TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – September 12, 2025

CEO Message

Friends of mine own acreage on one of the Gulf Islands with two old houses, three rustic cabins and a couple of outbuildings, most of which are rented to permanent tenants and vacationers.

The property is zoned for both residential and commercial development with the exception of one area that is off-limits. From what I’ve been told, the original documented owner of the land buried his Indigenous wife in a makeshift graveyard because at the time of her death in 1883 she was not welcome to be laid to rest in the island’s cemetery a few hundred metres up the road.

The tiny burial site, which also contains the remains of four other family members, is surrounded by an old wire fence that protects three grave markers and an eroding cement headstone ensconced in moss. Even though the gravesite looks tired and worn, it cannot be legally altered or removed under the BC Heritage Conservation Act (HCA). By way of background, the Act regulates the protection, management and conservation of cultural and heritage sites, of which there are some 64,000 registered sites in the province, the majority of which are of First Nations origin.

Because the HCA is so old, the Province launched a multi-year collaborative effort in 2021 to modernize the Act with goals to protect heritage more effectively, make permitting faster and easier, help communities rebuild quicker after disasters, and strengthen the role of First Nations in decision-making about their own heritage and ancestors. All good intentions to be sure.

A Joint Working Group on First Nations Heritage Conservation, consisting of bureaucrats and members of the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC), was appointed to ensure the HCA aligns with BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). To date there have been two phases of engagement that included more than 100 First Nations and close to 200 organizations representing local governments, heritage advocates, real estate companies, construction firms, resource industries, and tourism, including TIABC.

In the first of two reports on ‘what we heard’ from the engagement sessions, I noted two key points that could have tourism implications:

• Consideration of heritage sites must be done earlier in project and land use planning processes to alleviate potential impacts but also to identify potential conflicts prior to significant investment.
• Scale the levels of protection based on heritage value and site significance.

In the second report, virtually all First Nations that participated in the consultation process cited the lack of recognition of title, rights and ownership of cultural heritage. And because of the connection to the little cemetery I referenced earlier, I also took note of the issues related to First Nations burial sites which are increasingly being disturbed or displaced, leading to a need for greater protections for these sacred places, equal to the protections afforded under the Cemeteries Act.

The Province has asserted that proposed policy direction would not automatically restrict more land from development, nor will it apply to shared decision-making on private property. Frankly, tourism operators heard a similar promise when Land Act Amendments were proposed a couple of years ago and didn’t believe government then either.

At the same time, the tourism sector agrees that revisions to the Heritage Conservation Act are necessary and long overdue to achieve the aforementioned outcomes, and in particular, to align decision-making with DRIPA and create certainty when it comes to process.

Although it won’t be introduced until early next year, the new HCA legislation is likely in draft form already. Still, there is an opportunity for further input through an online survey that can be found through this link. I encourage you to complete the survey and express your ideas and/or concerns before the final phase of engagement concludes.

In the meantime, TIABC continues to gather feedback from members to help inform a brief to be submitted on behalf of the tourism industry that identifies additional areas of concern regarding the Act and recommendations for the committee’s consideration.

Every time I visit my friend’s property, I am drawn to the little cemetery tucked away next to an old, dilapidated shed on a bank high above a creek. To me the site is not an ideal spot for future development anyway, but regardless, stands as a little slice of serenity that appears to have been carefully selected by the original owner to make sure his wife and family would forever rest in peace.

Walt Judas

CEO, TIABC