magazine / so01
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September/October 2001 issue |
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EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK
Wardens in arms
A handgun is the one piece of equipment you will not see in the photos of Jasper National
Park warden Gordon Antoniuk, who is featured in our story about a backcountry patrol he made,
on horseback, with writer Ed Struzik in tow. Like all national park wardens across Canada,
Antoniuk is not allowed to carry such a weapon. He is permitted to carry a rifle into the
wilderness, but it can be used only to fell an attacking grizzly or to shoot his horse should
it break a leg.
In February, Antoniuk and his colleagues also lost the authority to arrest hunters poaching
game in the parks, to ticket campers lighting illegal fires, to stop speeders in wildlife-crossing
areas and generally to enforce the laws and regulations within national parks. For the moment,
RCMP officers are performing many of the regular enforcement duties of national park wardens.
This extraordinary turn of events was triggered by a complaint made under the Canada Labour
Code by the wardens’ union, which argued that Parks Canada was failing to provide wardens
with the equipment and training required for law-enforcement duties. A health and safety
investigation ensued, and in February the investigator ruled that wardens are increasingly
at risk and should be provided with side arms.
Most provincial conservation officers have the right to carry handguns. Fisheries officers
carry them. A committee established by Parks Canada to study the issue also recommended that
the wardens involved in enforcement duties (roughly 187 of the approximately 450 on the payroll
during the summer season) should be issued the weapons. Yet the idea has been vetoed by Parks
Canada CEO Tom Lee, who is appealing the labour code ruling, has temporarily suspended the
enforcement responsibilities of all wardens and has contracted out to the RCMP responsibility
for law enforcement in the parks.
Lee believes that giving the wardens guns "will fundamentally change" the organization,
nudging it further in the direction of law enforcement and a more hierarchical and disciplined
police structure. And it would tend to attract those interested in careers in law enforcement
as opposed to those with a keen interest in the ecology and geology of the parks.
For all the wardens’ concerns about safety, Lee says that there has been no startling rise
in violence directed against them, and that of the handful of "danger incidents" which
have been reported, most have been related to highway-traffic enforcement. That’s a responsibility
he’d like to hand back to the police permanently.
The labour code appeal is not expected to be heard until later this fall. In the meantime,
the RCMP has assigned officers to all national parks.
I understand the concerns of the wardens, but I am sympathetic to Lee’s vision of the parks.
The account of the debate offered above has skimmed the surface of the dispute between the
union and the CEO. I’d like to open this discussion to everyone — wardens, Parks Canada administration
and you, our readers. For the past year, we have been reporting on the renewed commitment
by Parks Canada to the goal of ecological integrity. In feature stories, we have examined
the pressures on wildlife in the parks, stresses of rising visitation and the perils and
pleasures of living next to a national park. Through it all, we have invited readers to tell
us about their relationship to the parks. Your responses, posted to our website, have been
passionate.
Finally, in addition to the awards we reported in our last issue, in June Canadian
Geographic was named Magazine of the Year by the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors. I take this as
a tribute to the fine work by all the writers, photographers and illustrators who contribute
to the magazine, and to my colleagues, every one of whom brings smart ideas, wit and enthusiasm
to these pages.
— Rick Boychuk
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