CPAWs & Defend Alberta Parks
CPAWs &
Defend Alberta Parks
Words by Travis Klemp
FEATURE
If you are based in Alberta there’s a high chance you have seen one of the green and white ‘Defend Alberta Parks’ signs in your neighborhood and, if you are not from Alberta, trust us that they were basically everywhere. Some areas more than others, but it was hard to miss while driving through most neighborhoods.
Aside from the curious aesthetic and message behind the signs, the rate that they were showing up was hard not to notice. These signs seemed to take over neighborhood lawns overnight and it was quick to make clear where Albertans’ values land in regards to our provincial parks. Albertans cared about the future of our parks and they were willing to let their neighbours know it.
With Good Planet Project being based in Alberta we could not watch the success of such an impactful environmental initiative and not dig in a bit deeper. Also, in addition to satisfying our own curiosity about the initiative, we were excited about the opportunity to speak with The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), leaders of the Defend Alberta Parks campaign and a nationally respected environmental charity.
Over the past two years CPAWS has led the charge in creating change within Alberta and questioning how the current government values our public lands and environment. More than that, CPAWS and the Defend AB Parks campaign has shown that, with the support of the community, people can alter the course and decisions of those in power.
The campaign all resulted from the February 2020 budget put forward by the current UCP government; put simply, it lacked a lot of transparency, and that’s something that voters typically put high value on. The yearly provincial budget is one of those places that campaign promises, and future goals or initiatives, can be presented and/or acted upon. But the budget can also be a place where ambiguity and vagueness can be cause for concern amongst those reviewing it. This was the case in February of 2020 when the United Conservative Party (UCP), led by Premier Jason Kenney, released their budget with plenty of vague points throughout. In particular, the Optimizing Alberta Parks plan which spoke to the delisting of 175 Alberta parks piqued the interest of multiple groups.
Without getting too much into the weeds, delisting or deregulation of parks refers to the transfer of the land from being managed under Alberta’s protected areas legislation, such as the Provincial Parks Act that the parks are currently managed by. This legislation guides the use of public lands either for recreation or conservation purposes and prohibits things like resource development which could come in the form of mining, forest harvesting, tourism development and much more.
The more general Public Lands Act, under the proposed Optimizing Alberta Parks plan¸ would eventually house the protected lands and open them up to potential industrial development, which is where most of the development in the province happens.
While they may not have been the face of the public resistance to the UCP’s new approach to protected areas, Chris Smith, Katie Morrison and Tara Russell were leading the charge from CPAWS chapters in both Northern and Southern Alberta.
“We immediately took notice of the item in the budget, as did many other Albertans and conservation groups, and began our regular process of social media campaigns, letter writing, etc.”, says Morrison, who is the conservation director of the Southern Alberta CPAWS chapter.
But, as Russell adds, not all the regular, community mobilizing efforts could be done the same way. As the pandemic became the main issue on everyone’s mind, regular “days of action” for citizens turned virtual, and town halls looked much different than in past years. However, while every piece of this citizen-led initiative was essential, it was the Defend Alberta Parks lawn signs quickly popping up all over the province that really created momentum. All made possible by their partnership with the Alberta Environmental Network.
“People would call in, asking for signs, and we didn’t have enough. We were making them as people were calling and the calls were coming in seemingly non-stop,” says Morrison.
In total, over 23 000 lawn signs were requested alongside 22 000 letters written to MLA’s and the provincial government pleading to protect the parks that Albertans are so connected to. This effort also included over 1,600 volunteers in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge and Canmore, to name a few.
“It was eye-opening to see how engaged and passionate the public was immediately. We rarely get this many people talking about issues in the public sphere and this kind of organic passion in so many communities was unprecedented,” says Russell, the program director of the Northern CPAWS chapter. She continues, “I think lots of it was driven by how little provision there was by the government on where the parks were, what was being impacted and how they would be impacted.”
A major strength of CPAWS as an organization is digging in on issues that lack transparency and yet could be so detrimental to our natural landscapes. In this case, the ‘Optimizing Alberta Park’s’ press release that highlighted delisting, sale and/or direct closure of parks gave them immediate cause for concern. The lack of clarity within the press release, in the long run, was a major mistake from the UCP. They hid behind legislative jargon and left the definition of the Optimizing Alberta Parks plan to groups like CPAWS, and allowed Russell, Morrison and Smith’s teams to investigate and ultimately control the narrative.
As the campaign's momentum grew and the people became increasingly frustrated by the lack of government answers the UCP decided to host a town hall zoom session with Environment and Parks minister Jason Nixon. During the zoom session the chat feature was disabled and the hour long town hall failed to slow down the pace that the Defend AB Parks campaign was spreading.
Simply put, people were hungry for information and they did not want to sift through pages of government language that some might say can only be interpreted by those who write it.
Smith, the parks coordinator for the Northern Alberta CPAWS chapter, says that part of the ‘organic passion’ came from the difficulties of the pandemic. “The whole Defend AB parks came at a time when COVID-19 had just begun and people were getting outdoors, walking, hiking, utilizing parks maybe more than ever. What the government was doing wasn’t matching up with what people wanted, which was more campsites and more accessibility. How they approached it made people much less trustworthy; as it went on, and as they continued to deny that they were doing anything, people who were maybe on the fence started to question them. Many Albertans feel a real sense of stewardship for the land,” says Smith.
Equally as important as transparency from our elected officials, likely more for many people, is consultation; and this plan from the UCP to literally take something that Albertans love and cherish, and see as part of our identity, without any consultation really energized people to fight back and make sure their voice was heard.
“Mystery is always intriguing,” says Russell with a laugh.
But it is absolutely true. Maybe people would have had the same opposition to the Optimizing Alberta Parks plan if it were clearly laid out and consulted on before just being sneakily agreed upon behind the scenes, but we will never know that. Feeling like your government is trying to pull a fast one on you immediately incites an emotional response and when an organization like CPAWS steps in and says “let’s fight this, we will help you do it” of course you’re going to write a letter, stab a sign in your front yard, or do whatever else needs to be done to protect something you care about.
Ultimately, the mishaps by the provincial government and the tireless and vigilant work done by CPAWS staff throughout Alberta resulted in a win. On December 22, 2020, the provincial government announced that the Optimizing Alberta Parks plan will not go forward. They updated their site with the following message:
“As a result, no sites included under the Budget 2020 optimization plan will be delisted. All will remain open and accessible to Albertans. All will retain their current designations and associated protections.”
The letters worked and, as Smith mentioned, what Albertans wanted was shared loud and clear. Nixon’s statement on the Dec. 22nd announcement reflected just that:
“Many Albertans, including myself, love and value our parks and wild spaces. With more Albertans than ever staying in the province, now is the ideal time to ensure we all have access to these spaces and that they remain protected. I am grateful for the hard work of our parks partners and look forward to keeping our parks system sustainable for future generations.”
CPAWS was instrumental in creating political change with their expertise and capacity to distil confusing information into accessible pieces but their ability to harness the passion of thousands, coral it into a common goal, and protect the land we live on from continued and ongoing destruction is a much larger win. It shows that we as citizens can fight alongside one another to stop our environment from being mistreated and disrespected, and it can work.
The goal of CPAWS is simple, “to protect the majority of our public land and water so that future generations can experience Canada’s irreplaceable wilderness.”
With the Defend AB Parks campaign, they have made a huge step in doing just that.
