Critics want more money for parks infrastructure

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This article was published 06/04/2024 (563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Environmental advocates are calling for more money to Manitoba parks, days after the Progressive Conservatives accused the NDP of slashing the park infrastructure budget.

“A lot of our parks are in sad shape,” said Ron Thiessen, executive director of the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society’s Manitoba chapter.

He frowned at the $6.8 million the New Democratic Party tabbed for park-related capital investments. The government released its annual budget on Tuesday.

Last year, the then-reigning Tories earmarked roughly $12.7 million for park infrastructure.

Though some provincial park trails are maintained, many have “fallen victim” to neglect, Thiessen said. He highlighted toppled and missing trail direction signs in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

“This is a huge liability,” Thiessen stated. “We are concerned that people may get lost.”

He mentioned the NDP promise to protect 30 per cent of Manitoba’s landscape by 2030; the goal is listed in Environment and Climate Change Minister Tracy Schmidt’s mandate letter.

“The resources provided in this year’s budget are insufficient to achieve that outcome,” said Thiessen.

Currently, 18 per cent of Manitoba’s land is designated protected, if including the Seal River watershed’s seven per cent mass. Government signalled its commitment to study the watershed’s potential as an Indigenous protected area and national park reserve in January; the area is being protected during the study.

The province has less than six years to meet its 30 per cent goal, noted Eric Reder, who directs the Wilderness Committee’s Manitoba field office.

He called the $6.8-million park infrastructure budget “disappointing” and said he hopes it’s just a start. He’d like to see an NDP longer-term plan for parks.

The Progressive Conservatives released their own 10-year park infrastructure renewal strategy outlining $220 million in funding in 2023. It missed some “fundamental pieces,” Reder said.

Decolonizing parks and working with Indigenous groups, is a major aspect in protecting the land, he continued. He doesn’t believe Manitoba has enough staff for all the needed conversations with First Nations communities, especially if the province increases its park land.

“The No. 1 department in every single government has to be the protection of nature,” said Reder. “A healthy ecosystem, that’s what drives the social wellbeing.”

Environment Minister Schmidt said the NDP have already hired a “handful” of staff for the parks department and will continue to hire more.

During the legislative assembly’s Thursday question period, the Tories attacked the NDP for lessening the park infrastructure budget by some $6 million year-over-year.

“It’s terrible for any park users,” former natural resources minister Greg Nesbitt told the Free Press Saturday.

Schmidt defended the NDP’s park infrastructure budget.

The $6.8 million is more than two and a half times the PC’s roughly $2.5 million allotted in 2022, she stated.

In 2023, an election year, the Progressive Conservatives “ballooned the budget” for park infrastructure to $12.7 million “in a desperate attempt to buy votes of Manitobans.”

The Tories left a near $2-billion deficit when the NDP took office, Schmidt added.

“We certainly had some tough choices to make across government,” she said. “We are really proud of our budget… and we’re proud we’re doing it in a balanced way.”

A $879,000 rebuild of the Nutimik Lake Museum and $1.5 million for the restoration of the West Hawk seawall (over the 2022-23 and 2024-25 periods) are among the projects covered in the park infrastructure funding. The restoration of Kennedy House, a historical site near Lockport, is also on the books.

Schmidt said to “stay tuned” for future park plans, adding her team is working closely with the parks department.

She’s reviewing the Tories’ 10-year capital plan for parks.

The strategy took “a lot of work,” said Nesbitt. It was developed over two to three years, after surveys of Manitoba park users and consultation with community groups and stakeholders, he continued.

“When the pandemic hit, people flocked to the parks,” said Nesbitt. “We knew the infrastructure needed upgrading.”

The new budget is “a real slap in the face to all the Manitobans that contributed to this parks renewal strategy,” he added.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com