September 1997
By Colin Kenny
The decision of Heritage Minister Sheila Copps to curb commercial development in Banff National Park is half a victory for the 30 million Canadians who own the park. A complete victory will require that she look at the consequences of her decision: Banff could well turn into a retreat for rich foreigners and the odd rich Canadian unless the federal government drops the other shoe.
The environmental issues in Banff were pretty obvious, and Ms. Copps responded appropriately. After all, if you can't treat nature fairly within a national park, there isn't much hope of nature getting a square deal anywhere across this land. We Canadians can't afford to foul our own nests. Surveys have shown that both Canadians and people around the world see our natural endowments at the very core of Canada's identity.
Banff's glorious natural treasures deserve a break from ever-increasing commercial pressures. In June, the town council of Banff passed a plan calling for 850,000 square feet of commercial development in Banff. The federal government's task force, whose responsibility it is to offer advice on rehabilitating Canada's most popular park, argued the development would impose "an unacceptable burden on the ecological integrity in the valley."
Members of the task force went on to recommend that not only should development in Banff be stopped - it should be rolled back. Anybody who has been to Banff recently is likely to come away with a sense that we are spoiling something that is very important to us. So the minister has declared that housing shortages should take precedence over commercial expansion, and even new housing will have to have "no net environmental impact." Good.
But more visitors keep coming to Banff every year, so it is going to be increasingly difficult to get accommodation. That is simply a price that will have to be paid. But that also raises the question of what prices will have to be paid for the accommodation and services that currently exist.
Commercial investors in Banff have done well by this tourist site. Banff, however,wasn't developed to serve commercial investors. Part of what is now Banff National Park became the very beginnings of Canada's entire national parks system way back in 1885.
What made the government set 26 square kilometres on the northern slope of Sulphur Mountain? It all started when two railway employees working on the first transcontinental railway discovered sulphur hot springs on the site. To quote The Canadian Encyclopedia, this is what happened next:
"Knowledge of the discovery (and its potential as a tourist attraction) spread rapidly among the railway workers, and several conflicting claims were addressed to the minister of the interior. The government chose not to grant private title to the lands; instead, it was decided that they should be preserved for the benefit of all Canadians."
Exactly. Ordinary Canadians already find it difficult to budget for a vacation that includes Banff. The park is enormously popular with foreign tourists, and prices in Banff are already extremely high, even if you don't stay at the elegant Banff Springs Hotel.
With commercial development frozen, vested interests already ensconced in Banff aren't likely to resist the temptation to jack up prices even higher. (It is interesting that many of those already doing business in Banff sided with environmentalists against future development.)
It isn't fashionable these days to suggest that government erect any kinds of barriers to entrepreneurs. But there is a difference between entrepreneurs and monopolists and oligopolists.
Measures should be taken to ensure that the hefty prices already being charged visitors don't rise more than the national rate of inflation. Otherwise the vast majority of Canadians will never have a chance to mix with the influx of wealthy foreigner visitors who are themselves rightfully captivated by the wonders of Banff.
Keeping ordinary Canadians out of Banff would be the antithesis of the original concept of the park. Even back in the rough-and-ready days of laissez-faire capitalism that marked the early years of Confederation, our forefathers knew that other things were important to nationhood.
Building a transcontinental railway was one of them. Making this spectacular park accessible to all Canadians was another. It would be a real pity to save the natural splendour of Banff for everybody except those for whom it was intended.
He can be reached via email at kennyco@sen.parl.gc.ca