Dear Editor,
Me again. To say that I was disappointed when I saw Parks Canada鈥檚 announcement that it will continue to consider tent cabins at Maligne would be an understatement.
Taking out consideration of the hotel in no way makes the proposal more palatable or less in contravention of the management plan. And to hear Parks will amend the management plan to allow the release of new land for this new outlying commercial accommodation (OCA) causes me a number of concerns.
1.聽聽 聽Not only will the release of lands statement need to be amended, but also any reference to following the OCA Guidelines (i.e. No new OCAs), and the statement that Maligne Tours will be held to the development limits in their land agreements.
2.聽聽 聽The precedents. If another entrepreneur wants an OCA at Lake Annette, will it be considered? Can the existing OCA operators be held to the restrictions in the guidelines?
Management plans are intended to guide decision-making, not be amended to fit decisions made. They are also there to record decisions made. There are very few unequivocal statements in the current management plan but the ones relating to this proposal are very clear. They are the declaration of conscious decisions made prior to any proposal, that were put through public consultation, vetted by Parliament and approved by the minister. And Parks is tossing that all out.
I spent many years implementing some of the direction in the management plan and defending the plan and the planning process to those skeptics who felt Parks had hidden agendas or ulterior motives. I can鈥檛 anymore and I take it personally that this decision makes liars out of us all.
Lastly, these developments are all justified by 鈥渋mproving visitor experience鈥� which is a valid goal for Parks Canada, but what happened to 鈥済aining the support of the Canadian public鈥�?
Allowing more development in the park is not helping Parks Canada鈥檚 image in the eyes of the general public.
In frustration,
Grant Potter
