I have stayed in several of them- ( 2005 ) don't know for sure if they were all provencial or national, but for what you received, I thoudght then they were too expensive. I also think that of the State parks here in Texas and I avoid them if at all possible.
So Sheila's going to have a go at Parks Canada. Could be interesting, the lady has more credibility with the public than any politician in the country.
"Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice" WSC
I'm not sure how to define "too expensive" considering all the cost increases we all face in our daily lives.
As an ex employee of Banff NP I can attest that as far as operations they are drastically under funded! I'm also not sure how much of the entry fee actually goes to that indivifual park for their operations or does it go into th national general fund. Maybe the report will expose that?
For my Canadian friends I can recommend a couple of great books dealing wih regular operations of the Warden Service of your National Parks: Men for the Mountains by Sid Marty; A Grand and Fabulous Notion by Sid Marty and his latest called Switchbacks.Also try Close Calls on High Walls by Mike Schintz.
From the report..... "depending on the level of service provided, the range of increases for entry fees to national parks and national historic sites will run from $.50 to $4.50 over the four-year implementation period."
As far as I am concerned they are an incredible bargain and I would go further with the rate increases. We have tourists come from all over the world to visit the National Parks on our dime. If it was up to me I'd require proof of citizenship before they let you into the park. No Canadian citizenship, double the park entry fee at a minimum.
And before someone from the US jumps on me I think you should do the same. I get a tremendous bargain when I visit your national parks and it happens on your tax dollars. That's not right and I'd be prepared to pay my own freight.
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edited 05/06/08 07:55pm by an administrator/moderator *
bobofthenorth wrote: As far as I am concerned they are an incredible bargain and I would go further with the rate increases. We have tourists come from all over the world to visit the National Parks on our dime. If it was up to me I'd require proof of citizenship before they let you into the park. No Canadian citizenship, double the park entry fee at a minimum.
And before someone from the US jumps on me I think you should do the same. I get a tremendous bargain when I visit your national parks and it happens on your tax dollars. That's not right and I'd be prepared to pay my own freight.
Bob, I agree about the bargain. & in comparison with some other countries our parks have more services, more help from staff and while we have been accustomed to more, we still have a pretty good deal.
Where I disagree with you is this business of charging non-citizens a fee. That just results in a bunch of grumbles and back biting, double entry bookkeeping, etc.
I remember in trip planning and calling one state's tourism office. Everything was fine until I told them I was from Canada. No, they wouldn't send material to a Canuck address. Do I need to tell you how fast I posted that information in the appropriate section of this forum. Or that the backfiring PR got back to that state's politicians.
No, we all need to have our government supported services available to all at a one price fits all policy, whether that is national parks, tourism information, city bus rates, city parks, Internet Access in public libraries................possibly even ferry rates .
Our national parks are as good as they are because of great personnel and have been properly funded in the past. In the last several years however, they have been underfunded and this year, the ministry responsible was told to look for cuts in the system of 5%. On our cross-Canada trip in 2005 staying at many national parks (Bruce, Riding Mountain, Prince Albert, Elk Island) we noticed a decline in not only some services from previous years, but also in buildings. The same ministry is also responsible for heritage/historical buildings and the same pennypinching has caused some of them, notably the fur trading post at Rocky Mountain House, to be closed because of dangers to the public (crumbling walls, falling stones). Incredibly, both the Chretien government and the current government have added even more parks to the system when staff can't even look after the ones they have. Provincial parks in Ontario are suffering under the same kind of management regime.
cruiserjs wrote: I'm not sure how to define "too expensive" considering all the cost increases we all face in our daily lives. I'm also not sure how much of the entry fee actually goes to that indivifual park for their operations or does it go into th national general fund. Maybe the report will expose that?
We've always been curious about that --- where the money goes to. We're in the group (which I'm guessing applies to a large percentage) who definitely moan (to ourselves) about the high park fees, but for the 'entertainment value' we get out of camping/hiking in the parks, we'll pay the fees and not complain 'out loud'. But, we always wondered if the money is being spent well. I know, some years ago, how I became aware of some really appalling living conditions rangers have to endure in parks --- dilapidated housing. And being hikers, we also are very grateful for improvements in trails. Keeping them clear of windfall, fixing eroded areas, etc. We'll support those kinds of efforts with higher fees.
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