May 7, 2005
- The BC Liberals are investing two to three times more in capital improvements for B.C. parks than the NDP invested throughout the 1990s – more than $24 million over the last four years.
- We are investing another $20 million in parks infrastructure over the next three years, including $12 million in 2005/06 – that’s the biggest one-year increase for improvements in more than 15 years.
- In the 1990s, the NDP doubled the number of parks in British Columbia but cut funding to the parks system, leaving it starved of staff and funding, and with a $40-million backlog in capital infrastructure needs.
- The BC Liberals created 37 new Class A parks and one new ecological reserve, and expanded 34 existing parks and four existing ecological reserves.
- We saved Burns Bog – the “Lungs of the Lower Mainland” – after the NDP tried to pave it.
- We preserved the Codd Wetlands, in partnership with community and conservation groups, to help protect habitat for 191 species of birds, mammals and amphibians.
- We reinvest all net revenue from parking fees back into improving our park system. Under the NDP, fee revenue from parks was diverted to general revenue and was not reinvested in parks.
- We are investing $16.5 million more over the next three years to improve park conservation and safety with up to 50 new Park Rangers and Conservation Officers and a new 150 person strong BC Conservation Corps.
