“and that means making sure that election or no election, people can reliably plan on what they can expect at the border.”
one of the industries that has been most affected by the border closure is tourism. on wednesday, representatives from the montreal tourism industry held a press conference calling on the government to reopen the border before the summer is entirely lost.
the mid-august and early september timeline means that “for the second year in a row, we’re going to lose most or all of the summer tourist season” because most people have made their plans by now, beatty said.
“we’ll be able to capture some of the latter part of it. but only a small amount, and it’s important to recognize that when you look at tourism, a day in august is worth a weekend in november.”
hyder said businesses “will all do hurry-up offense to get ready to seize particularly the tourist season that still remains between now and the canadian winter.”
the 30-day window should be enough for tourism-based businesses like hotels and restaurants to prepare to open up, at least partially, he said. one challenge is that many have to hire staff, and that’s an issue “that has caused a lot of people a lot of anxiety and stress,” as businesses wonder whether former employees will come back to work, and if not, whether they’ll be able to find new staff, hyder explained.