With the federal government waiving the entry fee to national parks in an effort to encourage Canadians to explore closer to home, some Calgarians say they would like to see the province follow suit and nix the Kananaskis Conservation Pass.
Longtime Calgarian Alexiss Groom is a Kananaskis Country regular. She hopes Alberta adopts something like the Canada Strong Pass — which allows Canadians to enter national parks free of charge — and drop the requirement for visitors to pay for the K-Pass.
“It does encourage us to stay home and use our national parks, but at the same time all of us in my hiking group said the same thing about Kananaskis,” she says.
“Why can we use all of these parks in our own province except for Kananaskis. We still have to pay. It is frustrating.”
Banff-Kananskis NDP MLA Sarah Elmeligi says there are better ways for Albertans to support parks.
The K-Pass generates about $12 million annually, but she says it goes to general revenue and there is no transparency when it comes to provincial claims it is reinvested into Kananaskis.
“Making our parks less accessible because they are expensive is just really a shame,” says Elmeligi. “Kananaskis country was created for all Albertans to enjoy.”
She says she would like to see the pass replaced with better, more equitable ways to ramp up revenue for the parks.
To enjoy Kananaskis and the Bow Valley corridor for a day it costs $15, with an annual pass costing $90. Entry on the first Wednesday of every month is free.
A provincial spokesperson tells CityNews the price of the K-Pass has not been changed since it was implemented and is required to support the area which sees about five million visitors annually.
“If you’re camping out there then of course you should pay a fee,” says Groom. “But, if you’re just using if for a day I don’t think you should pay money.”