Another Bribe From Christie Clark!

[Dogbreath]

In the spirit of bribing people with their own money the Christie Campbell Clark gubmint has decided to make parking in parks we already own free-ain't she cute?

Click Here to be nauseated

Parking now free in B.C. Parks

Parking will now be free in all B.C. provincial parks, the premier announced on Tuesday

"Parking will now be free in provincial parks, B.C. Premier Christy Clark announced on Tuesday, as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the provincial park system.

"The parking meters are coming out and parking will be free, effective immediately, so that British Columbia's parks are even more welcoming for families," said Clark in a statement.

"Our parks not only contribute to a healthy lifestyle and protect our environment, they are important to our economy. More park visitors mean more tourism dollars and more jobs for rural British Columbians and we want to eliminate any barriers to using the parks."

The move marks a significant change from the user-pay philosophy of her predecessor former premier Gordon Campbell, who was widely criticized for cutting back services and laying off rangers.

The free parking will not apply to municipal, regional or national parks in B.C. though, because they are not run by the provincial government.
Special funding for centennial celebrations

The province has also allocated $500,000 to fund special events and projects held in parks across the province all year, to honour 100 years of conservation and recreation in B.C.

"B.C. Parks are a part of who we are.They help define us as British Columbians, and show that we care deeply about our environment and our planet." said Environment Minister Terry Lake in the statement.

With 13.6 per cent of the province set aside as parkland and protected areas, B.C. has the second largest park system in Canada, second only to the national park system, according to the statement.

"The new legacy fund looks to the future and the improvements we can continue to make, and it looks to the past 100 years by recognizing that community groups have played a key role in making the parks and protected areas system what it is today," he said."

 

[Enniberg]

I think she did the right thing - why get wound up about that???

 

[Pippen]

I applaud her for getting rid of it!

We pay plenty for access to resources, land tracts and infrastructure that we as the taxpayers/citizens fund and own.

It sure isn't that often you see a gov't at Provincial or Federal level reversing a revenue generator.

 

[Fish-Hunter]

maybe it wasnt really generating any revenue and actually costing more because they have to attempt to enforce it, you always have to wonder tho when they do reverse a potential revenue generator where is the money that was generated from said generator going to get cut from or how will they try and replace that lost revenue....holmes*

It was reported today that it generated approximately $1mil/year province wide. They did not however reveal how much it cost to implement the program in the first place, maintain the meters every year, enforce it, or what any of the costs were per year for the program. It would not surprise me to find that it was revenue neutral or even perhaps costing money.
Glad that she removed it, political or not it was a good move to get rid of something that really irked a lot of people that enjoy being in the outdoors, one of the few healthy things we all can do for free.

 

[beemer]

yes its time for the govt to realize that healthy living at a low to no cost is actually saving the govt money, ppl that live in a healthy manner are going to cost the health care system a lot less than some couch potato, as well as having many other direct and indirect benefits to the economy and society as a whole....holmes*

Holmes , what is your ideal government? really tell us

 

[ella1985]

Looks prettynutrition supplementsnice!

 

[Bassblaster]

So parking is free. That's a good thing. But have the rates at the park entry gates gone up? Governments rarely if ever give something back to the people without hiding it somewhere else. If parking was a buck a day as an example, and they raised the access rate to the park to off-set, it's a wash. If the gate rate is higher, then we're just getting hosed a different way. I haven't been to any of the parks for a while, so I can't say. But realistically I could see it getting slipped in on the back side. No pun intended. LOL