Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise today and take this opportunity to share my thoughts on the recently tabled transportation estimates. These estimates, which are based upon budget 2021, have failed to present the needed road map and economic recovery plan that would lead us out of this pandemic in a timely manner. Not surprisingly, these estimates are just as disappointing as the budget itself.
Transportation is a critical component to our travel and tourism industry. Without the important role played by the transportation sector, Canadians and international visitors alike would be unable to experience the amazing sights, culture, landscapes, attractions and history that Canada has to offer. While a great number of provinces and territories are getting closer to a reopening of their economies, with plans in place, the federal government's lack of preparedness in its own jurisdiction poses a major obstacle in accelerating our economic reopening progress as a nation.
Let us take the Canadian cruise ship industry for example. Last February, the Minister of Transport banned cruise ship activity in Canada for a full year, without even considering whether health conditions could improve faster to allow the industry to resume earlier and salvage part of the late summer or early fall season this year. Instead, it was a blanket ban for a full year. Meanwhile, the Americans took this issue with an approach much different and far more optimistic. They could restart their American industry much sooner and responsibly before Canada's cruise ban ends in February 2022.
Consequently, our neighbours to the south have recently introduced legislation to allow American cruise ships to bypass Canadian ports on the west coast during voyages between Seattle and Alaska. As a result, Canada's west coast cruise industry is at risk of losing its spot in this marketplace. There is a real fear that these proposed changes could one day become permanent, which would have a devastating impact on Canadian coastline economies. Thousands of jobs in the tourism and maritime service industry rely on the safe operation of cruise ships between Canada and the United States.
As the American cruise ship industry begins to resume safe operations and with Canadian industry making it clear that a plan is urgently needed to save its 2022 season, there is still no safe restart strategy for cruise ships in Canada. We can blame the federal Liberals and their indifference and naivety for the unnecessary turmoil and economic loss.
Another example of the federal government's lack of preparedness can be found in its transportation consideration at our international land border crossings. There are four major international bridge crossings in my Niagara Falls riding alone. These include the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, the Rainbow Bridge and Whirlpool Bridge in Niagara Falls, and the Queenston and Lewiston Bridge in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Before COVID, all four bridges were critical in facilitating travellers and trade in a timely manner. However, since COVID, all four bridges have struggled greatly without emergency financial assistance from our federal government.
When the American federal government stepped up to support the bridge authorities on its side of the Niagara River, financial aid from our federal government was nowhere in sight. I have written to the minister about this issue and still no action has been taken. One would imagine that CBSA officers who are front line, outward facing and essential workers would be prioritized by the federal government, their employer, to get vaccinated earlier. Instead, vaccines only began to arrive in Niagara for CBSA officers a few weeks ago, and this only happened after I asked the minister responsible about this in question period. It should not be this hard.
Another border challenge involving transportation is quickly coming and it will be here before we know it. In my discussions with local bridge authorities, there is a major concern about how the logistics of reopening these bridges and testing travellers will work from a border management perspective. What is to be avoided from their perspective is a plan that will result in border delays so long and dreadful that it may deter U.S. travellers from coming into Canada altogether. That is why we have been asking for months now for the government to present a safe and responsible federal reopening plan. When will this be announced?
As I have said many times in the House, COVID-19 hit our travel and tourism industry first, it hit it the hardest and it will take this industry the longest time to recover. These estimates are tone deaf to the fact that we are still fighting this pandemic nearly 15 months after it started. In addition to lacking any coordinated effort of sense of a recovery plan, there is scant to no mention of sector specific support measures for those hardest hit in our transportation sector.
Let us take motor coach buses for example. This industry has been a key component for connecting Canadians and visitors in rural and remote areas to the larger urban centres and beyond. However, COVID has been relentless against this sector.
It is no coincidence that on May 13, in the midst of a severe third wave of this pandemic, Greyhound Canada announced it was permanently cutting all bus routes across the country and shutting down its intercity bus operations after nearly a century of service.
An article in BNN Bloomberg reads, “The decision is a blow to rural and remote areas that rely on a patchwork of private intercity bus companies for transportation.”
Many Canadians, including the most vulnerable, live in rural or remote regions that depend heavily on these bus services to travel large distances between smaller towns and urban areas. As Greyhound continues to operate in the United States, it is difficult not to place the blame squarely on the dire economic situation in Canada that we face because of the Prime Minister's third wave.
The operators of Double Deck Tours, a local business in my riding, have also written to me. It is Niagara Falls' oldest tour company and it provides fully guided tours of the attractions, events and sights of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. They write:
Given the impacts of COVID’s third wave on our economy and the absence of a coordinated border reopening plan, we are facing the possibility of having to rely exclusively on limited local business and a summer with ongoing restrictions. This will significantly reduce our recovery trajectory and our ability to replace these subsidies with revenues. The limited opportunity presented by a restricted summer will not be sufficient for businesses to accrue the liquidity required to make it to summer 2022, our next peak travel period.
Pressure is mounting on this issue. Earlier this week, the Canadian press reported that Canadian business leaders were demanding a plan from Ottawa to reopen our borders and our economy now. Perrin Beatty, the chief executive officer of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, is quoted as calling Canada an outlier in failing to provide a fully fledged reopening plan that includes vaccination rates and other criteria.
What are the Liberals waiting for? We need them to coordinate and co-operate among themselves with industry, with business leaders and with our international partners to come up with a safe and responsible reopening plan so we can get life back to normal as quickly as possible. Canadian businesses and industries are eagerly seeking clarity and certainty from their federal government. Instead, it is becoming more clear by the day that the federal leadership, in this regard, is sorely absent.
Transportation, travel and tourism are among some of the hardest-hit sectors of our economy. It is going to take some time for them to recover. In fact, many businesses in these sectors are in survival mode, while they watch other parts of our economy reopen more quickly. The reality is that travel and tourism will not restart overnight. While 2019 was a record year for many Canadian tourism businesses, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada estimates it could take until at least 2025 before 2019 levels are achieved again. The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada fears it could lose nearly 30 years of economic progress in its sector if more emergency financial support is not provided soon by the federal government.
Before this pandemic, Canada's travel and tourism industry was the country's fifth-largest sector, responsible for $105 billion in revenue, or 2.3% of GDP. It employed one in 10 Canadians, or 10% of Canadian jobs, and had 225,000 small and medium-sized businesses across Canada. It is terrible to see how much economic damage, loss, suffering and setback have been caused by this prolonged 15-month pandemic. It is even more terrible to know that our federal government, whose key responsibility is to protect its citizens and Canadian interests, was not ready to protect us at the start, and 15 long months later, it remains unprepared to provide a clear plan forward on safely and responsibly reopening our economy and our borders.
It should never be lost on any Canadian that the Liberal government prorogued Parliament last summer in the midst of a national pandemic health crisis. Let that resonate for a moment; think about it. Canadians deserve so much better, and Canada's Conservatives are ready and prepared to deliver the governance and leadership they so badly deserve.