertie Boating Club, and the Buffalo Canoe Club, amongst others. Out of all these sites I just listed, only one is operational. Miller's Creek in the upper Niagara River and Fort Erie is open, but all the other sites are closed.
Members can imagine, if someone is boating on the lower Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake, they would have to travel all the way to Port Weller in St. Catharines to report in with CBSA. If they are on the upper Niagara River but closer to Chippawa and Niagara Falls, then they have to travel all the way to Fort Erie and all the way back just to report in with CBSA. This adds many kilometres to a voyage and is a huge waste of time and money for boaters, especially as fuel prices skyrocket to record highs.
These closures are a huge issue for local recreational boaters, especially as we approach the May long weekend and enter the summer boating season. We need the government to reopen all sites immediately. There is no time to waste.
However, the government refused to act.
Tourist businesses in my riding were hit first. They were hit the hardest, and they will take the longest to recover from COVID-19. The effect these failing Liberal policies are having on our boaters will only make recovery take that much longer. Tourist businesses in Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie depend on domestic and international visitors travelling to our communities, spending their time and dollars and enjoying all that Niagara has to offer. The operation of attractions, historic sites, restaurants, wineries, craft breweries, cideries, casinos and many other businesses depend on this visitation.
Think about this again—$105 billion, the tourism economy in 2019. Of that, Niagara alone generated $2.5 billion in receipts. In budget 2021, this federal government provided an economic package of $100 billion for a sector that generated...excuse me, I think it was $101 million, when in fact Niagara generates $2.5 billion alone.
In communities such as Niagara, international visitation is important. While they make up approximately 25% of our total visitor base, these international visitors account for over 50% of the dollars spent in our tourism communities. This spend helps support over 40,000 jobs that are reliant on a strong tourism industry, which we had in Niagara before this pandemic. That is why it is essential we welcome back our international friends, guests and visitors. That starts by giving them a great, quick and efficient experience at our international ports of entry.
No one is going to choose Canada as a travel vacation destination if they have to risk waiting hours upon hours in stressful and frustrating lineups at an airport or a border crossing. Economic damage and missed opportunities are already being incurred. As the world reopens from COVID and other countries lift their restrictions, Canada looks to be stuck in the past and out of touch with reality. For example, the European Union and the United States have dropped their mask mandates for passengers on flights and in airports.
As countries around the world are reducing red tape and making it easier for citizens to travel again, the Liberals in Ottawa continue to impose their outdated and unjustified mandates, which are leading to longer lines and a slower recovery. As an example, fully vaccinated travellers arriving in Canada are still subjected to random COVID-19 testing, and in some cases, these travellers are not even told they have been selected until they get a surprise automated phone call or email a few days later from Switch Health.
This happened to Kathryn and her daughter, two constituents of mine. On May 10, they had an uneventful Nexus border crossing at the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia. They were never informed that they were selected for random testing, nor were they given a random test on their exit from their Nexus inspection. Three days later, they received multiple phone calls and emails from Switch Health warning them to get a day-one random test or else risk contravening a public health order with severe penalties, including fines upwards of tens of thousands of dollars and mandatory quarantine. It seems illogical for people to be told they have to take a random test and then wait for Switch Health to send it to them by courier so they can complete it a few days, if not weeks, later. How is this in the best public health interest of Canadians? Simply put, the incompetence of the government knows no bounds.
Again, the Auditor General's report details that 177 changes were made to this app, Madam Chair.
Many experts have called for the end of these ridiculous requirements. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has called for a step back to improve regulations in order for Canada to become more competitive. The president of the Canadian Airports Council has called for the removal of legacy public health protocols, noting that mandatory testing is leading to bottlenecks and hurting Canada's competitiveness.
Again, that's a supply chain issue.
These requirements are stifling our hard-hit tourism industry and are leading to long delays for Canadians just looking to travel after a long two years of obeying government-induced lockdown measures.
