Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jun 2003 Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON) Copyright: 2003, The Standard Contact: http://www.canada.com/stcatharines/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676 HOW TO BRING PEOPLE TO T.O. -- MAKE TOURISM A JOINT EFFORT Two recent developments are creating problems in Toronto-area communities - -- Toronto particularly. But we could feel the repercussions here in Niagara unless something is done about them. The biggest problem is the large drop in tourism this season, especially in Toronto. The lack of tourists from such usually reliable markets as the U.S. has caused major theatre productions to announce they're closing and threatens to hurt such large events as Caribana, the Molson Indy and the Gay Pride parade. On Friday, the federal government announced it would spend $17.5 million to promote Toronto and Canada as safe tourist havens in the wake of the SARS outbreak -- $10 million to support events and festivals in the greater Toronto area, from Niagara to cottage country, and another $7.5 million to other regions of the country hurt by the drop in tourism. A federal ad campaign in American newspapers promotes travel to Canada in general; Toronto gets only passing mention, which doesn't do the desperate city any good. The second problem is the confusion that continues over possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana. Police chiefs in Ontario are increasingly telling their officers to show discretion when dealing with possession of small amounts of pot. For the time being, officers in Toronto, Niagara and elsewhere will process the cases and do the paperwork, but they will not press charges. Whether or not those caught will be charged depends upon the outcome of a Department of Justice appeal of last month's Supreme Court ruling that the current possession law is no longer valid. But there's a way to turn both these lemons into lemonade: Desperate times call for desperate measures. The government could spend the money to promote Toronto as the Amsterdam of the North, a multicultural tourist haven where you can smoke pot legally. That will be huge with the doobie brothers and sisters who will come up here in droves -- and vans -- to spend their American dollars. If we can get them to stay a couple of days, the hotel business will get a boost. And of course, when they get the munchies, the tourists will be able to dine in style in the city's many fine restaurants -- although they will be smoke-free, of course. Toronto would gain publicity they couldn't buy even with a Rolling Stones concert; the Grateful Dead fans alone could save the city's economy. Of course, this would all hinge upon trusting the federal government to come up with an ad campaign that would get the message across. They didn't do a very good job of promoting Toronto this time, and they couldn't successfully run a marijuana grow operation in that abandoned mine in Flin Flon. They also said they'd rescind the GST. On second thought, perhaps this is a job for private enterprise. And maybe instead of bringing in the Stones we could reunite Cheech and Chong. That would not only save us the $10-million concert cost, it would help sell the message that Toronto is once again open for business, and visitors don't have to keep off the grass. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens