The MP for Kenora has co-authored a letter with other northern Ontario Members of Parliament, calling for immediate support for local tourist operators and airlines serving remote communities.
It’s penned by Conservative Eric Melillo, Thunder Bay-Rainy River Liberal Marcus Powlowski and Timmins-James Bay NDP representative Charlie Angus.
The joint letter has been sent to four federal cabinet ministers (Finance Minister Bill Morneau; Transport Minister Marc Garneau; Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller; Economic Development and Official Languages Minister Melanie Joly)
It outlines how seasonal and tourism businesses in the north have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melillo says our area is heavily reliant on tourism and seasonal work, and many businesses are at risk of falling through the cracks.
He says a lot of business owners across the region have told him that they aren’t being helped by current aid programs.
The letter contains four asks from the government:
-Immediate relief to help cover start-up costs for seasonal tourism businesses, particularly insurance costs for air-carriers
-Non-repayable loans to help these businesses cover costs throughout the summer
-An expansion of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy beyond June
-Help to address the fact that many seasonal pilots over the age of 40 cannot get medically certified to fly commercial this season.
Seasonal, tourism dependent businesses have been hard-hit by the current pandemic.
Today, I joined fellow Northern Ontario MPs @MarcusPowlowski and @CharlieAngusNDP in calling for immediate support for seasonal tourism operations and air service carriers in our ridings. pic.twitter.com/8Vmy00RroR
— Eric Melillo (@Eric_Melillo) April 28, 2020
Letter From MP Angus, Melil… by Rayson Martyn on Scribd
