黑料吃瓜网

Indigenous tourism operators in the NWT are feeling nervous about the future after learning that allocated a significantly lower than requested amount of funding to the (ITAC).

Budget 2021 proposes to provide $2.4 million in 2021-2022 to ITAC. That amount falls far short of the $68 million that ITAC requested, with $50 million of that targeted for the period of 2020 to 2024 and $18 million in emergency funding, said association CEO Keith Henry, from Vancouver.

鈥淲e鈥檙e extremely disappointed,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o only see one year and three per cent of what we asked for was pretty demoralizing.鈥�

The $2.4 million allocation follows a difficult time for ITAC and Indigenous tourism across Canada, as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 鈥渓oss of 30 years of progress鈥� to the industry, Henry .

The association provides financial, marketing and training support for tourism operators across the country.

Operating on a budget of $21 million in 2020-2021, the organization managed to provide 683 non-repayable grants of up to $25,000 each to Indigenous tourism operators trying to survive economically during the pandemic.

But the organization鈥檚 funding difficulties might force ITAC to make uncomfortable decisions like cutting provincial and territorial memorandums of understanding (MOUs), laying off staff and ending grant and marketing programs, such as the and .

鈥淲e have a multi-year MOU with Travel Manitoba. This year we negotiated in good faith to get a fairly good investment in recovery,鈥� Henry said. 鈥淭ravel Manitoba would put in $250,000 to stabilize that with the understanding we鈥檇 be able to contribute as well, but we just don鈥檛 have the resources now. We were trying to do that with NWT Tourism as well. Now it鈥檒l be almost impossible for us to make that commitment.鈥�

鈥楽hocking and devastating鈥� to tourism

One NWT Indigenous operator who has benefited from a partnership with ITAC is Joe Bailey, owner of in Yellowknife.

His company has been a member of ITAC since 2015 and received about $37,500 in program development assistance and COVID-19 relief funding during that time.

鈥淔rom what was requested to what was received is shocking and devastating to Indigenous tourism not only here in the NWT, but right across Canada,鈥� Bailey said of the federal government鈥檚 allocation to ITAC.

鈥淭his is bad news for many small Indigenous tour businesses who are struggling to survive with each passing day. It is unbelievable to see the federal government failing Indigenous tourism like this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f nothing changes, if ITAC does not get its budget, it could spell the end of ITAC as we know it, and many Indigenous tour businesses as well. We鈥檒l definitely feel that impact.鈥�

鈥榃here will we go for funding?鈥�

James Marlowe, owner of Rivers East Arm Tours in Lutsel K鈥檈, was also taken aback by the news of ITAC鈥檚 funding.

The association helped him secure funding for new equipment and ice fishing supplies after his efforts to seek assistance from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and the Canadian 黑料吃瓜网 Economic Development Agency didn鈥檛 pan out.

Hearing about ITAC鈥檚 funding woes was a huge disappointment for Marlowe.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank Keith Henry and all of his hard work for us Indigenous tourism operators. ITAC helped a lot of members that belong to that organization,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they cut back on staff and the operations 鈥� where (will we) go for funding and other stuff? It鈥檚 very, very unfortunate that the minister or the federal government has to decrease the amount of funding for ITAC. That won鈥檛 benefit anyone.鈥�

鈥� also in Lutsel K鈥檈 鈥� joined ITAC after the Lutsel K鈥檈 Dene First Nation bought the lodge in December 2019.

General manager Corey Myers said ITAC鈥檚 funding problems are 鈥渋ncredibly disheartening.鈥�

Myers lauded the association for supporting Frontier鈥檚 attendance at this year鈥檚 Rendezvous Canada virtual tourism marketplace in May.

鈥淲e hope (it) will help us dramatically in terms of marketing the new Thaidene N毛n茅 packages we plan to launch in 2022. To be honest, we likely would not have been able to attend this year without (ITAC) support,鈥� he said.

Miscommunication, or low priority?

Henry is scratching his head at ITAC鈥檚 small allocation after he said the organization met with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development dozens of times in the last several months to communicate the association鈥檚 needs, providing written documents to reinforce its position.

鈥淓ither cabinet didn鈥檛 get the requests we made or, frankly, the departments just didn鈥檛 recommend an Indigenous-led strategy. Either way, both are unfortunate,鈥� said Henry.

He acknowledges some of the positive aspects of Budget 2021, namely its $18 billion allocation to Indigenous communities and $64 million earmarked for Indigenous entrepreneurs, which could help with tourism investment.

However, he decries the 鈥渇ailure to recognize an Indigenous-led tourism strategy鈥� that risks hurting the industry.

ITAC is still communicating with the Department of Finance to see if there鈥檚 a possible solution to the funding deficiency.

The release of the April 19 federal budget comes just over five months after that ITAC鈥檚 board of directors approved a $25,000 bonus for Henry, one day after ISC announced in June that the association would receive $16 million in stimulus funding.

ITAC said the $25,000 didn鈥檛 come out of the stimulus funds.

ISC did not respond to a request for comment by press deadline.