Kiss Killarney Goodbye For The Victoria Day Weekend
If you were planning to spend the Victoria Day long weekend at Killarney or any one of the other 108 Ontario’s provincial parks, you would be well advised to make alternative plans.
“A lack of trained staff and deficient facilities may force the closure of provincial parks throughout Ontario on what is traditionally the opening of the summer camping season,” Keith Argent, Operations Specialist, Ontario Parks Northeast Zone, said today. “Deadlines for hiring and training of park staff for the upcoming season are being missed due to the continuing job action. It has been impossible for the handful of managers to look after more than 100 operating parks, some 200 non-operating parks and close to 300 conservation reserves,”
Normally, a large number of staff would have been in place by now to prepare Ontario's Parks for the imminent summer vacation season. Their work includes distribution of the 2002 Parks Guide, booking reservations, preparing water systems, installing signage, opening roads and buildings, grooming campgrounds and performing many other tasks required before parks can open.
Provincial parks generate revenues of $35 million annually in camping fees for the provincial government. There is a considerable economic impact on communities like Whitney, Killarney and Parry Sound that serve as access points to popular provincial parks. Additionally, a number of capital projects have been put on hold in parks including the construction of new drinking water facilities that meet new drinking water standards.
Staff currently protesting the provincial government’s lack of commitment to the collective bargaining process includes park planners, ecologists, geologists, foresters, research analysts, system officers, operation specialists and park naturalists.
