Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Says Park Policy Offers Protection While Others Fear Development

The Canadian Press, 07 Aug, 2015 11:31 AM
    VICTORIA — British Columbia's Environment Ministry is poised to introduce a new policy it says will ensure the province's parks are off limits to industrial activities, but an environmental group fears the plan will open the gates to pipelines and other development projects.
     
    The Ministry of Environment is expected to release its policy on issuing permits for research and information gathering within provincial parks on Friday.
     
    Last year's Park Amendment Act touched off a massive petition campaign from B.C. environmental groups that said the Liberal government was enacting legislation that opened the door to industrial development, including oil and gas pipelines, within parks and protected areas.
     
    More than 167,000 people signed a petition calling on the government to repeal the Park Amendment Act, which became law in March 2014.
     
    "Protecting our natural spaces is a priority," said Environment Minister Mary Polak in a written statement. "This policy provides more clarity around how research and information-gathering activities will be undertaken in B.C.'s parks and protected areas, which allows us to make informed decisions."
     
    A ministry statement said the new policy improves clarity, certainty and authority when issuing permits authorizing activities related to research and investigation in parks. The statement said B.C. parks remain off limits to new industrial activity, but the research permits could play a role in decisions relating to requests to adjust park boundaries.
     
    "Research can be purely for academic purposes, park and protected area management or as part of an environmental assessment or feasibility study," said the ministry statement.
     
    But Wilderness Committee policy director Gwen Barlee said the new permit policy and the amended Park Act gives the government more powers to clear the way for industrial activity in provincial parks. She said parks were created to protect areas from industrial development but that the door has now been opened.
     
    "To say we want to loosen those protections makes parks really vulnerable to industrial development," she said. "And that just defeats the very purpose of why they were created."
     
    Barlee said Polak told the legislature last year during debate over the Park Act that the government required statutory approval to give the province more authority to grant or deny park permit applications.
     
    The Environment Ministry statement said land can be removed from a B.C. park, but that requires an application for a boundary adjustment.
     
    "Before any proposed park boundary adjustment is considered, a very rigorous exercise must be undertaken requiring public, First Nations and local community consultation, a review of alternatives to avoid the park and the completion of environmental assessments," said the statement.
     
    It said that since 2004, 0.028 per cent of 14 million hectares in B.C.'s protected areas has been affected by boundary adjustments.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Manitoba Natural Gas Pipeline That Exploded Had Pre-existing Defect, Report Says

    WINNIPEG — The Transportation Safety Board says a natural gas pipeline that exploded in Manitoba last year had a crack that formed at the time of its construction more than 50 years ago.

    Manitoba Natural Gas Pipeline That Exploded Had Pre-existing Defect, Report Says

    Liberals Who Helped Defeat Eve Adams Say Her Loss Will Help Justin Trudeau

    Liberals Who Helped Defeat Eve Adams Say Her Loss Will Help Justin Trudeau
    OTTAWA — Liberals who helped defeat Eve Adams in her bid to run as the party's candidate in a Toronto riding said Monday they've done Justin Trudeau "a big favour."

    Liberals Who Helped Defeat Eve Adams Say Her Loss Will Help Justin Trudeau

    Colleagues Appear To Bail Out Finance Minister From Testifying On Canada's Books

    Colleagues Appear To Bail Out Finance Minister From Testifying On Canada's Books
    OTTAWA — A Conservative-dominated parliamentary committee voted against a process Monday that would have likely called on Finance Minister Joe Oliver to testify in public about the state of Canada's finances amid a troubled economy.

    Colleagues Appear To Bail Out Finance Minister From Testifying On Canada's Books

    Ottawa Awards Military Contracts To Montreal-Area Company Rheinmetall Canada Inc

    Ottawa Awards Military Contracts To Montreal-Area Company Rheinmetall Canada Inc
    Rheinmetall Canada Inc. will get an initial $8.5 million to test the system. The government may then exercise options to buy up to 4,144 of the units with the total value as much as $250 million.

    Ottawa Awards Military Contracts To Montreal-Area Company Rheinmetall Canada Inc

    After Up-and-down Start To The Season, B.C. Lions Looking For Consistency

    After Up-and-down Start To The Season, B.C. Lions Looking For Consistency
    Great sequences have been quickly followed by long stretches where the club has looked completely out of sync, with big comebacks as likely to happen as blown leads.

    After Up-and-down Start To The Season, B.C. Lions Looking For Consistency

    Accused B.C. Terrorist Aimed To Kill 'Small Jews' To Save Them From Hell: Trial

    VANCOUVER — A woman found guilty of helping to mastermind a terrorist bomb plot wanted to infiltrate a synagogue and kill "small Jews" to save the children from going to hell, a court has heard.

    Accused B.C. Terrorist Aimed To Kill 'Small Jews' To Save Them From Hell: Trial