JOFFRE LAKES PROVINCIAL PARK, B.C.: Want to visit one of B.C.’s most beautiful provincial parks? Better hope you can beat the scalpers.
Every morning, scalpers are scooping up Joffre Lakes day-use passes and trying to flip them for a profit, while ordinary British Columbians are left shut out of their own provincial park.
Taxpayer dollars are going towards maintaining this system, only for those seeking to make a quick buck to take advantage of the current system in place. The NDP government has not taken serious steps to resolve this issue, and it denies British Columbians the ability to enjoy their own parks.
“Our amazing provincial parks like Joffre Lakes are jewels of this province and the heritage of all British Columbians,” said Linda Hepner, Shadow Minister for Environment and Parks. “But the NDP government has given up managing access for all British Columbians for a model based on privilege rather than equality. Access to Joffre Lakes has already been repeatedly denied to non-Indigenous British Columbians for several weeks at a time, and now it is being restricted to the public again through the government’s failure to prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the reservation system. I am urging the Minister of Environment and Parks to investigate what is happening and shut down the scalping of passes.”
“Our provincial parks belong to all British Columbians, and all British Columbians should be able to enjoy them,” said Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. “But the park reservation system is just one of many examples of the NDP allowing the quality of government programs to deteriorate. Perhaps if the NDP spent more energy on ensuring our parks run well than trying to give them away, we wouldn’t have got to this point.”
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