Dear Editor,
Another cold, grey pallor has settled down on the town of Jasper, another unsettling and unnerving quiet smothers the June streets. We all feel the icy cold stabs of disbelief, shock and outrage as it whips through the town, with a bite more vicious than a December north wind鈥攖he unprecedented dismissal of JNP employee John Wilmshurst has stunned the JNP family and the community of Jasper.
I grew up in JNP and in a Park Warden family; until this date, there has never been such a perplexing and gut wrenching act, as the recent dismissal of John Wilmshurst, a good and honourable man, who for five years was the science coordinator for the Mountain Parks, and recently (in old time Warden lingo), the Chief Park Warden of JNP.
The big question is WHY? But here鈥檚 where things get confusing; severely vexing with shades of questionable political grey. Many of us are concerned about the way things are now being conducted, with regards to managing our national parks. How can a man as highly regarded and respected as John be treated in such a disrespectful fashion? What could he have done to warrant this dismissal? Some speculate he was a marked man. Could he have challenged the dogma of a paranoid and protective government?
Many of us are aware that PC staff are ordered 鈥渘ot to talk鈥�, trained PC media personnel spin a coloured yarn with efficient brain washing, interwoven with layers of secrecy that seem to be insidiously attached to managing our national parks.
John Wilmshurst is a decent man that shrink wraps integrity and honesty around his thin frame. During the PC open house in 2013, over 200 winter users of JNP, packed toques and merino wool into the basement of the Crimson Hotel. The heated topic was caribou conservation and why PC was closing a vast majority of JNP to winter users. He stood up, with hundreds of upset eyes boring into him; he explained and defended PC鈥檚 position with humour and conviction. I could see the inner frustration build, as John, the scientist tried to explain the complexities concerning the importance of caribou conservation. He passionately said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to give up on a single animal.鈥�
I鈥檝e worked on many trail related matters with John; he was on one side of the table, in a PC uniform, and I on the other side, trying to defend and promote trail use. These sides often clash; it takes effort and perseverance to understand each other, but at the end of the day, we remained friends and shared many trail and street side laughs. I will really miss John.
What were the real reasons behind the dismissal of John Wilmshurst? If he was terminated for political reasons, the words of Shakespeare come to mind, 鈥淭here is something rotten in the state of Denmark鈥� and there is good reason to be worried.
Loni Klettl
Jasper, Alta.
