Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing's NDP MP is calling on the federal government to protect tourism and hospitality jobs.
Citing speculation about bailouts for airlines, Carol Hughes notes travel-related businesses of all sizes are being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, warning over 200,000 Canadian workplaces that support 1.8-million jobs are in danger, with the employees already facing numerous challenges due to the part-time or seasonal nature of many of the jobs, let alone the closures, stunted openings, and changes to pandemic relief programs.
In response, Hughes is calling for "sectoral relief" for the hospitality and air transport sectors to be contingent on full participation in the federal wage subsidy program, tying existing jobs to recovery efforts and ensuring the workers continue to receive a paycheque, though she also wants the government to make support conditional on a right of first refusal for laid off hospitality and tourism workers, as they currently have no guarantee former employers will restore their jobs or offer them back when the pandemic subsides.