The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce says asking people to rethink travel plans in order to free up hotel space for wildfire evacuees is understandable but also complex — especially as the tourism industry is still recovering from the bruising it took during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our first priority as Manitoba has to be the well-being, the safety and comfort of those that are affected by the wildfires. Make no mistake about it, people always come first,” said chamber president and CEO Loren Remillard.

“What we would like to see from the province, though, is a wider lens to the issue to make sure that while we’re dealing with the priority … we’re mindful that every action is going to have ripple effects on our economy.”

Wildfires in Manitoba have pushed at least 21,000 people out of their homes. That’s how many have registered with the Canadian Red Cross, but the province has said not all evacuees have done so.

Evacuee Stacey Muskego, 47, was forced from Pimicikamak Cree Nation with her seven children two weeks ago. She’s been staying in Winnipeg since May 30. 

She said she felt like “one of the lucky ones” to have gotten a hotel room with the help of the Red Cross and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak. 

“I feel so homeless. I’ve got nowhere to go. But I’m very thankful that I’ve got a place to stay,” Muskego said.

During a Monday news conference, MLA Lisa Naylor, who is responsible for Manitoba’s Emergency Management Organization, urged people to reconsider non-essential travel and event plans within the province.

On Tuesday, Naylor told CBC News that evacuees were staying at 68 different buildings across 14 different communities. Some are still living in congregate shelters.

The province is trying to ensure people in those shelters have “a safe place to live,” Naylor said.

“For now, we are asking folks to reconsider, postpone non-essential travel that involves staying in hotels and motels throughout the province,” she said, adding that it’s up to individuals to decide what they deem essential travel. 

Events like conventions, however, take years to plan and are difficult to cancel, said Remillard.

“It’s just not as simple as [saying], ‘please don’t travel.’ There are some threads that are interwoven that are a little more complicated, and that’s conventions that are coming to town that are multi-year in the making,” he said. “It’s a hardship for the operators.”

Remillard prefaced or followed each of his remarks by underscoring that he and the chamber fully agree with the province’s efforts to prioritize those displaced by the wildfires.

“We’re talking about an inconvenience and an economic impact [for some businesses], but these individuals are talking about their lives upended, potentially losing everything they own,” he said.

During any emergency, such as COVID, the first response is the health of individuals, typically followed by support for those economically impacted, he said.

“We can take care of Manitobans affected by the fires and as well … those impacted by the measures being taken. That’s the kind of thinking that ultimately is what we’re looking for,” Remillard said.

“It’s a very small window for these operators to be able to make their livelihoods function, and as this is a sector that has come out of the pandemic bruised, battered, and in many cases, some just hanging on, they were really in need of … some pretty good years of tourism to be able to help them get back on their feet.”

Remillard says all businesses should consider how they can shift gears to support the evacuee effort, “but for some, it may not be as easy. It’s not a black-and-white issue.”

Naylor told CBC News the government will release more details about a “tax deferral opportunity” for affected businesses on Wednesday.  

Confusion after province’s request: lodge

Pit Turenne, partner and general manager at Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge, a fly-in fishing lodge in eastern Manitoba’s Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park, says the non-essential travel request is creating unnecessary confusion and cancellations at his lodge, which has a season of only about 17 weeks.

He agrees that evacuees need safe places to stay but would like the province to clarify what type of hotels it is talking about.

“We don’t have the capacity to host evacuees here. We’re not a resource for that type of solution,” he said.

“It’s hurtful that our guests would see this and decide maybe they shouldn’t come and visit us. You just can’t paint every hotel with the same brush.”

Turenne said he’s tried to explain the situation to guests with bookings, but some have postponed trips.

“We’ve brought in extra guides because this is traditionally one of the busiest weeks of the year. And then we get notices a day or two days before a trip that someone doesn’t want to come,” Turenne said.

Michael Juce, president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, said in an email to CBC News that “hotels are here to help.”

Many have reached out to ask how they can further support the evacuees, but some are also seeking clarity on the non-essential travel request, he said.

“We are a diverse industry” with members around Manitoba, many of whom rely heavily on the busy summer tourism season, said Juce.

Jason Krieser, interim general manager at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre near Winnipeg’s airport, said 86 of his 261 rooms are occupied by nearly 300 evacuees from either Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) or Flin Flon.

The remaining rooms are in use or committed in the next while, so no additional space is available.

“We’ll have to see down the road if we do get any cancellations due to the announcement from the province,” Krieser said.

He doesn’t foresee any major space opening, though, because a few big events are booked. A major renovation of the building’s meeting space is happening over July and August, so conventions and banquets have been on hold.

The only cancellations that have occurred over the last couple of weeks were, ironically, for events that groups from northern Manitoba were set to host, Krieser said. Many of those people are now there for a different reason.

Find the latest wildfire information at these sources:

Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@findhelp.ca.