The federal election campaign turned to talk of small business and tourism in Sechelt on Tuesday.
West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country Conservative candidate John Weston and Diane Ablonczy, Secretary of State - Small Business and Tourism met with business and civic leaders at the Seaside Centre.
During their opening remarks, both Weston and Ablonczy addressed the threat of Liberal leader Stephane Dion's policies on their success. Ablonczy and Weston also touted the announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that a re-elected Conservative government would allow those who are self-employed to opt-in to the Employment Insurance program.
"Small businesses in Sechelt cannot afford the higher taxes and more regulations being proposed by our opponents," said Weston. "While Stephen Harper is proposing policies that help our small business owners, our opponents are proposing a brand new carbon tax and more regulation."
Ablonczy highlighted the Liberals long record of opposition to small business friendly measures.
"The choice small business owners have to make is our affordable tax reductions, and a stable business climate, or Dion's out-of-touch schemes," added Ablonczy. "In a time of global economic uncertainty, small businesses and the people who work for them have too much at stake to risk on Dion's ill-advised tax-grabs."
Ablonczy said tourism is the backbone of the Canadian economy.
"I'm working on a plan - a national federal tourism growth strategy to achieve goals and how we can get there to achieve those goals," said Ablonczy. "We're excited by this proposal and what it can bring to tourism and small business operators all over the country."
Bed and breakfast owner Jack Pope raised questions about tourism and how it relates to the Canadian dollar and how the tourism industry is facing serious head winds due to increasing fuel costs, cross-boarder issues and 9/11.
He asked Ablonczy what the Conservatives plan to do about these issues.
"There are some things we can't change, but we as Canadians say to ourselves that we can get smarter and better with what we do," she said. "The border is a huge issue and we're committed to improving trade relations with the U.S. We're meeting with both the Obama and McCain camps with their election in full swing to see what can be done. There is still work to be done, but we're starting to peel away the layers of the onion."
Another question was raised about arts and culture and how that relates to tourism, especially here on the Sunshine Coast and the preception that the Conservatives have cut funding to the arts.
Weston said that simply is not the case.
"I'm very passionate about the arts - we love music in our family," said Weston. "The Conservatives have spent more than any government on arts and culture -in fact we've seen a 19.6 per cent increase in funding since the last government. Some programs were cut because they were not working and that money was reinvested into other arts and culture. We value arts and culture and what role it plays in the tourism industry and we'll continue to show that."
