Could you capitalize a little more on the boutique?
You have a much larger space than before. Could you change the items that you sell?
Not long ago, I went into the boutique. To be honest, I didn't see many items that appealed to me. Perhaps it would be necessary to change the products.
You could make this change by involving the members of Parliament. In their provinces, there may be items that are labelled “Canada” and that are made by someone from the province. That way, tourists would have the opportunity to purchase items from different parts of Canada.
We would need to receive an email from you, which we could then forward on your behalf. In the email, you would introduce the West Block and the items in the boutique. We all have constituents who visit Ottawa. Sometimes, we don't know that they're visiting or we hear about their visit after the fact. We could make posters and advertisements for you to inform people about what they can expect to find.
For example, if I travel to Italy, I'll do a Google search.
What is the hot tourist item to buy at this point? It's exactly the same thing I'm trying to bring here.
Why not sell products that are very popular with tourists who come from around the world? It would be necessary to have items that are much more popular than the current items. That way, you would perform better. First, the boutique would pay for itself, and second, the revenues from the boutique would help you pay for other things. I think that the boutique's revenues should be maximized.
It would also be useful to consider setting up a boutique at the Senate to cater to visitors. All visitors must be given the opportunity to purchase a souvenir.