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.