The fallout from the current ban on Canadian beef in the United States has now extended beyond the cattle industry, tourism and business reps say, and we need look no further than the mirror to see the cause.
The Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association has been receiving more and more calls from its members, who are reporting large numbers of cancellations from American hunters over the last few weeks—and the situation shows no signs of improving anytime soon.
“The drop has been most significant in the northwest and has become a matter of great concern to operators,” said NOTO executive director Doug Reynolds.
The ban on beef actually applies to all ruminants—including deer, elk, and moose—so the prospect of not being able to take their meat home has caused many U.S.
hunters to cancel their annual fall trips here.
And since the mad cow scare in Alberta and the SARS crisis in Toronto, people are becoming increasingly concerned about the advisability of spending their vacation dollars in Canada.
The resulting loss to the northern economy could be significant, Reynolds warned.
“From the war in Iraq, to SARS, to mad cow, our high dollar, and a soft American economy, we’ve got just about everything going against us,” he added.
Reynolds admitted these factors are beyond the control of tourist operators and even governments, but noted there are other aggravating factors that have made matters worse.
“We are hearing reports from [American] tourists of petty harassment at the border, which merely reinforces a perceived anti- American bias,” he remarked.
“There is a pervasive anti-tourist bias in pockets of the northwest,” Reynolds claimed, citing the border crossings at Pigeon River, Fort Frances, and Rainy River as being particularly vigilant.
“At least, that’s the way the tourists perceive it and that’s what matters.”^Reynolds said the worst examples concern people who try to enter Canada with potatoes and are turned back—sometimes rudely— to dispose of them.
“This means the people have to get out of line, go back to the U.S., dump the potatoes, get back in line, and pay at the toll bridge again.
What kind of message is that we’re sending?” he wondered.
The solution, Reynolds said, is better communication between NOTO and Canada Customs. “If people know before they get here what the rules are, we could avoid a lot of these problems,” he reasoned.
For instance, many people are not aware that potatoes from the U.S. are not allowed here, as are earthworms. The earthworm issue concerns the soil in which they are kept and the concern it could bring unwanted organisms into the country.
“We’ve got to get ourselves on the same page with Customs before this thing gets completely out of hand,” Reynolds argued.
“We’re only hurting ourselves.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
