TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – August 23, 2024

I’m a fairly light sleeper and frequently wake up throughout the night to the sound of wind blowing through the trees, rain gently falling in the forest, owls hooting every 14 seconds during mating season, and even trains that leave Deltaport and head east, blowing their whistles as they cross farm roads along their route.

For some reason I find a train whistle soothing. For me it evokes warm feelings of Canadiana because you can hear them or spot actual trains in nearly every part of our vast country. As you know, railways connect Canada and were the catalyst to the birth and development of many cities and provinces.

So it stands to reason that when trains stop moving, virtually everyone is affected in some way. After CN and CP Kansas City (CPKC) locked out over 9,000 workers at 9 pm (PT) Wednesday night, the Canadian economy was essentially put on hold. Given that trains haul some $1b in goods daily, one can only imagine the impact on manufacturers, retailers, and Joe & Jane Average Sixpack for each day trains sit idle.

Even though rail traffic is expected to resume soon, any stoppage of any length has repercussions for the tourism sector as well. Aside from supply chain issues for every tourism business, passenger services on Rocky Mountaineer and even the West Coast Express that connects the Fraser Valley to Vancouver have either been paused or disrupted until workers are back on the job. Rocky Mountaineer is a key cog in the broader tourism ecosystem supporting hotels, restaurants, other transportation providers, suppliers and many other businesses. It goes without saying that a lengthy lock-out would have had disastrous consequences, not only financially for tourism but in reputation as well.

Earlier this week, TIAC, TIABC and some of our provincial/territorial counterparts sent a letter to the Government of Canada urging Tourism Minister Ferrada, Prime Minister Trudeau, Labour Minister MacKinnon, and Transport Minister Rodriguez to take immediate action to prevent rail sector job action recognizing that the labour dispute is technically outside of government’s purview since the issue is between private companies CN and CPKC, as well as their respective employees and union. Regardless, we knew that government could pull some levers and put an end to the lock-out immediately.

We implored government to help find a quick resolution to the stoppage citing that the tourism industry can ill afford yet another setback given that many destinations and/or businesses have still not fully recovered from the pandemic.

I took the liberty of sharing the letter with several members of the federal BC Liberal caucus with a request that they too compel their cabinet colleagues to intervene and help resolve the dispute quickly.

Every major business sector put pressure on the feds to act. Thankfully and to his credit, Labour Minister MacKinnon responded yesterday and ordered binding arbitration on the parties and asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to send the railways back to work under the terms of the current collective agreement until a new deal is reached. Although CN has ended its lockout, it may take several days before so-called ‘normal’ operations resume.

On a related note, we’re also keeping our eye on a possible strike by Air Canada pilots, which would compound the challenges we already face in a summer where tourism growth has been flat in many BC regions, partly due to situations beyond our control. More to come in the days ahead.

Other than the sound of rain falling in the forest behind my house, it’s been eerily quiet the last couple of nights. And even though they interrupt my sleep, I hope to hear the sound of train whistles that awaken me at all hours of the night very soon. Ironically, it might actually help me get a better night’s rest.

Walt Judas
CEO, TIABC