Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I think he is absolutely right. In fact, the Standing Committee on Finance heard witnesses regarding the government's intention to abolish the GST visitor rebate program. This is what we were told, not only at the border, where there are often private counters that give refunds. Indeed, one third of the program is administered by private firms that collect a certain percentage for their services. These facilities are often located in shopping malls, so that tourists who find themselves with cash in their pockets will use it to buy products in the surrounding stores.
This does have a snowball effect, not only for shops located at the borders—such as duty free shops for example—but also in all the shopping malls that have such counters. Let us not forget that we are talking about $80 million here. I should point out that the federal government has revenues totalling close to $2.350 billion. I think there is a disproportion here, and it costs about $8 million to administer the program. We are told that it is not being used enough. Then, let us integrate it into a strategy to promote tourism.
As I mentioned, it is unacceptable that this measure would come at a time when the value of the Canadian dollar has increased significantly in recent years, and at a time when authorities want Canadians who travel by land to the United States, and people who come into Canada from the United States, to carry a passport. It seems to me that the Conservative government should act responsibly and not add yet another hurdle for our industry, not to mention the cuts affecting Canada's tourism strategy. For all these reasons, common sense should again make the government reconsider its decision, or else propose a more effective plan to consolidate the tourism industry, which really needs it.