The province has "stymied" attempts to get information on projected revenues from B.C. Parks parking meters, said Sierra Legal Defence Fund and Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) representatives in a July 27 news release. And this had led to the groups' request for a B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner inquiry into the issue.
"Revealing revenue projections for parking meters in B.C. parks may be embarrassing for the government," said WCWC policy director Gwen Barlee. "But it shouldn't be a state secret."
The WCWC stated that the province has refused to hand over information citing cabinet privilege, and pages of documents obtained show numerous sections blacked out.
But B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner said the ministry has already revealed "what we're entitled to" under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The WCWC is campaigning for the removal of parking meters citing earlier documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request that show that in 2003, when parking meters were introduced into 14 popular parks in the Lower Mainland, visits fell by 20 percent in the first year, resulting in more than 1,000,000 fewer visitors.
Meters now exist in 41 provincial parks, including several in the Sea to Sky corridor.
"We're calling this a fiasco," said Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society spokesperson Eva Riccius.
The B.C. government's Recreation Stewardship Panel in 2002 originally projected revenues from parking meters to be between $4 and $6 million annually, but the total revenue was less than $800,000.
The WCWC also made public an internal audit conducted by the government in February 2004 warning that the risks around parking violation tickets were "high" because the "costs of administering the parking tickets may be excessive and the ministry may lack the resources to enforce the new parking fees."
The conservationist groups are urging more public consultation when deciding the future of B.C. parks.
spaillard@squamishchief.com