All of these terrible travel experiences at our airports and border crossings are hurting Canada's economy, competitiveness and international global reputation as a top tourist destination. Since the world started reopening months ago, Canada has lagged far behind our international tourism destination competitors due to these bad federal government policies. On a scale this large, every port of entry across our country is negatively impacted, and this ripple effect negatively impacts every riding of the House of Commons, especially those, like Niagara Falls, that depend on tourism as a major economic driver. We all benefit from a strong tourism industry, and we all lose when it is weak and chaotic, like it is now.
After two long years of government shutdowns, lockdowns, border closures and stringent travel restrictions, many tourist businesses in my riding are counting on a significant rebound this summer. Unfortunately, due to these travel measures and issues at airports and borders, government policy is working to stifle, rather than support, an urgently needed recovery in our tourism economy in 2022. Through their lack of preparedness to keep Canadians safe and preserve our economic best interests, the Liberals and NDP are abdicating their responsibility to govern.
In my opinion, before COVID, Canada was the best place to visit and vacation. We can get back to being the best, and we should strive for nothing less, but we have a lot of work ahead of us, and it starts with objective of this motion, which is to get the federal government to immediately revert to prepandemic rules and service levels for travel. Niagara badly needs to achieve economic recovery this summer, and that is simply not going to happen if ArriveCAN and other federal travel and health restrictions continue at our airports and borders. It seems as though everyone wants to achieve economic recovery from this pandemic and a return to normalcy, everyone except the Liberal-NDP government, but it should know there is still time to save the 2022 tourism season if it acts quickly, and it should start by supporting today's common sense and timely motion.
Sadly, Madam Chair, the opposition parties voted against this motion. That includes the two Liberal members from Niagara.
That did not stop those on the Conservative side from again asking tough questions. In fact, on June 2, 2022, I asked the government the following question:
Mr. Speaker, budget 2022 allocates $25 million to the continued mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app, yet it failed to extend important tourism recovery programs for businesses that still needed the help. The government has been warned that the ArriveCAN app is impacting travel to Canada.
What is more important to the Liberal-NDP government: funding ArriveCAN, which clogs up our borders and deters visits, or scrap[p]ing this app to help achieve tourism recovery in Niagara and throughout Canada?
Unfortunately, the government continued its approach of being one of obstinance.
A special transport committee hearing was later held on August 19, 2022. I had the opportunity to pose the following questions to the transport minister at the time:
Minister, a Canadian traveller recently left this public comment on Tripadvisor: “Just got back from a trip to Nevada flying out of Buffalo, and I am from Ontario, the airport is a dream, no line ups, quick through TSA check points, the airport is super clean.... Quick drive over to the airport. No Covid testing required! Crossing across the U.S. border is easy, they only ask if you are vaccinated and do not ask to see your test (I have crossed three times in the past two months, same thing every time) coming back across the border at the Rainbow [bridge] there were about 10 cars in front of us and it took for ever to get to the booth. So anyone thinking of ditching Pearson Airport and travelling down to Buffalo, do it—its worth it”.
Minister, Niagara Falls is the number one tourism, leisure destination in all of Canada, yet every taxpayer dollar that Destination Canada spends in international markets, including our prime market, the United States, for our border communities is being wasted by headlines that continually hit the press talking about Pearson Airport being the worst airport in the world.
My colleague just mentioned this. Sixty countries around the world have abandoned all air travel pandemic restrictions, including most of our European allies. Why does [this] government continue to cling to these restrictions, which only do a disservice and disincentivize travel to this country?
I later remarked:
There are [over] 40,000 people in my community who work in the tourism sector, and they're being impacted. We've lost two tourism years because of COVID. This year, if we lose it, it's self-inflicted, and there's nobody to blame but the Liberal government. When are you going to take action?
That was followed by another question to the then minister, where I asked:
Who told you, Minister, that ArriveCAN is not having any impact on wait times?
So upset was I by the response that I simply stated to the then transport minister:
Minister, they're going to hold a parade in Buffalo for you. Their chamber of commerce is going to hold a parade for you.
Finally, when the government acted, I provided a statement in the House on October 24, 2022.
