Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's pledge of a one-shot summer and his recent attendance at the G7 summit simply prove that Liberals have one set of rules for themselves and another for hard-working Canadians who are abiding by health guidelines and who simply want this pandemic to be over.
Every day I hear from my constituents who have been separated from their families and loved ones by the lengthy and extended border closure with the United States. This border closure has also had a devastating impact on our local and national tourism economy. Niagara is the number one leisure tourism destination in Canada employing some 40,000 tourism workers and generating over $2.4 billion in tourism receipts. Budget 2021 commits only $1 billion in tourism funding, which completely misses the mark when we consider that Canada's tourism industry generated over $105 billion annually before COVID. Severely underfunding indigenous tourism only adds to my disappointment in budget 2021.
The Liberal government has failed families, border communities and Canada's travel and tourism industry, and it continues to fail the people of Niagara.