ITAC update: setting the record straight - Indigenous Tourism Industry News

The full timeline behind last week’s headlines, and gratitude for the supporters carrying us through.

To our members, partners and the Indigenous tourism community:

I want to address last Friday’s CBC News story directly. The article framed three regional organizations as “separating from ITAC” because of recent concerns about ITAC’s finances and governance. That framing is wrong on the facts, and it has the effect of compounding misinformation that ITAC and the Indigenous tourism sector have been navigating for years.

Here is the record, in plain language.

Indigenous Tourism Ontario (ITO) has not been part of ITAC since 2020. ITAC terminated its memorandum of understanding with ITO in August 2020 after ITO failed to comply with ITAC’s repeated requests for routine financial information. Three months later, the ITAC Board removed Ontario’s then-board representative for infractions of ITAC’s code of conduct. Six years have passed since then. ITO is not “leaving” ITAC. ITO is not in ITAC, and has not been for almost six years.

Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC) has not had an organizational connection to ITAC for several years. ITAC’s lawyers issued a cease and desist letter to ITBC in April 2024 after ITBC publicly misrepresented the Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund at the First Nations Summit in British Columbia. That dispute led to the removal of the BC representative from ITAC’s Board and the termination of ITBC’s involvement with ITAC. ITBC is not a current member of ITAC under our annual membership process. ITBC’s most recent letter is not a withdrawal from a relationship that exists today. It is a public restatement of a position ITBC has been pursuing for years.

Nova Scotia Indigenous Tourism Enterprise Network (NSITEN) joined ITBC and ITO last year in announcing the formation of a new national initiative called the Indigenous Coalition of Tourism Champions. That announcement was public. From the day it was made, NSITEN’s posture toward ITAC was set. ITAC moved on.

These are not three new departures. They are not three organizations deciding, in light of recent concerns, that they can no longer be part of ITAC. They are three organizations that have been actively working to undermine ITAC’s national mandate for years, and they have been public about their intentions. Last Friday’s CBC framing collapses that long history into a single recent event. It is not accurate, and it harms an organization that is already under real strain.

ITAC’s Vice-Chair, Brenda Holder, wrote to industry colleagues this week sharing ITAC’s formal response to ITBC’s letter and the surrounding misrepresentations. As Brenda put it, “ITBC’s recent actions raise questions about governance, accountability, and appropriate collaboration within Canada’s Indigenous tourism landscape,” and “we are concerned about efforts that appear designed to undermine ITAC.” The formal response sets out the timeline, the documentary record and the Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund’s published investment reporting in detail. I encourage every reader of this letter to read it in full.

ITAC has filed a formal complaint with the CBC Ombudsman about last week’s coverage. We have asked CBC to correct the story with the actual facts. The ombud’s office has acknowledged the complaint and referred it to CBC News leadership for response.

To everyone who has continued to write, post, speak up and stand with ITAC since last week’s update: thank you. More letters of support have arrived this week, including from members, partners and friends in the wider tourism industry both here in Canada and internationally. I will share a further set of those voices in next week’s update. Your steadiness in this moment is the reason I keep going, and it is the reason this work will continue.

If you have not yet written to the Honourable Rechie Valdez, Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism, please do so this week. If you have already written, please ask a colleague, partner or supplier to do the same. The federal funding situation has not changed: ITAC’s 2026-27 funding from Indigenous Services Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada remains at $0. Every additional letter strengthens the case for renewed federal investment in Indigenous tourism.

On the social impact funding, our partner and ITAC remain in daily contact. We continue to expect the deposit imminently and I am keeping ITAC’s board of directors fully informed.

Until next week,

Keith Henry
President and CEO
Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada

Send your letter of support to:

The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)

House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A6

rechie.valdez@parl.gc.ca

Supporting documentation