{"id":187692,"date":"2025-03-12T19:42:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T23:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/?p=187692"},"modified":"2025-03-12T19:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T23:44:56","slug":"mat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/mat\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment on the MAT tax | Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor’s note: The following is a letter regarding the Municipal Accommodation Tax being considered by the Township of Lake of Bays<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To start, I\u2019m a tourist resort operator and a local resident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here are some thoughts about this MAT tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically tourism has always started off with a site that was somehow desirable to visit and most often this was because of some natural feature of the surroundings. An obvious example, Niagara Falls, is there, not because of some government funded advertising campaign or tax regimen, or even because of some economic development committee working to promote the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All this came later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason Niagara Falls is there, believe it or not, is because there is a lot of water falling over a cliff and it is fairly unique in the area and big and really cool to look at.  From the time humans first discovered it to the present this is the main reason the town exists and why people visit. It doesn\u2019t hurt that engineers found a way to make electricity from this falling water and the first significant electric generation and transmission systems in the world started right in Niagara Falls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourism came second and we \u201cenhanced\u201d the experience with stores, hotels, amusements and lately Casinos that make a good profit from humanity\u2019s desire to recreate.  It is not all bad. A lot of working people make a good living out of Niagara Falls today.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Muskoka has a feature unique, not just to Ontario, but to a fair extent to the World. We sit on top of some of the oldest, most stable rock on the planet, carved by nature into thousands of lakes, rivers and a varied habitat for lots of cool animals and all still relatively clean and unspoiled. Muskoka\u2019s main claim to fame is that we are less than a day\u2019s easy drive to about 50 million people, all of whom live in city environments that they wish to leave behind periodically for a break from the crowds and work. Using just their family car these people can go from the hustle, bustle, noise and pollution of their city environment, to sitting with a beer on the dock watching the kids play in the water. The loudest noise being some bird or the wind in the tree leaves and water so clean that in most cases you can just take it from the lake and drink it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now going back to the MAT tax <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n