Alberta NDP calls for end to Kananaskis Conservation Pass
Posted Nov 20, 2022 4:21 pm.
Last Updated Nov 22, 2022 3:56 pm.
The Alberta NDP environment critic Marlin Schmidt is asking Premier Danielle Smith to follow her campaign promise to immediately remove the Kananaskis Country Pass that was put in place by Jason Kenny in 2021.
Citing an “Ask Me Anything” video posted June 17, 2022, the opposition says Smith has been clear about wanting to end the pass system.
“Kananaskis was always supposed to be that open-access place for Albertans. They actually used to have preferential access even to the golf course for Albertans. The idea that somehow we’re going to improve things and improve the access by charging, what is it, a $90 park pass? That impacts families at a time when everything is going up for families. So I agree with you. And there you go. I agree with Rachel Notley. See, we can,” the NDP quotes Smith as saying in the footage. “There are areas we can work together with the opposition. $93 for a pass and then 43 nights a night for an unreserved campsite. Ridiculous. Totally. And we need to have more campsites as well.”
In a release, the NDP says the pass has taken around $15 million dollars from Albertans’ pockets for trying to access their “own backyards.”
“Albertans own the beautiful and distinctly Albertan space that is Kananaskis, and should all be able to use it freely,” said Schmidt. “During an affordability crisis that already stretched family budgets, the government is continuing to force people to pay an additional fee to access their own backyards, meaning Albertans had an additional cost imposed onto already stretched budgets.”
According to the NDP, the UCP has promised the money from the pass would be totally reinvested in Kananaskis. However, the party says “it was recently revealed that $2 million a year was being spent on a private security firm to enforce compliance with the K-Country Pass.”
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“It’s a waste of Albertans’ money, and another burden to families who just want to enjoy the great outdoors at a time when the cost of everything is on the rise,” Schmidt added.
“We need to restore this legacy of Kananaskis Country being an open space for all Albertans to access without cost, and that means that the UCP’s regressive fee to access this beautiful area of Alberta must be repealed immediately.”
The Kananaskis Conservation Pass is currently required for those who want to park vehicles at provincial parks and public sites in Kananaskis Country and the Bow Valley Corridor. The system has been in place since June 2021.
CityNews has reached out to the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas for comment.
