Business owners in Banff are urging the Canadian government to get rid of costly and cumbersome testing requirements that are scaring away vital customers. Pete Woods President and CEO of SkiBig3, which represents Mt. Norquay, Banff Sunshine and Lake Louise Ski Resort, said the government’s requirement that visitors provide a negative PCR-style COVID-19 teset result before coming into the country is scaring away international customers that Banff tourism operators rely on. Speaking on the edge of snow-packed slopes at Mt. Norquay, which opened for skiing last weekend, Woods said Ottawa needs to “remove unnecessary and redundant measures that still hang Read more
Parks Canada
LEAMINGTON, ONTARIO – I’m standing on the southernmost point of continental Canada, a thin strip of rocky sand at the south end of Point Pelee, Ontario that’s roughly the same latitude as Rome and northern California. There’s a soft wind in the air and hardly a cloud in the sky on a perfect summer’s day as I pose for a photo. Seconds after I leave, a young couple takes my place and I snap a picture for them. And on it goes; a steady line of folks waiting to have an Instagram moment at one of the most iconic places Read more
THIS ITEM ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN POSTMEDIA PUBLICATIONS IN CANADA ON FRIDAY OF THIS WEEK. This is crazy, folks. Almost every Canadian believes that spending time outdoors is good for us and reduces our stress. But a new study says nearly three in 10 Canadians spend less than half an hour a week in the fresh air each. That’s less than five minutes a day! The 2017 edition of the Coleman Canada Outdoor Report, a survey of more than 1,500 Canadian adults hosted by Angus Reid Forum, found that 98% of Canadians feel that being outdoors enhances our well-being. It also Read more
Cool new hotels and attractions from coast to coast. A big 150th birthday bash for Canada. And a 375th birthday for Montreal. I just wrapped up two days of intense meetings with tourism folks from across Canada at the Go Media 2016 session in Montreal, put on by Destination Canada. I came away with some good ideas for stories and a half-ton of information about this great country of ours. Here are some of the highlights… ANNIVERSARIES Canada’s 150th will be a big deal, naturally, across the country in 2017. Ottawa will be doing a great deal of the partying, Read more
Fittingly, my first exposure to the now famous Canadian flag was at a hockey game. Oddly enough, it was in Oakland, California. I grew up in the suburbs of San Francisco and always enjoyed sports. Once, perhaps as part of a school field trip, we went to a game at the Oakland Coliseum Arena to see the California Seals play. I remember, I think, the white skates. I definitely remember trying to figure out what icing meant. The rules confused me and I didn’t really understand what was happening on the ice (something my kids will say has stuck with Read more
