The federal government is being called on to fix a visa issue that led to about 11,000 cruise ship tourists being prevented from sailing to Victoria last year.
The NDP, responding to concerns by Tourism Victoria and the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, wants Ottawa to give Canada’s consulate in Seattle the renewed ability to provide emergency visas to help B.C.-bound tourists who arrive in Washington state.
The problem is causing “a great deal of stress and financial hardship for these tourists and the tourism industry in Victoria,” New Democrat MP Gord Johns said in a letter to Bardish Chagger, the federal small business minister.
The MP for Courtenay-Alberni blamed the former Conservative government’s 2012 budget, which shut down visa offices in several American cities, including Seattle.
He noted while most travel agents around the world warn visitors when they need visas to enter Canada, some would-be visitors to Canada don’t get the message. So these tourists arriving in Seattle with the intent of boarding a cruise ship that stops in Victoria are denied entry, “causing a great deal of stress and financial hardship for these tourists and the tourism industry in Victoria,” Johns wrote.
He called on the government to take action to help an industry that generates an estimated $100 million annually for the Greater Victoria economy.
A spokesman for the minister said Friday the government is looking into the matter. “Our department is aware of the situation and is in contact with our colleagues at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada about this,” said James Fitz-Morris.
“We encourage all visitors to ensure they have the appropriate travel documents before departing on their voyage.”
A spokesman for Tourism Victoria said he’s confident the city has all-party support for re-establishing visa services in Seattle. “We understand that the new federal government is working hard on this issue and we are hopeful, now that all parties are aware of and understand the unintended consequences of the cuts to the Seattle consulate’s visa capacity, that it will be restored in the near future,” said Paul Nursey.
“We believe we have all major parties behind this.”
He added that the problem also affects passengers using the Victoria Clipper ferry service from Seattle to Victoria, as well as Blackball Ferry’s MV Coho service from Port Angeles to Victoria.
He noted the 11,000 total is a small portion of the total volume of cruise ship passengers, which averages 525,000 a year.
