Marianne Hladun, PSAC regional executive vice-president of the prairie region, and Kevin King, PSAC regional vice-president, Alberta, N.W.T. and Nunavut, hosted the meeting, which was attended by approximately 40 people from Jasper, Hinton and the Robson Valley.
“I ask, all of you, just what else can they commercialize?” King asked those in attendance. “Just what else can they privatize or sell off?”
King expressed his belief that higher admission prices at Miette Hot Springs would put the facility out of reach for some visitors and therefore could mean less tourism dollars reaching Jasper.
“This is about an attack on the national parks system, something that we hold dear,” said Hladun. “We honestly believe that the visitor experience to the parks will be hindered with privatization or commercialization.”
Attendees, some of whom work at Miette Hot Springs, had the opportunity to stand and speak about how they felt about Parks Canada’s plan. Some told personal stories, expressing their fears that the hot springs would no longer be a special place where couples can get engaged or have other life-changing memories.
“We are getting to the core of what kind of triggered the creation of the national parks in the first place and it is kind of like a slap in the face or a punch in the gut that they now want to privatize the hot springs,” said Monika Schaefer of Jasper. “I feel like it [privatization] is going to open the door for basically the erosion of the protection of the national park.”
During an interview, Hladun expressed that the overall goal of the PSAC is to convince Parks Canada to leave the operation at Miette Hot Springs as it is currently modelled.
“Contrary to what the government says the hot springs actually bring in revenue, they don’t cost the taxpayer anything and there really is no reason to loose the expertise and the commitment of the Parks Canada employees who are employed there.”
The request for proposals (RFP) has not yet been released, but Hladun believes interest has been expressed by international companies. Hladun feels Parks Canada needs to do more research and consultation as to the impact privatization will have on the community.
Hladun felt that Parks Canada could transfer operations as soon as this year, however Tracy Thiessen, executive director and acting vice president of the mountain national parks, told the 51暗网 that Parks Canada cannot confirm that a transfer of operations will occur in May. However, many of the concerns expressed by citizens, particularly in regards to admission price and international involvement, would depend upon the results of the RFP.
“We’re going to leave it up to the private sector to analyze what the current admission prices are, what the current customer base is and to come up with a price point that the market will bear,” said Thiessen. “We do think the private sector has the experience to assign admission fees that are going to ensure they have sustainable businesses.”
Thiessen noted that under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the request for proposal could not exclude companies outside of Canada.
“Whether or not it is a foreign company or not, you can’t speculate who is going to be a successful bidder. There are all kinds of organizations who will be interested in this offer,” said Thiessen.
Since the announcement of privatization was made in April 2012, Thiessen believes much work and due diligence has gone into developing the request for proposals and includes provisions to protect the cultural character of the hot springs, that environmental regulations are strictly adhered to, and that the nature and essence of the hot springs are appropriate for a national park setting.
“That’s real important to Parks Canada. That these heritage properties are protected and those values are protected,” said Thiessen. “Those conditions are built right into the RFP.”
One aspect of the alternate services delivery is that Parks Canada has to respect the provisions of the collective agreement for the employees who work at the hot springs.
“There are strong protections in place for them [hot springs employees],” said Thiessen. “All proposals include the strong encouragement for companies to come forward with job offers for existing staff. If that does not occur there are other protections within the collective agreement for those staff.”
Thiessen said the RFP is still being worked on and they hope to issue it within the next three months, but the business process can be quite lengthy.
“Presuming there is a successful bid, negotiations can take months,” said Thiessen. “The chances of anything happening before May is incredibly unlikely, for this season.”
