Dear Editor:

Environment Minister Mary Polak needs to be congratulated for putting in place a public consultation process to resolve the South Okanagan national park debate.

This locally contentious issue threatens to become a divisive issue for the provincial Liberals if not resolved before the next provincial election.

Polak’s consultation process has been well received by all sides as a fair and credible process.

Her ministry has received thoughtful and meaningful input on important issues such as the minimum size required for a viable national park, the inclusion of Mount Kobau and the need for connectivity between protected areas.

Polak needs to continue her good work and to ensure the ongoing integrity of the process she has put in place.

The important next step of distilling and assessing the feedback her ministry has received needs to be open and transparent. It needs to be part of an informed and non-biased decision-making process. Otherwise, the validity of her policy recommendations to the Premier and Cabinet cannot be trusted.

Last week, local MLA Linda Larson floated the idea that she will herself hand pick and chair a focus group of local cattlemen, business persons and environmentalists to review and summarize the survey responses.

With the help of ministry staff, her focus group would report their findings to Polak. The members of the group would remain secret to avoid harassment by the public.

Larson’s troublesome proposal is contrary to everything that the Christy Clark government stands for – openness, transparency and informed decision making. Polak may well decide that her consultative process requires oversight by an independent committee to ensure its integrity, but Larson’s self-appointed focus group is not the answer.

Larson is not independent of government nor is she unbiased on the national park issue. She has been a strident opponent of the national park for many years.

Her approach and attitude are largely responsible for the divisiveness the national park issue has created in the South Okanagan. Her strong biases would fatally taint any committee process.

Larson cannot, as she is suggesting, select the committee members and then keep the names of those members secret.

There needs to be an open selection process and clear accountability.

Particularly troublesome is the absence of any suggestion by Larson that local First Nations would be included in her committee.

Polak has firmly committed to First Nations that they will be fully engaged in every step of the decision-making process.   

The “intentions paper” focused on a single issue and essentially asked a single question. How can the boundaries of proposed protected areas be best defined and then co-managed with First Nations in a way that protects the environment and promotes tourism while at the same time recognizing existing uses and respecting private land ownership?

Properly summarizing and assessing the responses to this question requires a deep understanding of First Nations culture and values, species at risk and biodiversity issues, the history and importance of ranching in our community and the potential for a recreationally based tourism industry. It is work best done by the knowledgeable professional staff within Polak’s ministry, not by an ad hoc focus group chaired by Larson.

Polak needs to immediately put her consultative process back on track. If she feels the need for an oversight committee, she needs to announce an open process for the selection of truly independent and appropriately qualified committee members. She needs to publish clear and transparent terms of reference, defining and limiting the roll of the committee.

She needs to reserve the task of summarizing and assessing the survey results and determining the outcome of the consultative process to her ministry.   

Larson is neither independent from government nor unbiased on the national park issue, and she is not the appropriate person to select and chair any review  committee. Polak is responsible for running a fair and open consultative process.Based in part on her recommendations, the provincial Cabinet and local First Nations, working together, will make the final decisions on the national park in negotiations with Parks Canada and the new Trudeau government.

Al Hudec

Oliver, B.C.

(Editor’s Note: Al Hudec is a Vancouver lawyer who now lives in the South Okanagan and has written about environmental issues for many years.)