Keep The Pressure On
ACTA has released a comparison of the major political party platforms and their impact on travel agencies and independent travel agents.
Wendy Paradis, ACTA president, observed that: “Now is the time to speak with electoral candidates and share your need for continued federal financial support.” And Paradis added: “There is huge value in sharing your own story and message on Twitter, as candidates are closely following activity there.”
The industry association has continued its work advocating for the extension of support for Independent Contractors, for a program like CRB.
Noting that there is less than a week before Election Day on Sept. 20, ACTA makes it clear that every meeting, call, door-to-door discussion with candidates, and social media message a candidate sees has the potential to impact the course of national policy, including financial support.
ACTA has compiled key notes, sample Tweets, and other resources to support member grassroots advocacy that you can access by going to https://www.acta.ca/acta-advocacy-campaign .
The association is not only urging grassroots advocacy this week, but is strongly encouraging members to cast their vote.
Said Paradis: “There is much to be lost – or gained—in the outcome of this election. For the travel industry, this is the most important election of our lifetime. For many of our members, their very survival depends on it.”
And to help members understand and compare what each party is promising to the industry, ACTA’s party comparison is available at https://www.acta.ca/political-platforms .
As well, ACTA has partnered with industry associations to advocate throughout this election campaign for ongoing financial support for travel agencies and their employees — as well as Independent Contractors.
Paradis points out that: “We have seen tremendous benefit from our own advocacy efforts combined with joining these coalitions of other tourism industry associations. These partners bring a lot to the table in terms of advocacy experience and collectively, we have more impact than we would on our own.”
One of those partners is The Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses which is co-chaired by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada and the Hotel Association of Canada, and whose key mandate is to advocate for continuation of CEWS and CERS for Canada’s travel and tourism industry up until at least May 2022.
The hardest hit coalition held a webinar on Sept. 10, 2021 following the federal leaders’ debates.
Government relations experts joined the webinar and gave an overview of each federal party and how their platforms impact the travel and tourism sector.
ACTA is also part of the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable which is focused on the easing of travel restrictions in a safe and measured way based on science and data.
Go to www.acta.ca for more.
