Alberta’s Environment Minister is trying to clarify changes being made to the parks system after more than 32,000 people signed a petition calling for the UCP to “stop the fire sale of provincial parks.”
Jason Nixon writes, in a Facebook post published Wednesday, that the government is “not selling Crown land as part of the parks restructuring.”
He says the provincial government is working on partnerships with organizations, including municipalities, First Nations, and non-profits, to run underutilized infrastructure.
Nixon maintains the UCP doesn’t have to designate an area “a park” in order to ensure good stewardship.
And, when it comes to the term “sale” which has caused the bulk of the confusion, he says it refers to assets that may be in the parks and not the land itself.
Several local provincial recreation areas, including Park Lake Provincial Park, are on the government’s list for possible removal from the system.
