Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for asking such a good question that affects me personally, since the region I represent in the House, the Lower St. Lawrence, relies heavily on the tourism industry.
The hon. member is absolutely right. It is rather ironic that she raises the example of tourism because the hon. member for Beauce and Minister of State for Small Business, Tourism, and Agriculture, whom I cited in my speech, boasts about how much the government has done for tourism, when in fact it has cut not only from advertising, but also from assistance for organizations that promote Canadian tourism.
In fact, the Conservative government seems to rely strictly on the provinces for promoting tourism. In a situation where the circumstances have made the Canadian dollar weak against the U.S. dollar, this would be a prime opportunity to pep up the tourism industry by stepping in and encouraging people outside Canada to come visit us. Unfortunately, the Conservative government is once again sticking to its extreme ideology on this and refusing to invest in tourism.