Fact Sheet

What are the issues that British Columbians should be concerned about?

Commercialization and privatization of our public parks is a huge concern. These parks were set aside to protect wildlife and habitat and offer a low impact wilderness experiece for people. Animals, such as bears, caribou, and mountain goats, will suffer from increased contact with humans and it will likely result in more bear kills. Increasing the density of visitors will potentially degrade the habitat. And it will seriously degrade the wilderness experience for locals and tourists.

Building resorts in our parks will lead to road construction, garbage, and noise from helicopter and float plane traffic. Water supply and sewage disposal will be also be major issues.

Has there been public input into this policy?

There has been no public consultation.

Which parks were threatened?

When might this be happening?

At the end of August 2006 the government issued a Call for Proposals from developers for the construction of these lodges. The process has now concluded and you can find more details about the proposals on our website.

Will this initiative bring in more tourists to BC?

No. Many tourism operators oppose hotels and resorts in parks, but support environmentally appropriate facilities outside of parks. Many feel that this will damage tourism as most people visit the parks because they are unspoiled wilderness. For example, the President of the Clearwater and District Chamber of Commerce (near Wells Gray Park) stated:

..." the majority of visitors to the park are attracted by its pristine beauty. Visitors don't want to see developments like this".

Will this benefit local economies?

Many tourism operators and municipalities feel that this does not benefit local economies. On October 27, 2006, at the Union of BC Municipalities Conference in Victoria, BC. approximately 500 municipal leaders (an overwhelming majority) from across the province voted against the Park Lodge Strategy.. You can read the resolution in the News page.

Previous to the conference, a number of individual municipalities passed resolutions. For example, the municipality of North Vancouver passed a resolution opposing this move,

"...these facilities would best benefit local municipalities if they were appropriately situated in our communities where tourists and visitors would most actively support and enrich local economies, and where they would not unfairly compete with our existing tourism, hotel and restaurant services."

"...generations of British Columbians have spent close to 100 years building our network of Provincial Class A parks, one of the best protected natural area systems in the world AND a 2001 government report shows that for every $1 the government spends on protected areas in BC, over $10 are returned to local economies through visitor expenditures".

Aren't there already resorts in some of the parks?

Yes, however, these were in place before the parks were established and they were allowed to continue. In most cases the private operator repeatedly asks to expand his operation, and there are the inevitable problems concerning garbage and sewage disposal, water supply, wildlife concerns, staff accommodations and operational access. For park protection, it is usually not a pretty picture. As an interesting note, Parks Canada (federal parks) has been buying-out private establishments in National Parks and letting the land revert to nature.   Source: Mr. Struan Robertson: With BC Parks for 23 years - Regional Director 8 years, before retiring.

What People Say...

Struan Robertson, Kimberly, BC. Was with BC Parks for 23 years - 8 years as a Regional Director:

"British Columbia has a superb Provincial Park system. It is the envy of the other provinces in Canada, of many states in the US and is even admired by many other countries.

The system has been carefully crafted and assembled over the years, with some parks being established as pleasant roadside resting spots, others as areas for intensive recreational use in natural settings, and yet others being set aside to protect specific natural features or for their value as representatives of functioning ecosystems where wildlife, vegetation, land forms and water systems can interact, relatively undisturbed.

Our parks do not belong to us. They are a precious legacy which we hold in trust, for future generations.

The present government policy to allow the construction of private, commercial accommodations inside our parks is foolish, short-sighted and just has not been thought through. It is wrong and must be reversed."