LAKE LOUISE – A 57-year-old truck driver from Blackfalds, Alta. was fined $1,000 for parking on the Icefield Parkway without a permit.
“I did not have a permit, or know it was required,” David Goebel said in Canmore Provincial Court on March 27.
Goebel was driving a transport truck on the Icefields Parkway last October when a Park Warden in Jasper National Park issued him a fine.
Goebel was charged under the Canada National Parks Act’s highway traffic regulations. The regulations require special permits for certain types of vehicles on the parkway and prohibits those that are over 4,550 kilograms.
He was additionally charged with failure to appear after missing his first appearance, but the Crown withdrew the latter charge so Goebel would not have a criminal charge on his record.
Goebel admitted he was on the road and said he did not realize it was against the law.
Judge Les Grieve said the typical penalty for the charge is a fine and implemented a $1,000 fine with the money to be put in the Environmental Damages Fund.
Administered by Environment Canada, the EDF accepts fund from fines, court orders and voluntary payments, created specifically to help ensure those who cause environmental damages, or harm to wildlife, take responsibility for their actions.
“I’m not going on that road again,” Goebel said.