Madam Speaker, last month I put a question to the Minister of Transport about his unilateral decision to extend the cruise ship ban for another year, until February of 2022. The effect of that ban is that no passenger vessels can come into a Canadian port until at least February of 2022. That ban started with the pandemic, of course, and killed the cruising industry in Canada, particularly in my home province of British Columbia on the west coast. It killed it last year, and it is probably going to kill it completely this year. The concern is this. What is the ban going to do to the industry next year and going forward?
The answer I got from the minister was inadequate and missed the point, so I am happy to have this opportunity to expand on it.
The cruise industry is a very important segment of Canada's tourism sector, especially on the west coast in British Columbia. I said in my intervention last month that, every time a cruise ship stops by either the ports of Victoria or Vancouver on its way up to Alaska from Seattle, another million dollars gets pumped into the economy. These are the bus drivers, tour operators, taxi drivers, restaurant and store owners, and farmers, who grow the food that provision the ships when they come in, so it is a big industry and a lot of people are hurting.
In his answer, the minister said his major concern was the health and safety of Canadians and seeing Canada through the pandemic. Of course, we agree with that, but here is the thing. The Americans are now looking at a way to at least salvage the second half of the cruise industry in Alaska for this year. They are as frustrated with the minister's unilateral decision as we are on our side of the border. They were not consulted at all and this is an international endeavour, because cruising is cross-border.
The Americans have figured out a way around it. They are going to amend their legislation, which was designed initially many years ago to protect American jobs, and I do not know if it ever had the effect of doing that, but inadvertently it had a very beneficial impact on Canadian tourism. That American legislation required vessels to stop at a foreign port before stopping in another American port. That is what kick-started the tourism industry in Canada. I guess we thought that was maybe a safety check for us, but the Americans have figured out a way around it. This is American legislation. They can amend it, and they did amend it.
I told the minister about this three months ago, back in March. I said that the Americans were contemplating it, and I do not think he took it seriously. Now, the Americans have done it. Both houses of Congress, in an uncharacteristic time of unity, passed it unanimously, and President Biden has now signed it into law.
The Americans will salvage the second part of the cruising season. They figured out they are ahead of us in vaccinating their citizens of course, but we are catching up, so we are looking for a more creative solution than just an outright ban. The Americans were telling us our minister did not consult with them. He just went ahead and made this announcement. It is very frustrating for them.
My questions for the minister are as follows: First, why did he not consult with his American counterparts before coming up with this unilateral decision, knowing how important co-operation is for this industry? Second, is there any chance the second half of the Alaskan cruise season could be rescued? Third, what is the plan going forward? Do we know if there will be a cruise industry in Canada going forward?