COVID-19: Science World, PNE to receive provincial help

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Science World and the Pacific National Exhibition are among the anchor B.C. attractions expected to receive up to $1 million each from a $50 million program announced by the province Tuesday to prop up struggling tourism operators.

However, Vancouver’s mayor said the funding leaves the PNE “critically short” of the $8-million bailout it needs to survive.

The B.C. major anchor attractions grant will provide $1 million in funding to anchor attractions that typically get at least 75,000 visitors a year and $500,000 to rural tourism attractions that get 15,000 visitors a year, Premier John Horgan and Tourism Minister Melanie Mark said during a news conference on Tuesday. Tour bus companies will also be eligible for funding.

“Few sectors have been hit as hard by COVID-19 as the tourism sector and many major tourism attractions that we all know are struggling,” Horgan said.

Such attractions are key to drawing visitors to boost the local economy and providing jobs to young people, said Horgan, who recalled his first job, working on the MV Coho ferry and directing American tourists to Butchart Gardens.

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The deadline to apply for grants is June 7 and funds will be provided in July. Mark said the goal is to get the money out the door as quickly as possible to ensure anchor attractions can survive.

“Businesses across the province rely on anchor attractions to drive visitors to communities, to visit the gift shops, the restaurants and other attractions in the area,” she said. “Tour bus companies are vital to make these regional destinations and experiences accessible for travellers.”

The grant is available to not-for-profit organizations and businesses to pay wages, rent and utility costs related to ramping up operations in preparation for a gradual reopening, when allowed under provincial health orders. Mark estimates the funding will help about 30 tourism operators in urban centres, such as Butchart Gardens and the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and about 40 attractions in rural areas.

Beyond the $1-million grant, Horgan did not have any additional funding announcements for the PNE, which has asked the province for $8 million in emergency funding to keep its doors open.

Horgan said the PNE can apply for the anchor attraction grant and then look to the City of Vancouver for additional cash.

“The city has the responsibility for the PNE, not the province,” he said. “When the PNE applies for this program, we’ll have a better understanding of the challenges that they face.”

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said in a statement he’s disappointed that the grant leaves the city-owned PNE “critically short of the funding they need to continue operating as we’ve known and loved for over a century.”

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“When the premier says the PNE should apply and that Victoria will see what its needs are and what it can do, I take him at his word,” Stewart said. “He will see what the PNE has been saying all along — that it needs the same level of support as other fairs across the province and Canada are getting from senior levels of government. Otherwise, the PNE as we know it can’t continue to exist.”

Because of an income tax ruling by Canada Revenue Agency classifying the PNE as part of the City of Vancouver, the fair has been ineligible to receive any COVID-19 federal or provincial support. Stewart said that has forced the city to support the PNE financially “despite our extremely limited capacity.”

The PNE lost $46 million in 2020 and is set to be in the red by $40 million at the end of this year, said spokeswoman Laura Ballance. The PNE was the largest employer of youth in B.C. in 2019. In a normal year, it employs 4,300 people and generates a $200-million economic benefit for the city, Ballance said.

“We are confident as government understands us more, that they will understand that the outline for our need is based on 100-plus years of history and a really solid plan to emerge from COVID,” she said. “We do need this one-time assistance.”

The PNE is cancelled this summer, the second in a row, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The non-profit was set to open Playland on May 1 but that was kiboshed by the provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry. The amusement park is aiming to reopen after the May long weekend with limited capacity but Ballance said that won’t be possible for the larger fair.

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Science World CEO Tracy Redies said the grant program is a good “first step” but stressed that the non-profit will need more than $1 million in government funding to overcome a projected $5-million loss over two years.

B.C. Liberal jobs critic Todd Stone said $1 million is not nearly enough for many of B.C.’s hardest hit attractions and he urged the provincial government to tap into the budget’s $3-billion contingency fund to provide more support.

The NDP government has been under fire for not providing enough funding for flagging tourism operators and non-profits, some of which have not been able to qualify for funding through the small and medium sized business recovery grant. The funding does not come in time to help the Vancouver Aquarium which in April was sold to the for-profit Atlanta-based Herschend Enterprises after the non-profit Ocean Wise Conservation Society said it was running out of money to keep the popular attraction afloat.

Tourism operators are frustrated that the province has yet to provide details on its reopening plan, which makes it difficult to plan for the summer, said Walt Judas, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of B.C.

“We don’t have any clear direction,” Judas said. “Tell us what it will take, allow us to work with government on a restart plan. If we know the goalposts and we know what we’re working toward we can put plans in place to get people moving again.

Stone said it’s unacceptable that the province has not laid out a detailed economic reopening plan with clear benchmarks for businesses. Earlier this month, Saskatchewan released its COVID-19 reopening plan which includes a phased reopening based on vaccination rates.

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Horgan stressed that while B.C. is not yet ready to welcome back visitors to the province, the government and public health officials are starting to focus on a gradual reopening. He said more details will be released next week on the easing of public health restrictions.

with files from Dan Fumano

kderosa@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/katiederosayyj

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