Although Telus owns the payphones on the Icefields Parkway, that doesn鈥檛 make the company responsible for ensuring there鈥檚 access to communications on the highway.
As a private business, Telus has every right to remove its property, especially if its not making a profit.
It鈥檚 easy to point the finger at the big, bad corporation taking away much needed payphones from a road without cellphone reception, but public safety isn鈥檛 Telus鈥� role鈥攊t鈥檚 Parks Canada鈥檚. Yet, the agency was quick to pass the buck to Telus when asked about communications on the isolated highway.
鈥淧arks Canada is not responsible for the payphones situated at various locations adjacent to the Icefields Parkway,鈥� wrote communications officer Steve Young in an email. 鈥淔urther questions should be directed to Telus.鈥�
When we followed up to ask about public safety, we were told 鈥渘othing further to add.鈥�
There are accidents on that highway every year, whether it be car accidents, avalanches or mishaps on hiking trails, and sometimes they result in life or death situations that require immediate medical assistance.
That鈥檚 just the reality on the parkway鈥攁 road that we sell as a must-see tourist destination.
In our advertising campaigns, we woo our potential visitors with images of the rugged landscape around the Athabasca Glacier, with snapshots of the Glacier Skywalk jutting out over the Sunwapta Valley and with photos of mountain goats grazing along the highway鈥檚 edge.
But, what we often fail to mention is that the Icefields Parkway, although breathtakingly gorgeous, is an isolated mountain highway with little to no communication and variable weather conditions in the winter.
At the start of the highway, there are no signs to warn motorists that there is no cell service for the entirety of the 230-km road. We do, however, have signage warning visitors that there is nowhere to refuel.
For most of us鈥攁t least those of us who aren鈥檛 luddites鈥攃ellphone reception is something we take for granted these days. Our smartphones are permanently gripped in our palms or tucked in our pockets and we鈥檙e accustomed to being connected at all times.
Without signage on the highway, many people venture out onto the Icefields Parkway assuming, like everywhere else, they will be connected鈥攂ut they鈥檙e not.
We hope Parks has a plan in place for the day Telus pulls out all of its payphones, because at the end of the day it should be the agency鈥檚 responsibility to ensure motorists have some form of communication on that lonely stretch of highway.
The answer could be cell towers or emergency phones, whatever the case, something needs to be done sooner rather than later to keep our residents and visitors connected.
