Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. There is some substitute for that program in the budget. I have yet to figure out whether it is a good substitute.
What I can say is that it was a really devastating and stupid decision. When we were in government doing expenditure review, the bureaucracy presented us with that same option. We said no because it would have an extraordinarily negative effect on tourism to the extent that the money the government would lose by tourists not coming to Canada and generating tax revenue would be greater than the money saved by cutting the program.
I believe Canada is the only OECD country that does not have such a program. It puts us at an extraordinary disadvantage in the tourism industry. It is not as if that is the only blow to the tourism industry caused by the government. Because it has spared no opportunity to poke China in the eye, the Chinese, according to the media, are refusing to return our phone calls in terms of negotiating a tourism agreement which would see tens of thousands of Chinese tourists come to Canada. I do not know how many, but the Chinese typically do things in large numbers.
That is a double blow to the tourism industry dealt by the government. This is an industry desperately in need of help, which is encountering major problems and lack of jobs across the country. The government has dealt a double punishing blow to that industry.