PCs halt price hike for Ontario highway tourism signs
Tourist attractions had complained about 2019 fees more than doubling
The province will not be going ahead in 2019 with planned price hikes for the blue tourism signs that dot Ontario's highways after all.
The Progressive Conservative government "heard clearly from tourism operators across the province" that they were unhappy the fee increase, said Michael Tibollo, minister for tourism, culture and sport, in a statement Thursday.
Earlier this month, the operators of an early 19th-century mill south of Smiths Falls, Ont., spoke out about the forthcoming hike, claiming their 2019 bill for their two signs had gone up from $300 to $800.
Volunteer Ken Watson said the Old Stone Mill couldn't afford the increase, and he worried visitors wouldn't be able to find the mill without the signs.
The CEO of Attractions Ontario, which represents about 500 tourism businesses in the province, also said the sudden increase was "poorly communicated" to its members.
The tourism sign program is managed by Canadian TODS Limited under the supervision of Tibollo's ministry.
Tibollo said Thursday that the previous Liberal government froze prices for 10 years, and blamed them for ignoring the cost of inflation and poorly communicating the price hike to businesses after signing a new contract with Canadian TODS Limited in April 2018.
His statement did not say whether the price freeze would continue beyond 2019.