Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
The shadow minister of tourism and other Conservative politicians addressed some of the challenges facing the tourism sector while visiting Jasper.
The Opposition MPs gave short presentations and answered questions from attendees during the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 general meeting on April 20.
鈥淲e really need to discuss some of the big issues that we鈥檙e dealing with,鈥� said West Yellowhead MP Gerald Soroka while introducing his colleagues.
鈥淭he two things that I鈥檝e been hearing in this riding especially is the fact that there still needs to be more financial help for the tourism industry and the labour shortage.鈥�
Michelle Ferreri, shadow minister for tourism, then spoke on the tumultuous period that tourism has been going through.
鈥淚 think the tourism sector is probably鈥� the most interesting file that we have, because it鈥檚 actually the intersection of all the issues that we鈥檝e seen highlighted and magnified over the last two years,鈥� Ferreri said.
Ferreri noted that there was no new funding put into the 2022 federal budget for supporting tourism, with the exception of $24.8 million to Indigenous tourism over two years.
鈥淩eally, the $1 billion that was put into the 2021 budget was it, and so it kind of is saying, 鈥楬ey, you guys are recovered. You鈥檙e good.鈥欌��
Ferreri said the housing crisis and the labour crisis were both connected and affecting communities across the country, particularly Jasper.
She had also heard of delays with the temporary foreign worker program and highlighted how travel confidence had to be restored in order to stabilize the tourism sector.
A main focus of her talk was the lengthy approval process for getting development permits from Parks Canada.
鈥淚nfrastructure is critical, and how can we allow you to grow if the government is constantly preventing you from doing that growth?鈥� Ferreri asked.
鈥淲e have to be diligent in allowing these time periods to decrease.鈥�
The Opposition MPs took questions from the attendees.
Ginette Marcoux, executive director of the Jasper Employment and Education Centre, asked if a seven-month visa for temporary foreign workers would be possible for Jasper.
鈥淭hat kind of program would be ideal for Jasper,鈥� Marcoux said.
鈥淏ecause (employers) had to keep their people employed year-round under the temporary foreign worker program, it was the Canadians that would get laid off during the winter time when we got into our high unemployment, which we don鈥檛 want to see, because that creates all kinds of tensions within the workforce.鈥�
MP Bernard G茅n茅reux replied that Conservatives would support these kinds of measures, especially because of the evolving labour market.
鈥淲e have to see the future of employment in Canada completely different than (how) we used to see it before, and we have to have those ideas to change that to make sure that we adapt the way we do things,鈥� G茅n茅reux said.
Many of the other questions and comments focused on the frustration with the lack of housing and the challenges with trying to move developments forward.
James Jackson, president and CEO of Tourism Jasper, noted how Canadians were asking Jasper for a service that it wasn鈥檛 empowered to deliver.
He added how it wasn鈥檛 just the lack of housing but also the high cost of living that discouraged workers from moving to Jasper.
鈥淲e need to collectively work on a value proposition for people to live here that鈥檚 outside of that,鈥� Jackson said.
Shadow Minister for Finance Kelly McCauley was also in attendance but did not present.
