Chamber News
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Since early 2020, Canadians have come together to fight the most serious pandemic of our lifetime.
In addition to the lives taken by the disease, we have also paid a high price in terms of lost time with family and friends, in the mental health of millions and in other medical conditions that became even more serious as we delayed attending to them.
The financial costs have also been enormous. As an example, Canada’s travel and tourism sector, which is an important part of every community in the country, has lost billions of dollars because of the pandemic. Those losses are continuing today because, although the nature of the pandemic has changed dramatically, the measures Canada continues to apply to travel have not kept pace. Outdated federal regulations for air and rail travel no longer reflect the best scientific information and are out of step with what is being done by both our international partners and most of Canadian society.
Today the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable released a report by four highly-respected medical experts who have analyzed the measures in place in Canada, based on the best available information. I urge you to take the time to read its recommendations.
Press reports indicated that the government is likely to remove some of these outdated, unscientific measures. If they are correct, it will be a significant step forward. However, now is not the time for half-measures. We need, instead, to bring Canada back into line with the rest of the international community, based on the best available science.
Perrin Beatty, PC, OC
President & Chief Executive Office, Canadian Chamber of Commerce