Editor:
Dear Mr. Latourelle:
I am writing with a follow-up to my comments on the proposed Glacier Discovery Walk in Jasper National Park. As this issue gains wider circulation, it is readily apparent that the public response to it is overwhelmingly negative.
Apart from the views of the proponent and members of AAMPPE, I have seen only a few ambivalent expressions of vague support for the project; none that is resoundingly supportive.
Simply put: The public sees no justifiable need for the Glacier Discovery Walk, and strongly feels that it would be detrimental to Jasper National Park.
In his reply to my submission, Jasper Superintendent Greg Fenton stated that the Parks Canada Agency has “found it (Glacier Discovery Walk) to be consistent with our policies and objectives for Jasper National Park.” Mr. Latourelle, it appears that the objectives of your agency are out of touch with the public’s wishes with regard to national park management in general, and to the management of Jasper National Park in particular.
I urge the Parks Canada agency to advise the proponent that the informed public has brought forward many reasons – technical, environmental, and aesthetic – that substantiate that the project should not proceed any further.
The Parks Canada agency should be aware that the public will not be appeased by an approach of “approve and mitigate” for this issue, and that the agency risks losing a tremendous degree of credibility if it does not listen to the majority voice of those who have responded to the request for comments.
I have created a page dedicated to this issue on my website: http://mountainvision.ca/page39/Advocacy.html
Thank you for considering this opinion. I look forward to your reply.
Graeme Pole,
Hazleton, B.C.
