Park wardens laid 277 charges over a 10-year period in Jasper National Park鈥搕he third highest of any national park across the country, according to a federal report.
The report, which was recently tabled in the House of Commons, looked at how many charges were laid across 38 national parks and the average fine between Jan. 1, 2006 and May 4, 2016.
Of the 277 charges laid in JNP, 188 charges led to fines. The average fine was $374.01.
According to the report, Banff National Park recorded the highest number of violations with 1,070 charges and 757 fines, followed by Pacific Rim National Park where wardens laid 534 charges leading to 488 fines.
鈥淭he higher number of charges laid in Jasper National Park can likely be attributed to the fact that Jasper is Canada鈥檚 second busiest national park, and generally, more people means more potential incidents to deal with,鈥� wrote Audrey Champagne, a media relations officer with Parks Canada鈥檚 national office in Ottawa.
鈥淚n addition, Parks Canada has a higher number of park wardens in Jasper than the less-frequented national parks, so our ability to detect and respond to incidents is greater.鈥�
According to Champagne, there are about four offences for every 100,000 visitors to Canada鈥檚 national parks.
鈥淟aw enforcement measures are the last recourse when an offence occurs. By combining awareness, prevention measures, and law enforcement actions, Parks Canada is confident that we can continue to protect national parks and wildlife across Canada, and to ensure enjoyable and memorable visitor experiences,鈥� wrote Champagne.
So far this year the most common charges in JNP are for violating camping regulations, such as camping outside of designated areas, camping without a permit, or breaking the conditions of a camping permit.
The second-most common charge this year is for violating general regulations, such as entering a closed area without a permit, while the third most common type of charge is for violating wildlife regulations, such as feeding wildlife or hunting.
Wayne Stetski, the NDP鈥檚 Parks Canada critic, said he asked for the data because he wanted to see if Parks Canada was actually enforcing the National Parks Act and whether the fines were making a difference.
鈥淭hey really can鈥檛 tell us from the statistics provided whether or not things are improving or not, but it鈥檚 certainly good to see them actually enforcing the regulations,鈥� said Stetski, MP for Kootenay鈥揅olumbia, which is home to four national parks in British Columbia.
He agreed with Parks Canada that there has to be a balance between law enforcement, prevention measures and education when it comes to enforcing rules and regulations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important that people understand just how important and precious national parks are and one of the ways you get that message out is to show that you鈥檙e serious about enforcing the regulations, but having said that the other part of getting compliance starts with information and education,鈥� said Stetski.
Paul Clarke
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