Rick’s Rant: Tourism Budget

Rick Mercer: These are confusing times for the Canadian economy; when the dollar is low, there are winners and there are losers. But one thing we all understand, a low dollar is good for the tourism industry. But you can’t have a tourism industry without advertising. Look at those Newfoundland tourism ads, boy have they ever paid off. Tourism is now a billion dollar industry in Newfoundland. Yes with a B.

So now with our low dollar, you can only imagine how much money the Federal Government is spending in the United States promoting Canada as a tourism destination. And we all know how much this Government loves to advertise. Take a guess. How much are they spending? Wait for it. Zero dollars. The United States is Canada’s largest tourism market and two years ago the Harper government decided to stop advertising there.

I don’t know what’s more astounding, that the Feds are getting out of tourism or that Elizabeth May is the only politician actually talking about this. And I admit, when I first heard Ms. May say this, I didn’t believe her because you know, Green Party. But I checked. She’s telling the truth.

Apparently in 2015 telling people to visit Canada is very old fashion and unbecoming of an energy superpower. In the year 2000 Canada was on the list of top ten most visited countries in the world. Now we are 18th.

Tourism is not ideological. There’s no left wing and right wing view of tourism. There is a defeatist view and our Government has one.