It would appear that some of those marketing dollars collected by local hoteliers through the destination marketing fee should have been used to sell the merits of Ottawa to the federal government.

Last week's decision by the federal Liberals to transfer the Canadian Tourism Commission's HQ to Vancouver from Ottawa was accompanied by a statement from Prime Minister Paul Martin touting the advantages of British Columbia. The Prime Minister cited B.C.'s "vibrant tourist market" and upcoming events such as the 2010 Winter Olympics.

With the Liberal minority government eager to curry favour with all corners of Canada under the pretense of building a public service representative of the entire country, Ottawa is certain to serve as the sacrificial lamb. The hiring spree that drove local federal employment to a decade high under the majority government of Jean Chretien is already ancient history. Mr. Martin cannot afford to lead a government that appears to favour concentrating the public service in a few key centres in central Canada. For Ottawa, this sets the stage for an exodus every bit as harmful, if not more so, to the local economy than the contraction of the telecom industry and the loss of those tens of thousands of jobs.

But why British Columbia? Proponents of the move cite the importance of the developing Asia-Pacific economy in addition to the province's own appeal. Mr. Martin emphasized last week that the commission would "continue to serve the interests of all Canadians" wherever it may headquartered. Try and sell that to the residents of Eastern Canada in light of the continental divide that will now separate the Maritimes' tourism sector from the decision makers at the commission. Should a politically-motivated decision such as this not pay at least some attention to the effectiveness of a department to carry out its mandate? If Mr. Martin wants to court the western vote, a more reasonable compromise would have been Calgary, a far more central location on the Canadian map than Vancouver. (Calgary, after all, does have its share of high-profile tourism draws, such as a little affair known as the Stampede and a place called Banff).

Former commission president and local MPP Jim Watson has condemned the move, while current president Michele McKenzie was just as quick to endorse it. She made it clear the commission is hoping to piggyback on the upcoming 2010 Olympics "to boost tourism revenues across the country."

How exactly an event in B.C., as grand in scale and scope as it may be, can drive tourism revenues across Canada, remains to be seen.

Speaking with the OBJ last week, Mr. Watson pointed out that the majority of commission staff are not likely to relocate, meaning a turnover that will lead to significant disruption of operations at a time when the tourism sector remains at a fragile stage of its recovery from the recent setbacks such as the SARS outbreak. Since the 2010 Olympics is a one-time event, he suggested it would have made more sense to set up a special task force in Vancouver to take advantage of the marketing opportunity presented by the Olympics, rather than relocating the entire commission.

When it comes to gauging the impact of any decision by the federal government, there are always two Ottawas in the line of fire. In the big picture, this is a relatively small department and the labour impact on Ottawa minimal at about 100 jobs. Whatever may be coming next, this departmental relocation is a mere pinprick that will barely be felt by a local public service that numbers well over 100,000.

For local community, however, this is an obvious blow that Ottawa's politicians, at all levels, should not allow to go unanswered. Why should Vancouver, due to a single event five years off, be considered the poster child for tourism in Canada? Ottawa is, after all, the nation's capital, home to a number of events and venues, many of which speak to Canada's proud history and presence on the global stage, such as the Tulip Festival and the new War Museum. When it comes to tailoring Canada's image for the world, Ottawa should always be, by default, front and centre.