Liberals today are demanding the Conservative government restore the vital funding unnecessarily cut from Toronto’s Caribana Festival and revisit their ideological decision-making behind the allocation of Marquee Tourism funds.
“Stephen Harper’s priorities are completely out of touch with the needs of Canadians. He’s putting ideology ahead of the Canadian economy,” said Liberal Critic for International Trade Scott Brison.
“With $1.3 billion of taxpayer’s dollars wasted on the G8 and G20 boondoggles, why can the government not support festivals that actually create jobs and generate tourism dollars, while bringing Canadians together?”
This year alone, the Conservative government slashed support for world-renowned events that generate big tourism dollars, like the Edmonton Folk Festival, Toronto Pride, Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, and Caribana. Caribana itself is estimated to attract more than a million visitors and have a total economic impact of $438 million for the City of Toronto.
Last year, the Conservative government created the Marquee Tourism Events program to provide funding to large festivals from coast to coast. However, major festivals across Canada had their funding cut as the Conservatives claimed scarcity of funds, but they left $12 million of Marquee Tourism funding unspent last year.
“What’s clear is that not even events that stimulate the economy are immune from the Conservative culture of deceit and intimidation,” said Liberal Small Business and Tourism Critic Navdeep Bains. “The Conservatives have withheld program funding to attack groups they don’t agree with, instead of governing for all Canadians.
“Liberals would not discriminate against ‘fringe groups,’ as the Prime Minister calls them,” concluded Mr. Bains. “Canada, and Canadians, deserve better.”
