There’s a new tone at Parks Canada.
The new minister for Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, whose portfolio includes Parks Canada, fired off an email to Parks staff last week, saying she was honoured to join their department.
She said delivering real results on climate change and the environment is one of the Liberal government’s highest priorities.
“We have an ambitious agenda and only by working together can we achieve it,” she said in an email obtained by the Outlook.
“I look forward to receiving your frank and fearless advice and working with you to deliver innovative solutions.”
At the same time, government scientists, who were silenced by strict rules under Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, were also told last week they are free to talk to the media about their work.
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, said the government will value science and treat scientists with respect.
“That is why government scientists and experts will be able to speak freely about their work to the media and the public,” he said in a statement.
“We are working to make government science fully available to the public and will ensure that scientific analyses are considered in decision making.”
Scientists with Department of Fisheries and Oceans were also told they were now free to talk to the press.
The change in policy is expected to be communicated across departments and ministries in the government.
Departmental policies and procedures would be revised to formally implement this direction.
Christina Tricomi, a Parks Canada spokesperson for Banff National Park, said she has been given no new direction at this point.
In recent years, there has been a clampdown on information Parks Canada shares with the public and media coming out of Banff National Park.
More recently, there has been a growing trend where requests for interviews are denied. On occasion, it could take days or even weeks to be granted an interview. It has also become common practice to email statements.
During the election campaign, there was a complete communications lockdown.
Parks employees were not made available to media for interviews on a host of issues, from routine matters like rescues to matters of public safety such as a wolf pack hunting deer in the Banff townsite.
