The South Okanagan Similkameen Preservation Society would like to highlight two events from the previous week that provide some context to the debate about the proposed National Park Reserve.

The first was a visit by Premier John Horgan where he stated “We’ve been aware of this for some time, I know I support the community’s drive to have a national park,” Horgan saying his belief is that much of the community wants the park to happen.”  The SOSPS research on the subject shows that 35% of the community around the park strongly oppose the park, and that only 24% strongly support it. 

Last week also was punctuated by the decision of the NDP Provincial Government to allow clear cut logging in 314 areas – specifically denoted to be sensitive Caribou habitat.  Both the Wilderness Committee and Greenpeace have denounced this decision as being shortsighted, and very damaging environmentally.  Given this history of this Governments decisions like “Site C”, perhaps the environmental protection is no longer an issue for them?

The second event that was revealed on Feb 11th was the CBC discovery about the fiscal condition of Parks Canada overall.  The SOSPS has now examined the Opus Report, and the results are dire for the agency.  Spending requirements for basic safety and upkeep on 40% of the Parks Canada assets amount to 9.5 billion dollars – just to maintain what buildings and property they have. 

An additional 3.3 billion is recommended as Parks Canada has not upgraded any infrastructure with any anticipation for climate change.  The report goes on to how the Parks Canada Agency has failed to maintain to such a degree as to generate this quote “About 40 per cent of Parks Canada’s buildings, forts, bridges and other items of real estate are unsafe or unusable, or require billions of dollars in major repairs, says a new report.”   This detail of fiscal inadequacy furthers the concerns locals have about inviting the Parks Canada brand onto their landscape.  Some of the suggestions in the report recommend new fees and tolls as a means to recover costs.  It creates the question of how long will access to this proposed park be restricted to those that can afford the fees for entry – or worse, the restriction on highway use if Parks Canada chooses to toll the highway passing through the proposed parkland west of Osoyoos. More importantly, how can a financially challenged agency like Parks Canada be entrusted to make the best decisions for our precious ecology and environment?

While the consultation period has ended, Parks Canada has conceded the need for transparency, and confirm Friday March 15th that a 3rd party agency will be contracted to tabulate and verify the findings of the survey.  No word on what agency this is, or their history of service with Parks Canada. 

Announcements will be made in the coming weeks about public events, petitions and proposed referendums in various municipalities and rural districts.  The SOSPS has received over 5000 online engagements with the public since the end of the consultation period and the two subjects detailed in this press release.  The community demand action and accountability from their elected officials, and many are working to see that happen.

We will continue to bridge the divide in our community created by the Parks Canada Proposal with solutions that all people of the Similkameen and South Okanagan valleys can agree upon, for the betterment of the environment and ecology.