Madam Speaker, hard-working travel agents are struggling. In my riding, for over 30 years Paull Travel has provided travel service. It is a company like many others, including independent travel agents, who, after decades of hard work, have found themselves in an impossible situation where the only avenue they may be able to take is to go out of business for good.
Brought on by the pandemic, but made more hostile by government's inability to provide rapid testing for Canadians and much-needed support for airlines, many travel agencies and independent providers are facing revenue decreases in excess of 90%. Paull Travel has done everything in its power to retain its all-female team of 13, many of whom are their families main earners, but with products sold being refunded, commissions are getting clawed back.
Nobody saw this pandemic coming, and the situations travellers have been left in are devastating. There is no debate there. However, at the end of the day, services provided should be services paid, and with any government support to the airline industry, travel agents cannot be collateral damage.