VANCOUVER – Today Bill 4 (the Park Amendment Act) is set to become law, despite widespread opposition from the BC public and a consortium of leading environmental organizations and notable park advocates. Changes to the Act will allow poorly-defined industrial “research” to be conducted within provincial parks, facilitating removal of park land to allow for industrial activity, including pipelines, logging roads and resource extraction.
“The Minister has received thousands of letters opposing this bill since it was introduced last month, but the public’s concerns have been ignored” said Peter Wood, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. “There has been absolutely zero public consultation, and the pace at which this was pushed through suggests this was never a consideration.”
“This Bill undermines the very definition of what a “park” is, given that our protected areas will now be open to industrial activity, ” said Gwen Barlee of the Wilderness Committee. “This is a black day for BC Parks – the provincial government is ensuring that none of our parks are now safe from industrial development.”
Previously, a park use permit could not be issued unless the applicant could prove that the activity was “necessary for the preservation or maintenance of the recreational values of the park involved.” Bill 4 removes this safeguard, allowing the Minister to grant a permit if it is determined that the research relates to “an environmental assessment or a feasibility study,” or is “necessary to inform decision making around changing the boundaries.”
A government document obtained in late 2013 via a Freedom of Information request revealed that the BC government is already considering boundary changes to over 30 parks, including for LNG pipelines and the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline. The Bill also removes certain protections from smaller parks.
“The government has sent a clear signal that it is open to having pipelines cut through our globally renowned protected areas” said Al Martin, BC Wildlife Federation. “The Act will now allow industrial exploration in some of BC’s most beloved parks, placing them at risk.”
“If Bill 4 passes, 2014 will be the year that BC Parks changed forever,” said Darryl Walker, BC Government and Service Employees’ Union. “This legislation opens the door to pipelines, oil and gas drilling and industrial activities that are counter to the values that created our parks system.”
“This Bill is confusing and raises suspicion, it does not provide the clarity that Minister Polak claims,” says Bob Peart, Sierra Club BC. “Rather than opening up our parks to special economic interests we should be emphasizing their critical role in providing enjoyment to families and for the protection of nature.”
“These changes are deeply unfair to the British Columbians who participated in the land use planning processes that established many of these parks,” said Stephanie Goodwin, Greenpeace. “We call upon the BC government to cancel Bill 4 immediately and develop alternative legislation that will safeguard the integrity of our parks against industrial activity.”
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Contact:
Peter Wood, CPAWS-BC: 604-761-3075/ Peter@cpawsbc.org
Gwen Barlee, Wilderness Committee: 604-202-0322 / Gwen@wildernesscommittee.org
Al Martin, BC Wildlife Federation: 250-480-9694/ Alan_Martin@shaw.ca
Darryl Walker, BC Government and Service Employees’ Union (via Chris Bradshaw): 604-291-9611
Andrew Gage, West Coast Environmental Law Association: 250-412-9784/ Andrew_Gage@wcel.org
Bob Peart, Sierra Club BC: 778-922-3295 / BobPeart@sierraclub.bc.ca
Stephanie Goodwin, Greenpeace, 604-761-6722 / stephanie.goodwin@greenpeace.org
Valerie Langer, ForestEthics Solutions: 604-307-6448 / Valerie@forestethicssolutions.org
Sarah Cox, Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative: 250-812-1762/ Sarah@y2y.net
Anne Woods, Valhalla Wilderness Society: 250-358-2333/ Anne@vws.org
Marlene Smith, Friends of Strathcona Park: Marjuds@telus.net
John Bergenske, Wildsight: 250-489-9605/ John@wildsight.ca
Links:
Bill 4:http://www.leg.bc.ca/40th2nd/1st_read/gov04-1.htm
CPAWS-BC statement on Bill 4:http://cpawsbc.org/news/bcs-parks-act-in-peril
Background on WCEL website:http://wcel.org/resources/environmental-law-alert/park-amendment-bill-paves-way-industrial-exploration