Again, Madam Chair, we're talking about this being raised in May, prior to the tourism season beginning, and the government failed to take action. It failed to act until the tourism season was over. You have to remember that 75% of that tourism income is generated in an eight-month period, and what the government did was preclude those businesses from the opportunity that they themselves wanted. They didn't want government assistance. They didn't want government programs. They wanted to be open, to do what they do best, which is to welcome visitors from throughout the world.
Again, we're an export industry. For tourism, $105 billion dropped down to $80 billion. Their goal now is to get back up to $130 billion as a sector. What is it that we can do? Stop putting impediments in their own way of growth.
Again, I had to stop to comment. We're going back to 2022. Finally, when the government made its announcement that it was ending restrictions, I said this in the House on October 24:
Less than one month after the election, the federal Liberals threw in the towel and gave up on defending the disastrous ArriveCAN app. For many months, medical experts have told MPs that ArriveCAN could have been [scrapped] as early as this past spring. Instead, the Liberals held on and continued its mandatory use through summer of 2022, crushing any chance for an economic recovery for our hardest-hit tourism sector. Not only did this useless app cost Canadians tens of millions of wasted taxpayer dollars, it also cost our economy untold billions of dollars in lost tourism revenue.
Before the pandemic, the Canadian tourism industry was valued at $105 billion. Today, it is down to $80 billion largely because of failed Liberal pandemic policies, like the mandatory use of ArriveCAN.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to raise this point of order, because I arrived slightly late. I fully understood that we were going to hear from these witnesses. There are some Ecuadorean witnesses coming. We have the ambassador coming. I understand that Mr. Baldinelli is trying to move his motion, but we've been listening here for quite some time, and I think we all understand what the motion is.
We have it before us, so I'm saying, on a point of order, that the relevancy needs to be concise to moving the motion, so we can vote on it and on whether or not we study this. That is when this information would be placed, but right now, we and the public have been informed that we would be studying Mr. Cannings' motion on Ecuador.
Thank you. I look for your ruling.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Would you please keep to the points in the motion itself, Mr. Baldinelli, as much as possible? The tourism sector in 2022 is very different from the tourism sector in 2023 as far as numbers go, so I don't want to mislead people.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Tony Baldinelli Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
I'm going back and indicating that this government could have taken action, Madam Chair. Instead, it put in place an app that I believe was in effect for over 885 days, which had devastating—
4:25 p.m.
An hon. member
[Inaudible—Editor]
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Tony Baldinelli Conservative Niagara Falls, ON
It had devastating consequences on our tourism economy, which, you must remember, is an export industry. Not only did it have devastating impacts on our tourism economy, but it had devastating impacts on the supply chains. Again, I have two of the four busiest land border crossings in all of Canada, and they came to a standstill because of the impacts of ArriveCAN. That needs to be studied.
That's why I've put forward this motion to add our examination of the impacts of ArriveCAN on the supply chain. I think it's a very fair motion that I've put forward. I believe we've even held three of the six meetings. We asked for a minimum of six meetings for the supply chain. I'm asking that this committee examine, as part of that study, the issues with regard to ArriveCAN and its impact on supply chains.
Madam Chair, it is entirely relevant for me to be here. It is entirely relevant for me to put forward this motion. I will never apologize for defending the interests of the hard-working people in my riding who were devastated. The number of businesses that were lost.... Small businesses and mom-and-pop shops had to close because of the actions of this government. They knew they could have taken actions to end the implementation of ArriveCAN earlier. Their obstinacy caused the loss of businesses and hurt the economy. We are only now beginning the process of recovery. In fact, my community is quite fortunate in that it is a rubber tire market, in that sense. It is recovering. That recovery is uneven across the country.
In fact, the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada is having its International Indigenous Tourism Conference right now. The government should know. In the budget of 2022, its only announcement with regard to tourism funding was $20 million to our indigenous tourism partners. Why did it take over 500 days for the government to fund at least $10 million to the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada?
How do you treat your partners like that, Madam Chair? You don't treat your partners like that.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
I have a point of order.
If we're going to get into the facts, the Conservatives voted against indigenous tourism funding in the December 2023 marathon.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Terry Sheehan Liberal Sault Ste. Marie, ON
They voted against the Canada economic development tourism growth program for the Prairies. They voted against the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario tourism growth program.