MPP Arnott says Government appears not to care about tourism

Speaking in his capacity as Ontario PC Critic for the Minister of Tourism and Recreation, Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott has challenged the Government on its recently announced budget cuts to the Ministry. The following is the text of the statement he made in the Ontario Legislature on May 18th:

Last week, in their 2005 Ontario Budget, the Liberal Government drastically cut funding to the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation.

Tourism advocates are appalled that the budget was slashed by 11.4 per cent -- some $21 million.

The Government’s indifference overlooks the fact that tourism is the economic lifeblood of scores of communities across the province.

The Ministry of Tourism and Recreation estimated that in the year 2003, tourism generated almost $20 billion in economic activity, about $8.5 billion in total taxes, and supported almost 303,000 direct and indirect jobs.

With these cuts to the Tourism budget, the Government is putting these jobs at risk.

Tourism advocates are telling me that the McGuinty Government doesn’t recognize the importance of tourism to the economy. Perhaps they have forgotten that Ontario tourism is still recovering from the perception created by SARS, Mad Cow, and the West Nile Virus.

Just as the tourism industry is preparing to turn the page on these catastrophes, recover and hopefully grow again, the government responds by cutting the budget. What impeccable timing.

Whether it’s because the Government didn’t listen to the Minister and the other advocates for tourism, or they don’t understand the industry, the people in Ontario’s tourism businesses are facing yet another extraordinary challenge with these severe budget cuts, and it appears that the Government does not care.