Mr. Speaker, this week is Tourism Week across Canada. Tourism is a major economic driver in my beautiful riding of Niagara Falls. Before COVID-19, about 40,000 workers from across Niagara had jobs in our local tourism sector, which generated over $2.4 billion worth of receipts a year.
Nationally, Canada's travel and tourism industry is the country's fifth largest sector, responsible for $105 billion in GDP and employing, prior to COVID, one in 10 Canadians.
Normally, we would be celebrating the beginning of our summer tourism season this week. Instead, the tourism sector continues to struggle because of the current federal government's mismanagement of Canada's pandemic response. Had the Liberals secured vaccines more quickly, implemented widespread rapid testing and had a data-driven plan to reopen our economy safely and responsibly, we could be there by now.
As we acknowledge the celebration of Tourism Week, Canada's Conservatives renew our commitment to advocate for those hardest hit in our travel and tourism industry, so we can get life back to normal as quickly as possible.