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Petitioning for free BC Parks use

The end of parking meters in BC Parks may be in sight, according to Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) spokespersons during a campaign for the abolishment of the "user pay scheme".

The end of parking meters in BC Parks may be in sight, according to Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) spokespersons during a campaign for the abolishment of the "user pay scheme".

WCWC "BC Parks Lovers Tour" coordinator Ben West and assistant Dan Borsky are visiting BC Parks from Chilliwack to Prince George all summer with Peter the Parking Meter, a box they use to collect postcards signed by individuals against BC Parks parking meters.

Postcards are addressed to the various district MLAs calling for the reinstatement of funding and the halting of privatization and industrial development initiatives within provincial parks.West and Borky were raising awareness in the Sea to Sky corridor's parks Tuesday (July 25), and they said they're getting lots of support. "About 90 per cent of people we talked to signed," said West.

West said he's optimistic BC Parks parking meters will soon be removed, following in the footsteps of Washington State, which recently removed the park parking meters, implemented at the same time as BC's, due to lost revenues and lower visitation.

The WCWC is calling the 2003 introduction of parking meters in BC Parks a "fiasco" that has cost the province millions and caused a drop in visitors.

"Within the first year of operation there were over 1,000,000 fewer visits to 14 parks with meters in the Lower Mainland alone," states a WCWC newsletter.

The WCWC is working on a freedom of information request to see a report ordered by Environment Minister Barry Penner on the state of the BC Parks parking meter program. West said he's optimistic the report will show the detrimental effects of the meters.

In May 2005, another provincial report provided to the WCWC through a freedom of information request showed that the total revenue of meter fines was $800,000 instead of the $2 to $4 million anticipated by the provincial Recreation Stewardship Panel in 2002.

The WCWC said that the futility of the user pay program was already made obvious in an provincial internal audit conducted in Feb. 2004 warning that the "costs of administering the parking tickets may be excessive and the ministry may lack the resources to enforce the new parking fees."

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