Ecojustice lawyers have filed a court challenge against Parks Canada, aiming to quash the possibility of overnight accommodations at Jasper's Maligne Lake.
Aug. 22, the organization filed for a judicial review, asking Canada's Federal Court to rule on whether the superintendent of Jasper National Park, Greg Fenton, had the authority to give pre-approval to Maligne Tours Ltd.'s proposal to build overnight tent cabins at the lake.
July 25, Parks accepted all but one of the "enhancements" Maligne Tours Ltd. outlined in its development proposal for its Maligne Lake property, refusing only the construction of a 66-room hotel. Environmental advocates were quick to express their displeasure, raising concerns about the 15 tent cabins that would allow guests to stay overnight.
Ecojustice—a charitable organization that provides free legal services to environmental advocates—filed the court challenge on behalf of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and the Jasper Environmental Association (JEA), two of the organizations that came out the strongest against Parks' decision.
Maligne Lake sits in the Maligne Valley, which is home to the park’s smallest caribou herd—tallying only four animals—and is a major corridor for grizzly bears, a threatened species in Alberta. It’s also important harlequin duck habitat. CPAWS and the JEA are worried that increased overnight visitation will disrupt these struggling animals, but they are more worried about the precedent that could be set if the cabins are built.
Fraser Thomson is a staff lawyer with Ecojustice. He said Parks' decision directly contravenes the Jasper National Park of Canada Management Plan 2010, which states that no new land will be made available for overnight commercial accommodations outside of the Jasper townsite.
In order for construction of cabins at Maligne to proceed, Parks would have to release new land for them to be built on, a move that would require changing the management plan, presumably removing the stipulation that no new land can be made available for such projects.
Thomson explained that that change sits at the heart of the court challenge.
"Essentially it will put the question before the court whether or not this approval was legal, and whether or not it was reasonable," Thomson said.
"We will be asking the federal court to quash or overturn the superintendent’s decision to not only allow this proposal to proceed to the next step, but also to declare that these provisions in the management plan—that have been developed in consultation with the public an approved by the minister pursuant to the act—have to be honored by the superintendent, and have to be honoured by Parks Canada."
Alison Ronson, the executive director of CPAWS's Northern Alberta Chapter, believes the legal challenge is vital, because the management plan was developed after significant public input, and intended to set a framework for Parks' decision-making into the future.
She believes that if Parks is allowed to change the plan to make room for more development it will set a dangerous precedent, leaving the door open for other commercial operators to request similar changes in the future.
"If one commercial operator gets this treatment, than other commercial operators will be able to say to Parks Canada 'you provided this opportunity to Maligne Tours Ltd., now were asking for it as well' and it will just lead to incremental development in the park," she said.
Jill Seaton, chair of the JEA, agreed.
"This really shouldn't happen to the management plan. This is a far more important document than that. It's put together by everybody here in Parks; it's put together by the people in Ottawa; the minister has to table it in parliament; and yet Parks thinks it can just go and open it up again to allow for this development," she said.
Parks Canada was unable to comment at the time of publication, so it's unclear exactly what changes the organization plans to make to the management plan.
In an email, Parks representative Alisson Ogle wrote that "it would be inappropriate for Parks Canada to comment further" on the judicial review, because it is now a matter before the federal court.
Now that Ecojustice lawyers have filed the challenge, Thomson said the next step will be for them to file "what is essentially an affidavit." Parks will then have to decide if it wants to oppose that statement, and if it does the two sides will exchange written arguments, before the case proceeds to an oral hearing.
Thomson said it's hard to tell when that hearing might take place, but he guessed it might happen in six months to a year.
Read more on Parks Canada's decision to accept Maligne Tours Ltd.'s proposal here.
Click here for an in-depth look at the establishment of the park's management plan.
Trevor Nichols
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