Minister Penner's Math Challenge
Photo: mihow, sxc.hu
May 2009
Government documents reveal Environment Minister exaggerated number of park rangers by over 300 percent
A Freedom of Information document obtained by Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee shows that Environment Minister Barry Penner wildly miscounted the number of rangers in BC in a public comment earlier this week.
Minister Penner, responding to criticisms regarding recent park ranger staffing cuts, said in a media interview two days ago that the number of “rangers on-duty for the spring and summer will likely drop from 225 full-time equivalent positions last year to about 200 in 2009”.
In fact, there were only 63.8 full-time equivalent ranger positions in BC Parks in 2006/07 even before the latest round of cuts – just a fraction of the 225 full-time equivalent ranger positions Minister Penner erroneously said existed.
The document also shows BC has just 10 regular full-time equivalent park ranger positions year-round – one for every 1.3 million hectares of our stunning parks and protected areas.
“The BC government will spend $1.5 billion in public subsidies for the oil and gas industry over the next three years, yet it claims to have no money for adequate staffing of our parks and protected areas which receive almost 20 million visits every single year," said Sierra Club BC Executive Director George Heyman. "We risk destroying our natural legacy by slashing parks staffing yet again.”
