Two days before Canada Parks Day (July 20) British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak released a statement regarding B.C.'s boundary adjustment policy and recent amendments to the Park Act.
"I want to be absolutely clear – the Park Amendment Act does not allow, promote or otherwise enable industrial projects in provincial parks and protected areas. Suggestions that future industrial operations will be allowed in parks are simply not true.”
There will be no drilling, no mining, no forestry, no transmission lines and no gas wells in our parks, Polak adds.
In a joint press release, however, the Sierra Club BC, BCGEU, the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Wilderness Committee state the new legislation that threatens to open our parks and protected areas up for pipelines and other industrial projects.
“We are calling on minister Polak to stand up for parks not pipelines, and repeal the Park Amendment Act.
“It should really be called the Park Dismemberment Act, as it enables Kinder Morgan to slice and dice our parks so they can move toxic tar sands oil from Alberta to tankers in Vancouver ports.”
Meanwhile, Polak says the Park Amendment Act formally authorizes low-impact research activities to take place, so that the provincial government can gain a better understanding of potential impacts to parks.
She notes research permits are only issued for low-impact activities, such as soil sampling or installing gauges.
Meanwhile, the environmentalist groups state the Park Amendment Act, which was rammed through in March with little debate and no public or First Nations consultation, also paves the way for the removal of park land, under the Park Boundary Adjustment Policy, for a variety of industrial activities, including oil and gas development and logging.
However, Polak says proponents seeking to move park boundaries have to go through the rigorous boundary adjustment policy and process.
“There is no change to this policy – nothing has changed that will make it easier to adjust the boundaries of our parks and protected areas. There is a rigorous process in place for reviewing boundary adjustments, which includes consultations with First Nations, the public and stakeholders.”