Fourteen years ago, thanks to the Harper government, Parks Canada took a massive and seemingly disproportionate hit. At the time I was close to retirement and my last day of work was just days ahead of what came to be called “Black Monday”. In response I wrote a blog post I titled “Worst Day” because it truly was one of the worst days of my more than three decade long career working for national parks. A lot of friends and colleagues were hurt by those cuts, especially in the almost ruthless way the Harper government oversaw the process as people I saw as the future of the organization were shown the door.

Fast forward through the Trudeau era and from the outside looking in it seemed to me that Parks Canada was getting back on track. Even though some of the Harper appointees remained in their positions, the guts of the organization, the field level staff at parks and sites across the country, seemed to be rebounding. During countless visits to parks and sites over these past 14 or so years I have never been anything other than proud of the next generation of Parks Canada staff that have taken our place.

So the recent news of cuts to Parks Canada hits hard again and I feel for those folks whose lives and careers hang in the balance. I do however take some solace from the sense that this time round, a more humane approach prevails. But we’ll see.

I don’t think there’s any time in our country’s history (or the planet’s for that matter) when we’ve needed parks and protected areas more. Not only from an ecological perspective, but after COVID, the value of these special places took on even greater significance as we collectively realized how much we also need them from a social and mental health perspective.

I think there is a generation of people about to hold the reigns of power that get it, and despite everything else, I feel optimistic for the future. That’s not to minimize the hurt that I know these impending cuts are causing or will cause, but I hope that at the end of the day, when the dust clears, the bulk of that next generation of Parks Canada employees will still be in place.

So please … Persevere.

PS – For what it’s worth, I revisited that initial blog post in light of the hits the US National Park Service have taken over the past 2 years and share it here.