Toronto, 14 September 2009: ARTA Canada announced today that its member Helen Thompson Travel has notified TICO of several motions which the retail travel agency will move at the TICO Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday, 24 September 2009 at 4:00PM, at the Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon Road, Toronto, in the Toronto Pearson Airport Area.

The motions submitted by Helen Thompson Travel (HTT) address a wide array of issues facing Ontario's retail travel agents and include:

• Board Restructuring: A motion to amend the TICO Bylaws so that all industry representatives on the TICO board would be 100% elected by travel agencies and travel wholesalers. This motion is pending the approval of the Minister of Consumer Services. In the alternative, HTT will propose that the majority of industry representatives be elected and that the minority be appointed.

• Board Term Limits: A motion to amend the TICO Bylaws so that board members, other than the ministerial appointments, would be permitted to serve two consecutive two-year terms. This will provide TICO with needed continuity to industry representation.

• TICO Bylaws: A motion to amend the TICO Bylaws so that the TICO Board of Directors does not have the power to approve or veto amendments approved by Registrants at a duly constituted meeting of Members.

• Agency Commissions: A motion that the TICO Board make recommendations to the Ministry and the Ontario Government that travel agency commissions can be claimed from the compensation fund in the event of a wholesaler failure.

• Consumer Financing: A motion that the TICO Board make recommendations to the Ministry and the Ontario Government that the Compensation Fund revert to a consumer-financed fund where consumers will pay a percentage into the fund for each travel purchase (as in Québec). The contributions to the fund by Registrants would be repealed.

• Wholesaler Refunds: A motion that the TICO Board clarify and make recommendations to the Ministry and the Ontario Government that wholesalers must provide a choice to consumers for either alternative travel arrangements or a complete refund in the event a wholesaler cancels or postpones a departure for 24 hours or more. This will assure that consumer payments are not held "hostage" in the same manner certain wholesalers did when they cancelled Mexico departures due to H1N1.

• TICO Confidentiality: A motion that the TICO Board make recommendations to the Ministry and the Ontario Government that all of TICO’s activities, including those of the TICO Board of Directors are open and transparent and that the only confidentiality which TICO may assert is to protect the personal or business information of a Registrant in accordance with prevailing privacy legislation.

• Registrant Finances: A motion that the TICO Board make recommendations to the Ministry and the Ontario Government that Registrants be given a reasonable amount of time (5 business days) to cure financial problems such as financial statements, working capital, and trust accounting before a suspension would be mandatory. This will assure that Registrants do not operate their businesses for lengthy periods where risks to consumers or other Registrants might evolve (as in the Conquest matter).

"This TICO AGM will be one of the most important meetings in TICO's history and a rare opportunity for Ontario's travel agencies to bring about much-needed change. Travel agencies will have no better occasion to voice their opposition to TICO's plans to decrease elected board seats, narrowly limit terms, and TICO's announced desire to increase agency contributions to the Compensation Fund", said ARTA Canada President Bruce Bishins, also a Vice President at Helen Thompson Travel.

ARTA Canada is encouraging all Ontario travel agencies to attend the AGM, however, for those unable to do so, ARTA Canada requests that agents make their voice and vote heard by providing a proxy to Simon Parry, President of Helen Thompson Travel (a former TICO board member) and a current member of ARTA Canada's board of directors. Proxies in favour of Simon Parry must be faxed no later than Tuesday, 22 September 2009, by 12:00 Noon. A proxy form is available at the web site indicated below.

"We recognize that ACTA has also mounted a campaign to solicit proxies in favour of one of its members. The big difference is that ACTA has not indicated any motions it plans to propose, nor any motions it plans to support other than defending its right to appoint three TICO board members. One would think that ACTA would have more to say given the demise of Conquest. I guess ACTA simply wants proxies without so much as an indication as to how the proxies will be used. Why would anyone give a proxy on that basis?", added Bishins.