Congressional Committee Seeks Compromise To Allow Cruises in Canada

Members of the U.S. House Transportation Committee are asking the Canadian government for a compromise that would allow cruising to resume in Canadian waters, which could resurrect an Alaska season.

In a Feb. 24 letter to Kirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., committee Chair Peter DeFazio and others say the cruise ban is devastating the tourism industry in Alaska and other places, including Canada itself.

“Canada plays an integral role in supporting U.S. cruise-related travel and tourism in Alaska, Washington State, the Great Lakes, and New England,” the letter reads. “Pre-pandemic, the cruise industry generated $2.85 billion in direct economic spending in these U.S. regions combined, including more than 53,000 jobs and $3.1 billion in wages.”

In Canada, the cruise industry generates nearly C$2 billion in direct spending and more than C$1.4 billion in wages and salaries for 30,000 jobs.

“By closing Canadian ports to passenger vessels for another year, the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Americans and Canadians are at risk from more job losses and further economic devastation,” the letter said.

Canada banned passenger ships of more than 100 people from its waters and ports through February 2022 as part of its COVID-19 prevention efforts.

One solution they offered would be to allow cruise ships to stop at Canadian ports without disembarking passengers. The U.S. Passenger Vessels Act of 1886 doesn’t allow foreign-flagged cruise ships to sail between U.S. ports without a visit to a foreign port in between. Designed to protect U.S. shipping interests, it now forces Seattle-based cruise ships to visit Vancouver or Victoria in British Columbia on roundtrip Alaska cruises, to cite one example.

The letter was signed by Peter A. DeFazio, chair of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Ranking Member Sam Graves; Salud Carbajal, chair of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; Bob Gibbs, ranking member of that subcommittee; and Don Young, the U.S. Rep. from Alaska.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) issued this statement: “We thank Chairman DeFazio, Ranking Member Graves and other signatories of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for their leadership in facilitating dialogue with the Canadian government to determine a path for resumption of cruises to Alaska should cruising resume in the U.S. this year. CLIA looks forward to working with the Canadian and U.S. authorities on a solution that addresses the public health needs of Americans and Canadians alike, while responsibly restarting a critical economic driver for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.”