[George Prevost]

At our most recent executive meeting Mike Gilbert shared some notes from a Parks Canada meeting where options for summer re-opening were discussed.  Some of the information is a bit alarming.  Here are the notes:

Broken Island Group Parks Canada Meeting January 15th, 2021

 

Notes:

–   Nine 1st Nations have claims within park

–   nothing set in stone; all options still on the table

– Options include: Full Opening; Partial Opening; No Opening
–   looking at high season only for this meeting; May 1st – Sept. 30th, 2021

– Low Season (Oct 1 – April 30) to be looked at during a March meeting

–   looking at how protocols & procedures should look

–   what should the park’s Covid Safety Plan look  like?

–   how to communicate these as well as collaborate with interested parties

–   concerns about 1st Nations interaction; keeping Beachkeepers safe & healthy

–   commercial vs private use

–   reservation system not opening until March 1st (if at all)

Private Groups (ie. Clubs)
There is talk about implementing the following although nothing has been done yet…

1.               There must be 1 person within the group with WFA Training and who must carry medical supplies

1.       Level of certification to be established

2.       There must be a Group Leader who must have some Guide experience

1.       Level of certification to be established

2.       One organization to be recognized or multiple? ie. SKGABC, Paddle Canada, etc.

3.       Group must apply for a permit

4.       A group Safety Plan must be filed

 

Reservations / Bookings – Concerns for Clubs
1.       the booking system does not differentiate between commercial bookings and private bookings

2.       private groups must be ready with numbers at time reservation system opens if they want the best chance of getting dates and locations they desire.

3.       At this time reserving is a free for all ie. Commercial users can reserve as much as they want; no pre-set percentage of bookings – especially by site – are set aside for private groups. Currently the park’s booking system cannot differentiate.

Ideas Parks & Attendees looked at:

1.       Covid Safety Plans

2.       Protocols and Procedures

3.       Camping Ettiquete

4.       Collaboration & communication

5.       1st Nation Interaction

6.       Risk Management

7.       Closure / Limited Access / Fully Open

8.       Safety of Beach Keepers

Attendees:

Kevin Bradshaw                                  Hello Nature Adventure Tours

Jan Kretz                                             Adventuress Sea Kayaking

Janette Galan                                     SKGABC

Silke Hockemeyer                              Wild Root Adventures Ericc Boros / Tracey Eeftink                                    Majestic Kayaking

JF Marleau                                          SKILS

Dave Towell                                        A/Supt. PRNPR

Ryan Teremy                                      Jamie’s Whaling Station

Tammy Dorward                                 !st Nations Program Mgr. – PRNPR

Toddy                                                  Archipelago Cruises

Fred Pishazski                                    BC Marine Trails / SISKA

Jack Rosen                                         Coastal Current Adventures / SKGABC

Brandy Lee Lauder                             Councillor Hupacasath 1st Nation

Matt Kellow                                         Co-ordinator, Outdoor Recreation, Vancouver Island University

Mike Gilbert                                         Paddle Canada / SKGABC / BC Kayak Centre / Lower Mainland Sea Kayak Clubs

Topic

[George Prevost]

Things don’t look good for non-commercial users of the Broken Group Islands, at least in the short term. Parks Canada held a meeting with “commercial operators and sstakeholders” on January 15 to discuss plans for the possible re-opening of the islands for the upcoming summer season.  Here’s a link to a copy of their notes from the meeting:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t3m7f25zwv71voe/BGI%20Stakeholder%20Input%20-2021%20Visitor%20Season%20-%20Record%20of%20Discussion.pdf?dl=0

The Parks Canada notes give more details of what Mike Gilbert shared in his notes (see previous post). The impression I get is that the focus of the meeting was on how the various commercial entities could safely share the space while there are still public health concerns.  There appears to be very little consideration of how private users might be accommodated other than suggestions that any private group meet a number of what look like fairly onerous requirements.

[Author]

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