May 11, 2005
VANCOUVER – Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) should do their homework before making factually incorrect statements about day-use revenues in BC Parks, said Joyce Murray, BC Liberal candidate for New Westminster.
“It is unfortunate that WCWC is spreading mistruths about our world class parks system,” said Murray. “I don’t mind having a discussion on the facts of the funding challenges left to our government by years of NDP underfunding, but this charge by WCWC is unfair and wrong.”
WCWC cited a 2002 report as evidence that BC Parks missed its day-use revenue target of $4 million to $6 million a year by 80 per cent. However, the government news release from January 28, 2003, announcing the program clearly shows camping and day-use fees would only generate $2.5 million per year. Day-use fees were projected to be approximately $1.5 million of the total.
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.
“Our BC Liberal government invested in BC Parks capital infrastructure at an annual rate of two to three times that of the NDP government,” said Murray. “Now with the power of a strong economy and a surplus budget, we are investing an extra $20 million over the next three years, including more than $12 million this year alone.”
The BC Liberals are reinvesting all net revenue from day-use fees back into improving our world class parks system, putting it on a long term sound fiscal footing. Under the NDP, fee revenue from parks was diverted to general revenue and not reinvested in our parks.
The BC Liberals created 37 new Class A parks and one new ecological reserve, and expanded 34 existing parks and four existing ecological reserves.
