Public consultation sought

Parks Canada is seeking public consultation on proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Study List Regulations under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) as it relates to the development of ski areas in national parks.

In layman’s terms, Parks Canada is looking for public input on changes to the process in which ski hills create long-term growth plans within a national park. 

Jasper’s Marmot Basin ski area is leading the way among ski hills within national parks in western Canada. They remain the only ski area that has successfully had their list of guidelines approved by Parks Canada. The next step in the process as it currently is mandated, is to create their long-range plans for submission to Parks Canada, which would then be passed along to CEAA should the changes not be approved.

Currently, CEAA oversees projects which will have an environmental impact such as large-scale hydro/electrical projects, new mines or nuclear plants. They perform federal environment assessments, also referred to as a comprehensive study, of these projects for approval. A comprehensive study can take up to a year.

The current process for ski areas was developed 10 years ago, and was approved by then Federal Environment Minister Rona Ambrose in 2006. 

“There’s a need for change because since the regulation was developed there’s been some rather significant changes in the underlying planning process in Parks,” said John Smith, director of legislative and regulatory affairs for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. 

The new changes would eliminate the need for CEAA to become involved in ski area growth, allowing Parks Canada to approve or deny the guidelines or any changes, at a local level. Environmental assessments will still be done with the new proposed changes, but it will change what projects need a screening or a comprehensive study.

“What the proposal does not do, is it doesn’t change the need for an environmental assessment,” said Smith. “It only updates the circumstances under which a comprehensive study-type of assessment is needed, versus a screening-type assessment. So that’s the guts of the proposal.”

Jasper National Park Superintendent Greg Fenton said the process for Marmot Basin would lie in each local superintendent’s hands, rather than be subject to a more national process, should the changes be amended.

“Ultimately, even after a comprehensive study, the decision about proceeding [will] come back to the local authority,” said Smith. “At the end of the day it all comes back to Parks Canada.”

The changes would retain the public consultation periods required for each step of the planning, but the consultations would be done locally. Parks Canada would thus be able to more effectively manage lease-held property while maintaining cultural and natural resources and ecological integrity.

Smith says the new regulations are not meant to streamline any projects currently being proposed.

“It’s not to get any specific projects done on the ski hills,” he said. 

Instead the new regulations will be updated, and there will be a greater policy direction. It provides a policy framework that was never there before to ensure ecological integrity. The new regulations will help determine long-term growth limits. 

“It’s a cleaning up,” said Fenton. 

The last time long-term plans were done was in the early 1980s. Thea Mitchell, public relations and communications person for Jasper National Park, says the long-term plans are way out of date technologically. 

“No one thought you could make a six-pack chair [when the long-term plans were created],” she said. 

Before 1998, there were no restrictions on long-range plans. Bill Fisher, Parks Canada’s director general for Western/Northern Canada, says the lack of a limit meant ski areas could develop indefinitely, with no regard for ecological integrity. 

“Ski areas could really advance a broad range of proposals,” he said. “Everything from hotel development to major expansions, and ski terrain.”

The implementation of the limits led to significant controversy when they were introduced at the turn of the century.

The guidelines are based on what a ski area hopes to develop in the future, but is not a green light from Parks that the individual projects will go ahead. The guidelines simply stipulate what conditions Parks would require to consider a project. Stipulations include research into animal habitats and more. 

“They know the steps that are ahead of them,” Mitchell said, adding that both parties have greater certainty in their future dealings with each other with the creation of the guidelines, similar to a community plan. 

Marmot Basin has been allowed to move forward with new projects due to the approval of their guidelines in February of 2008. Its competitors such as Lake Louise, Sunshine and Mount Norquay, are restricted on the amount of development they go forward with because they are much further behind in their approved guideline applications. 

Marmot Basin’s site guidelines are available on the Jasper National Park website. The process took a year to complete with two public consultations; one in Edmonton and one in Jasper. Fenton said the guidelines are meant to be permanent, but could be reviewed and amended in the future. 

“The majority should hold,” he said of the guidelines. 

In the 2008 guidelines, Marmot Basin did not outline any summer use. If it were to be proposed, it would be subject to a comprehensive study. 

The deadline for public consultation on the proposed changes to the Comprehensive Study List Regulations in relation to ski area development within national parks is Feb. 11. Comments or suggestions can be submitted to: 

John Smith

Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

160 Elgin Street, 22nd Floor

Ottawa, Ont. 

K1A 0H3

Phone: 1 (613) 948-1942, or 1-866-582-1884

Fax: 1 (613) 948-0897

john.smith@ceaa-acee.gc.ca

The final decision on the regulation changes will be decided on by the new Minister of Environment, Peter Kent.