(Parks Canada)

We’d love to say we’re surprised that Parks Canada cancelled Tuesday night’s community meeting about the proposed national park reserve in the South Okanagan, but filling the Oliver Community Centre with locals, allowed to ask their questions about the park in person, seemed a little too good to be true.

The announcement came on Monday evening when Sarah Boyle told Oliver town council that the meeting, as well as another with several local groups the following day, would be rescheduled so that senior officials could be in attendance.

An official announcement from Parks Canada came early the next morning.

A little more surprising was Parks Canada’s ruling to the South Okanagan-Similkameen Preservation Society (SOSPS) organizing the event that only 150 stakeholders would be allowed to attend the meeting. The society said it was advised of this one day after Parks Canada agreed to the date, only four days before the event was scheduled to happen.

Considering that a stakeholder is simply anyone who would be affected by the park, 150 seems like a paltry number.

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In August last year, over 450 people filled the Oliver Community Centre for a community-organized crime forum.

Local RCMP, politicians and Okanagan Correctional Centre personnel answered the public’s questions about crime, and heard their concerns.

The event also made great media coverage, with impassioned residents sharing personal anecdotes about how crime has affected them.

The same situation, but with Parks Canada on the hot seat, might not bode so well for the organization, especially with a federal election and potential change in overseeing minister on the horizon.

While Boyle was asked a few tough questions after her presentation to Oliver town council, answering a handful of local politicians isn’t the same as an emotionally-charged hall full of residents.

While property owners within the park would be allowed to sell their property, water councillor Rick Machial asked if the grazing rights would be transferable with the sale.

Boyle said Parks Canada has nothing defined yet, but is looking to “keep ranching in the family” and develop a framework similar to the province’s.

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Oliver mayor Martin Johansen asked if the local community is going to be involved in the decision to implement the park or simply be told what the final decision is.

Boyle said she’s heard a strong desire for working advisory committees and people should complete Parks Canada’s survey at letstalksouthokanagansimilkameen.ca and suggest that.

It’s unlikely Machial’s collected demeanor would be mirrored by a much larger group of stakeholders if they get the chance to ask Parks Canada the same question.

It’s still unclear if Parks Canada will enforce only having 150 stakeholders in the room, and if the event will be invite-only or security will be on hand to keep any more out of the Oliver Community Centre.

Hopefully the first time a few hundred stakeholders get to be in the same space as Parks Canada officials isn’t in the national park reserve once it’s opened.