SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Northwest Territories bound tourists could soon be without a safety net for lost vacation deposits.

The Tourist Deposit Assurance Program was created more than a decade ago by the territorial government to reimburse tourists for part or all of deposits made to defaulting tourism operators. Bill 9, set to be debated and voted upon during the current sitting of the legislative assembly, would end the program as of Nov. 15.

"At the time it was created the tourism industry in the Northwest Territories was in its infancy. There were some lodges that got into some financial trouble and it was needed to maintain consumer confidence," said Dave Ramsay, Kam Lake MLA and chair of the standing committee reviewing the Tourism Act.

"That money would be better spent now in the area of tourism marketing or other programs needed for the industry."

This year the program is facing over $390,000 in claims from tourists, versus some $90,000 during the previous year.

"This year is more or less a direct result of the collapse of the Bathurst caribou herd," said Ramsay, adding that the territorial government is working on a new tourism plan for 2015 that will maintain consumer confidence with more demanding operator certification.

News that it was on shaky ground came last December when an official with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment wrote a letter, saying the program was "under pressure" and that the department would "no longer be receptive to claims.

The department backtracked, claiming the program wasn't cancelled, and again earlier this year when Yellowknifer found the program was listed as cancelled on its website.

Not everyone likes the latest plan.

Arctic Safaris owner Barry Taylor thinks cancelling the program will weaken consumer confidence in NWT tourism operators, which is especially worrisome given the current recession.

"When they created the program it showed that government had confidence in the people they were licensing as operators. Now by cancelling it during a time of recession, they are doing the opposite. They are showing they have no faith in the operators," said Taylor. "If the government doesn't have confidence in their operators, why would a tourist? The other side-effect is that for years we've been encouraged to advertise the assurance program in our literature and now we'll have to reprint that literature at high cost."

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