Officials from a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation are among those who are pleased they have renewed a noteworthy Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
It was announced in mid-August that Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, the District of Tofino,
Tourism Tofino and the Tofino Chamber of Commerce have renewed an MOU first agreed upon in 2022.
The MOU reinforces the partners will collaborate and take actions to share stewardship efforts in Tla-o-qui-aht territory.
“Tla-o-qui-aht has made great progress in creating relationships with the businesses and local governments,” said Saya Masso, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation’s lands and resources director. “The renewal of our collaborative MOU creates a positive space for our efforts to incubate. Our goal is to have a functional, reciprocal relationship to the economies that occur (here).”
The renewed MOU has three key highlights.
One is that all of the parties commit to encourage local businesses to join and contribute to the Tribal Parks Allies program, a Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation stewardship initiative.
The program asks local businesses to impose a tax on their customers. That money is then turned over to Tla-o-qui-aht officials for stewardship of their lands.
An issue is that the program is voluntary and not all businesses have been willing to support it.
Samantha Hackett, the executive director for the Tofino Chamber of Commerce, insists the Tribal Parks Allies program has been well received.
“I think they've had amazing buy in for it being a very new program,” she said. “It's only something that was created in the last six years I think. Right now, we're still at the very early stage of that organization, that program, that mentality because it was the first of its kind.”
Hackett said more than 100 local businesses have signed up to be part of the program.
“There's a bit of a misconception,” she said. “We have 700 business licenses in Tofino, which is huge. We have 2,500 residents. So, 700 business licenses is a lot. But with a lot of those, one business might have four licenses because they have a café and they do surf lessons (and other things). So, Tribal Parks Allies considers them as one ally. But the district considers them as four businesses.
“Proportionally, over 100 is actually a very significant portion. And we're still in that early stage of just starting the program out.”
While supporting Tla-o-qui-aht’s program is a highlight of the renewed MOU, another highlight is that partners will be looking to replace it with something else.
That’s because all of the partners have agreed to work together and advocate to provincial officials for a new source of funding. They are hoping to come up with a plan that would direct a portion of visitor spending towards community infrastructure projects.
“I think the province has been recently very open to this idea,” said Dan Law, the mayor of the District of Tofino, adding other resort communities have also approached B.C. officials for a similar concept. “Tofino and Tla-o-qui-aht would like to see a new financial instrument. And it’s just a matter of finding the right fit.”
Hackett believes securing new provincial funding will be difficult.
“That's going to be the biggest challenge,” she said. “It's very easy for us to work together locally and understand the nuances and the uniqueness that we're dealing with. But with the province, it's sort of like, well, if we do something for you then we have to do something for everyone. We don't see it that way.”
Law said Tofino reps are prepared to tackle this issue.
“There’s lots of work to do,” he said. “But I think it’s good work. And it’s moving forward and I hope to see some success.”
Myles Beeby, the president of the Tofino Chamber of Commerce, also believes the MOU and its proposed work is worthwhile.
“This renewed MOU advances our shared commitment to strengthening partnerships that support the business community, uphold local stewardship values, and recognize the responsibilities of operating within Tla-o-qui-aht territory,” said Beeby, who is the assistant general manager at Hotel Zed, a Tribal Parks Allies supporter. “Together we can continue Tofino’s spirit of leading with purpose and action.”
Brad Parsell, the executive director of Tourism Tofino, is also among those pleased to see the MOU has been renewed.
“The original MOU really was about infrastructure and the First Nations,” he said. “Obviously, infrastructure and First Nations in Tofino are both impacted by tourism quite a bit.”
That’s why he believes it’s vital for parties to join forces and support one another.
“It is the main economic engine here for everybody that lives on the West Coast,” Parsell added. “And it is important that we nurture that industry.”
That work includes trying to find solutions to alleviate a hectic summer period where Tofino is
packed with tourists.
“There are quite a lot of impacts on the community,” Parsell said. “Tourism Tofino works really, really hard to try to disperse visitation across the calendar and try to get people here in fall, winter and spring to try to take that pressure off.”
The third highlight of the renewed MOU is that the parties all support the three per cent Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) renewal, in effect from 2022 through 2027.
The partners also agree to continue supporting the allocation of $400,000 annually, which started in the second year of the renewal, to assist with the debt of the district’s wastewater treatment plant and conveyance upgrades.
