Mr. Speaker, this week, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada is hosting its annual Tourism Congress in Gatineau. This year’s theme is “Tourism Builds Canada”. Tourism definitely powers my communities of Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. In fact, Niagara is home to more than 40,000 tourism workers.

Across Canada, one in 10 Canadian jobs is in tourism, an industry that generates $130 billion in economic activity, but it could be so much more if not for bad Liberal policies. Under the Liberal government, tourism is simply not a priority. According to the TIAC, cuts to the international convention attraction fund, the tourism growth program and Destination Canada’s core funding, and the exclusion of tourism from the capital cost allowance, undermine the sector’s potential.

In a country where so much is broken after 10 years of the Liberal government, leave it to the Liberals to cut programs that actually work. Tourism builds Canada. Unfortunately, the Liberal budget fails to unleash its full potential.