Support for hospitality industry

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This article was published 17/03/2021 (2051 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The hard-hit hospitality industry got a boost on Tuesday with the announcement of a new $8-million fund that will provide an offset to costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Administered by the Manitoba Hotel Association and the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association, the fund will send money to hotels and licensed resource tourism operators for fixed costs that haven’t been covered by previous relief programs.

The costs covered by this program include property insurance, mortgage interest, property taxes, land leases, service fees, maintenance of camps and resource retention costs.

“Our tourism industries, our hospitality industries rely not just on us, but people coming from outside Manitoba,” said Premier Brian Pallister during a Tuesday morning media conference. “Our neighbours to the west, east, south and north were not as mobile as they have been in the past and not as able as they have been in the past to come to friendly Manitoba.”

Given the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 variants of concern and out of a desire to better position Manitoba to recover from the pandemic, the premier said it is a good time to provide this assistance.

A full list of eligible businesses was not released on Tuesday, with the premier saying that the administrators of the fund would make that information public in the near future.

One Westman hotel reached by the Sun for comment on the new program wasn’t sure if it would be taking advantage of the new program yet. In fact, it has actually been quite successful during the pandemic.

The Blue Crescent Hotel in Rivers, which opened in January 2020, has apparently been at 90 to 100 per cent capacity for several months now, according to general manager Tracy Mansell.

That’s because the hotel has a deal with CN Rail to have conductors and engineers stay with them when there isn’t enough room in the local bunkhouse due to social and physical distancing guidelines. The offer came in March 2020, just as the hotel was wondering if it would have to shut down during the pandemic.

“I haven’t gone for any grants or any other things that the Manitoba Hotel Association have offered to us,” said Mansell. “We’re going above and beyond what (business) most hotels are doing right now.”

Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Spencer Day said that he was glad the province responded to a repeated call to action from organizations like his asking for assistance for hard-hit industries like hospitality.

“There seems to be a lot of support from their associations, which is great,” said Day. “In the few conversations that I had with some of our members in the industry this afternoon, the $8 million does feel a little light, but that doesn’t mean that’s the end of it.”

Asked if he thought this announcement showed the province is taking enough action to help businesses, he said no, but conceded that there will never be a right answer to if the province has sufficiently supported vulnerable sectors hit hard by the pandemic.

“There’s just so many different situations in every industry,” he said. “It’s going to be years before the true damage of the pandemic fully comes to light … but the announcement today is welcomed because it has been asked for many, many times.”

Tuesday’s announcement follows the three rounds of Manitoba Bridge Grant funding and a $5-million Dine-In Restaurant Relief Program that assisted restaurants last December in supports for businesses, charities and non-profit organizations offered by the Manitoba government.

A release sent out by the province on Tuesday stated that the bridge grant has paid out approximately $205 million to various organizations so far.

The premier also took time to express his pride that Statistics Canada’s most recent labour force survey released last week shows that more Manitoba adults are currently employed full-time than before the pandemic started.

That survey also showed that Manitoba’s unemployment rate is second-lowest in Canada and 16,000 jobs were added in February.

Pallister attributed these accomplishments to the efforts of Manitoba small businesses during the pandemic as well as individual Manitobans following public health orders.

“Our cautious and gradual reopening plans are working thanks to you,” said Pallister.

On Monday, Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced that Manitoba was setting a target to return to a balanced budget within eight years as the province recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The premier addressed the province’s finances briefly during his media conference on Tuesday, perhaps hinting towards the contents of Manitoba’s 2021 budget, which is due to be presented on April 7.

“It’s important to know, yes we are going to be running a record deficit this year,” he said. “The federal government will, all provinces will. But we’re able, because of the work we did to say to you that we believe we can get through this together and financially, we’ll be able to keep supporting as we have been those major programs that we want to support.”

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