Imagine. You’ve been working at your job for 15 years for the same wage, while your workload has steadily increased. Don’t you think it’s time for a raise?
That’s the BC Parks system in a nutshell. Fifteen years of declining budgets has left us a parks system that’s starved for resources, with fewer staff to do the work than ever before.
In 2001, the BC Parks budget was $40.69 million. Zoom ahead to 2016 and the budget sits stalled at $31.09 million. Adjusting for inflation, this amounts to a real funding cut of $19.18 million, or 48 percent over 15 years.
In 2001 BC Parks had 27 full-time senior park rangers. Now there’s 7 – a 74 per cent reduction during a time when 2.3 million hectares were added to BC’s parks and protected areas. Total BC Parks staff has shrunk by 40 per cent since 2008.
Meanwhile, a BC government study on the economic benefits of BC Parks shows that $10 dollars in economic activity is generated for every dollar invested in BC's parks system.
Tell the BC government it’s time to re-invest in BC Parks. Sign the petition and check the BCGEU campaign page regularly for updates.
