Mr. Speaker, more than one million tourism-related employees have been laid off. Summer festivals all over the country are being cancelled. Kids' camps are closed. For many restaurants, a recent study is telling us that the pandemic is going to devastate the industry.
In rural communities, mom and pop businesses are being told to close, yet big-box stores are allowed to open. Rural Canadians are told to work from home, yet Internet and cellular service is sketchy at best. Rural communities are going to be the hardest hit and, in many cases, the slowest to recover.
Will the Prime Minister finally start to put rural Canada and the tourism industry top of mind, especially when creating recovery programs?