Editor: Re: The article, Banff’s mayor blasts Parks on 2017 free passes, published in the Oct. 27 edition.
I applaud Mayor Sorensen’s blasting of Parks Canada’s lack of communication regarding the anticipated flood of visitors, most of whom will arrive in motor vehicles, next year. Visitor numbers are expected to increase dramatically, in large part, due to the elimination of Park entrance fees.
Parks’ mandate, as outlined in the 2010 Banff National Park (BNP), which was aggressively pushed by then-Superintendent Kevin Van Tighem, is to increase visitation by at least two per cent per annum. That goal has been wildly successful as visitation has increased by approximately six per cent per annum in recent years.
Well, “You broke it – you fix it” is the sign that potential customers see in some retail establishments.
Parks has contributed to both the increased traffic congestion and the shortage of parking that plagues both visitors and locals during, principally, the summer months.
Parks “broke it.” As such, visitors and locals can legitimately expect Parks Canada to help “fix it.”
Everyone needs to know what Parks has planned so that we can provide input in the event that Parks’ plan might be too little, too late.
We also need to know what the Town has planned as regards both parking and traffic flow next summer – and beyond. Though in all fairness, it is difficult for the Town to formulate plans until after Parks has unveiled its plans.
We must also consider there is a possibility the mayor’s blast may also serve the purpose of a red herring, an attempt to divert attention from policy C-122 which, according to D.K. Honeyman, who wrote one of two excellent letters on this subject that were published in both local newspapers last week, stated that “parking statistics to support C-122 projects to date are to be presented in survey form” at the Monday, Nov. 14 council meeting.
Please voice your opinion on Policy C-122 at that meeting.
Maybe by then Parks Canada will have unveiled a plan to deal with the anticipated flood of visitors. Prudent planning, by both Parks and the Town would be to be prepared for, not just a flood, but a tsunami.
Jon Whelan,
Banff
