Jasper has its own pace. It’s one that’s a few beats slower than most communities, with most locals running on “Jasper time” and showing up five minutes late to all of their appointments.
It’s a way of life in our mountain town.
But, sometimes, despite our acceptance of Jasper’s easy-going, laid back approach, we expect action.
It’s been nearly a month since the Liberals were elected and a lot has happened since then, but here in Jasper National Park, we haven’t quite reaped the benefits of our new government the way that other communities have. Not yet, anyway.
You see, although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a directive to unmuzzle the country’s scientists, allowing them to speak freely with the media and public about their work, we haven’t yet seen that directive trickle down to the staff in the Jasper Field Unit.
In fact, over the past few weeks, the Fitzhugh has struggled to nail down interviews with Parks Canada scientists and experts, often pushing our deadlines to the last minute or missing them all together. In one case, our request to speak to a scientist about the pigeons roosting in town was flatly rejected nearly two weeks after the interview request was made.
While these frustrations are nothing new—(we did live through Stephen Harper’s reign)—we’re surprised how difficult it remains to get a straight forward answer out of Parks, especially as other government scientists speak freely with the media.
Last week we became so frustrated with our inability to gather information that we reached out to senior Parks staff in Gatineau, Que. in an attempt to hold the government to account and ensure
Jasper will benefit from the directives of our new Liberal government.
In response, Natalie Fay, a media relations advisor for Parks, confirmed the agency’s commitment to providing Canadians with timely and accurate information.
“Parks Canada scientists and experts are available share their research and speak freely about their work with the media and the public,” she stated in a Nov. 13 email.
“Like many government departments, procedures are being updated to formally implement this direction.”
Now, please, forgive us if we’re a wee bit impatient, but after spending the last four years struggling to get a scientist on the phone and, for the past year and a half, receiving emailed statements in place of real-time interviews, we’re dying to talk to a human being about what’s actually going on in our park.
In October, Canadians elected a government that promised to be more open and transparent and now the onus is now on Parks to fulfill that promise.
We can unabashedly say, we’re greatly looking forward to that.
