The National Park debate is heating up very quickly. And an excellent debate it is. People whom you would think would be horrified at the prospect of Bowen becoming a tourist destination are in favour of the idea and business people who would prosper with the growth are lamenting the potential destruction of our lifestyle. It’s great…the points made by all concerned are well reasoned and there is no way of knowing which position will eventually be accepted by the majority.
For those of you who haven’t been following this, there is a possibility that Parks Canada will establish a National Park on Bowen. They’ve hosted some information meetings and are now looking for our feedback. Parks Canada seems to realize that a park here would have to be different than anything they’ve done before so they haven’t really given us a clear idea of just how the park would work. But they are busily gathering information, consulting other stakeholders and formulating their position. By next spring, we should know whether or not they plan to proceed.
In looking at this thing, I realize that for me the devil is in the details. We need to know how many visitors the park might have and how they will get here. If we can’t control the numbers and they’re going to arrive by vehicles through Snug Cove, then I’m against the park. However, if Parks Canada stages their entry to the park via passenger ferries that land at Seymour Bay and uses buses to transport the hikers and campers, then I might go along with it. This approach would place very definite limits on the number of visitors. The Parks people would be able to control the campers and the number of tourists driving their cars would be minimized.
Some people seem to be making their decision based on who they trust the least. There are those who support the Park because they don’t trust the Provincial Government to protect the Crown Lands while others oppose the Park because they are afraid that Parks Canada will end up running the island. Some think that we are nuts to even consider something that is bound to profoundly alter the character of our community. Others are excited with the possibility that something might happen that will change the culture of the island. Another interesting variable has to do with how far ahead people are looking. Some aren’t concerned with short-term problems if the local ecosystems are protected for the long term. Others feel that global conditions will overtake anything we do locally so we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously.
On a more immediate and practical level, there are all of the perks that Parks Canada could bestow on Bowen. They could make possible improved water taxi service to Vancouver, assist us with recycling, subsidize our public transit, improve our fire fighting capabilities or possibly partner with the Municipality in the building of civic facilities. In some respects we might be transforming ourselves from a suburb to a one-industry town.
The bottom line is that Parks Canada wants to know how you feel about the possibility of a park, so just take a few moments, list your concerns, and possibly propose measures that might allay those concerns and email them to bowen@pc.gc.ca. Then the ball will be in their court. They can tailor their proposal to meet our needs, try to talk us into doing things their way, or decide that the whole thing just won’t work. The difference between this process and most other community issues is that we have an opportunity to let Parks Canada know right from the outset what their challenges are. Nobody will be able to say that our Municipal Council lead anybody on or made any promises. There won’t be a multi-year process where statements can be misconstrued and twisted.
There’s an old expression about support being a mile wide but only an inch deep. I get that impression about this issue. While most people are mildly in favour of or opposed to the park, I don’t see the passion usually seen in our debates. This is good. It gives us the opportunity to present a relatively unified position to Parks Canada. “We have each personally forwarded to you our concerns, ideas, fears and suggestions and will support a park on Bowen if you can demonstrate that your park will be a good fit with our community.”
If the Parks Canada report next spring indicates that they want to proceed and contains a plan of some sort, we will be able to decide whether or not it works for us. With our municipal election coming next fall, you can bet that it will be a major issue. And that could make for a very interesting campaign season.
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