Kicking off Canada’s Tourism Week at an appearance in Ottawa, federal Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault said rebuilding the visitor economy is crucial to Canada’s post-pandemic recovery. Answering a reporter’s question, he acknowledged that huge backups at Canada’s airports are an obstacle but said the government is working on it. (The Logic)
Talking point: Transport Minister Omar Alghabra released a statement late Friday saying the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority will have 400 more screening officers by the end of June to try to process departing travellers more swiftly, with the help of a “more flexible” training process. For international arrivals at Pearson airport in Toronto, one of the worst affected, Alghabra’s statement said the federal border agency is adding 25 processing kiosks and “initiating the Summer Action Plan to ensure efficiency.” Passport issuing is also backlogged and so are applications for Nexus cards that ease access to the United States.