Parks not top of mind for parties in campaign

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This article was published 05/10/2015 (3686 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During this election campaign, most of the debate about the environment has involved pipelines and climate change targets.

The future of national parks has been an afterthought. Only two out of four major parties have incorporated pledges about Parks Canada into their platforms.

The Liberals and Greens want to restore funding for national parks and give Parks Canada scientists free reign to discuss their research. The NDP made similar pledges before the campaign began.

The governing Conservatives haven’t made parks pledges during the campaign, but prior to calling the election, announced they would spend $400 million on Parks Canada infrastructure in the next five years.

Nearly 10 per cent of that money will be spent on Manitoba’s Riding Mountain National Park, where Highway 10 will receive a $36-million resurfacing and $2.7-million in upgrades to the Wasagaming campground.

“We were up against parks like Jasper, Banff, Prince Edward Island and Pacific Rim,” said Bob Sopuck, the Conservative incumbent in Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa, the Manitoba riding that includes Riding Mountain.

“I’d stack that up against any track record in any national park.”

Sopuck said additional improvements are coming to habitat conservation and storm-water runoff control within the park. The latter move will help improve water quality at Clear Lake, he said, maintaining infrastructure improvements are the best conservation measure Ottawa can take.

“I’m an outcomes guy, not a process guy,” said Sopuck, speaking during a campaign stop in Carberry. “The number of staff at the park, the budget and so on are there for one reason: to maintain the environmental quality of Riding Mountain National Park.”

Sopuck and the Conservatives came under fire, however, when cuts to Parks Canada eliminated winter services such as the maintenance of cross-country skiing trails at Riding Mountain. The Liberals, NDP and Greens criticized those cuts, insisting programming and scientific research within Canada’s parks are as important as services.

“Infrastructure by itself does not generate jobs. When you fix up the Riding Mountain Parkway, that just has a short-term benefit,” said Celes Davar, a Riding Mountain eco-tourism operator who supports Liberal candidate Ray Piche in the local riding.

“Programming is what people do when they travel. When you’re building capacity around that, that’s what will generate jobs,” said Davar.

“Parks are also places to learn. They’re not just nature theme parks. When you lose parks staff, you lose the ability to conduct evidence-based science.”

The Liberals have made supporting tourism in towns near national parks part of their platform.

Niki Ashton, the NDP MP who represents the riding where Manitoba’s other national park is located, said Parks Canada must conduct more programming in conjunction with indigenous communities.

“We clearly need to support Parks Canada in providing more educational programming and to be able to work with First Nations, many of which are remote,” said Ashton, who represents Churchill-Keewatinook, which includes Wapusk National Park.

The riding includes two of Manitoba’s most important national historic sites, the Prince of Wales Fort and York Factory, which are maintained by Parks Canada.

Ashton said she would like to see more federal support for the two historic sites along Hudson Bay.

“I’ve been concerned to see the federal government pull away from historic sites, including (Winnipeg’s) Riel House,” she said in a phone interview from near Grand Rapids.

The NDP has not, however, made formal pledges to this extent. Ashton said she would have to check with the party before making further comment.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca