Mr. Speaker, some of the folks who come through the border crossing actually do avail themselves of the sports fishing opportunities. That is why I am bringing it up. I am sure the member who represents the community would not want to mislead, in any way, people who come through the border crossing who want to engage in sports fishing and want to have the truth of the matter.
Cross-border travel through this site and also across our country, amounted to something in the order of $75 billion. It is the lowest cross-border transfer that we have had in more than four decades. In fact, right now we have a huge tourism deficit and the government has done nothing to try to utilize our embassy and consulates in the U.S. to make an aggressive “Visit Canada” initiative to deal with this $13 billion tourism deficit.
We want people to go through the crossing in Abbotsford. We want people to come to Canada from the United States, spend their money and enjoy the benefits, but the government is blithely unaware or disinterested in using its power, through our high commissions and consulates, and engage in an aggressive “Visit Canada” program. It should be doing that.
The government should also be convincing the American people, only 30% of whom have a passport, to get passports. Due to the American rules and regulations that have come forward, they need one to visit our country.
These are positive initiatives that the government should be taking upon itself and demonstrating some leadership. The failure to do so hurts our tourism businesses, hurts our restaurant services and hurts employment within Canada.
I have given the government some solutions. I sure hope it takes them on. It is my province and the people of British Columbia want to see this action and they want it done quickly.