A statement released last week from 12 of Canada’s largest environmental groups opposed to development in Canada’s national parks is just the latest example of a group with nothing new to say.
Last week, the group called on the government to “say no” to the proposed bike path from Jasper to the Columbia Icefield and the conceptual proposal to build overnight accommodations at Maligne Lake. The environmental groups also asked the government to “say no” to the Lake Louise Ski Resort expansion.
The problem is none of this is new and it’s beginning to make us yawn.
Over the past couple of months, groups like the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have been publicly urging the federal government to reverse course on several projects in Jasper and Banff National Parks, claiming Parks Canada has become too focused on increasing visitation and tourism instead of protecting the ecological integrity of the parks.
Ironically, their message has become so routine they’re beginning to sound like Parks Canada, except they automatically reject every development proposal before they’ve even considered its merits.
Take for example the proposed bike trail. At the end of June, Parks, Canada revealed details about the 107-kilometre multi-use trail. Almost immediately, environmental groups came out screaming about a lack of public consultation and the environmental damage it will cause.
What they failed to do was listen and, perhaps more importantly, take a breath.
Repeatedly condemning a project before public consultations and an environment assessment have been completed creates the assumption that the project is a done deal–and that is simply not true.
At this point the project is still in its infancy and we don’t even know what the environmental impacts will be or the final route of the trail.
When it comes to the conceptual proposal to build overnight accommodations at Maligne Lake, the environmental groups seem to have either been misinformed or are stuck on repeat.
All it took was a bit of poking around to get Parks Canada to confirm that the project is no longer on the table.
Protecting the ecological integrity of Canada’s national parks is important, but outright rejecting every project without first looking at its merits or confirming whether the project is still on the table is simply misleading and hurts environmental groups’ credibility.
In fact, their opposition to every development project outside of the municipality of Jasper and Banff has become so routine people are beginning to tune out and that’s a scary notion.
We need environmental groups to hold the private sector and governments to account, but we also need these groups to pick and choose their battles and to fight them with facts, not knee-jerk reactions.
Let’s hope the next time these groups issue a joint statement they actually have something new to say.
