# @CMcalgary on Facebook

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- **Original URL:** https://www.facebook.com/984829759669087/posts/1451677982984260
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/57217237-CMcalgary-facebook
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- **Posted:** 2026-02-22T06:18:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** CMcalgary (@cmcalgary) — https://gondola.cc/cmcalgary

## Caption

Feb 17th, via Sarah Elmeligi - Banff-Kananaskis MLA 

"I sent a letter to the Ministers of Tourism and Sport and Forestry and Parks to rescind the Ministerial Order changing the boundaries of parks in Kananaskis to create All-Season Resort Areas."

👇 (copy/paste of the letter)

Dear Ministers Boitchenko and Loewen,

In December, the Government announced the designation of three All Season Resort Areas for Castle, Nakiska, and Fortress. These are the first areas designated under the All-Season Resorts Act. While I have always been supportive of the creation of an All-Season Resorts Act, I raised serious concerns about the Act’s contents in December 2024 when it was debated in the Legislature. One of the biggest concerns I raised at the time was that the bill put sweeping powers in the Minister’s office to change park and protected area boundaries, without consulting regional land use plans, the public, or Indigenous communities, to create All Season Resort Areas. The Minister at the time assured me that all standards of public consultation would be followed and that my proposed amendment was not necessary. These conversations are reflected in Hansard on November 27, December 2, and December 3, 2024.

On December 10, 2025, the Government released an All-Season Resorts policy and designated the province's first three All Season Resort Areas. All these areas change park or protected area boundaries; 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟯𝟬 𝗵𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟵𝟮𝟵 𝗛𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗸𝗶𝘀𝗸𝗮 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮. Albertans were not consulted nor were stakeholders notified of these changes. This is unacceptable and does not follow any standard public consultation process or the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan.

Kananaskis Parks are the most visited and most loved in the Alberta Parks system. People care about these parks intensely. Previous efforts to amend boundaries has been met with fierce public opposition and concern.

To bury these boundary changes in a press release about the All-Season Resort policy release is disappointing and dishonest. Even today, it is near impossible to find maps of how the boundaries have changed online or a copy of the Ministerial Order directing these changes. The lack of transparency regarding significant changes to a landscape that Albertans are passionate about is an abuse of power.

Parks and Protected Areas are a commitment that a government makes to its people. They are literally lines drawn on a map that promise the land within those boundaries will be managed in a specific way to meet specific objectives. To change those boundaries is effectively breaking that promise. This one move weakens the entire Provincial Park system. Once a park boundary can be amended to allow for an All-Season Resort, what is to stop future Ministers from amending park boundaries to allow for other housing developments or industrial land uses? Why designate provincial parks and protected areas at all if their boundaries can be amended on the whim of a Minister and a developer? Alberta’s park system is one that Albertans are proud of and that used to be of international repute. This decision in combination with a series of recent Government decisions (e.g., the rightly abandoned plan to delist 165 parks from the system, continued cuts to the Alberta Parks public service) negatively impacts Alberta’s provincial, national, and international reputation as a leader in Provincial Park planning and management.

There are also logistical implications of these boundaries changes that have not been thought through. Some of the most popular, family-friendly trails in Kananaskis have been impacted by the boundary change to create the Nakiska All Season Resorts Area. For the portions of these trails that are now within the All-Season Resort Area, there is no enforcement, trail maintenance, or public education and awareness because the Ministry of Tourism and Sport has no on-the-ground staff who are charged with those responsibilities. Further, there is nothing stopping the leaseholder from creating programs that charge Albertans for access to these once public resources. What was once public land and trails open to all is no longer. Another thing we debated at length in 2024 that I was assured would not happen.

Finally, changes to these boundaries completely undermine and reduce any consistency or predictability for businesses who are interested in resort development. The promise and commitment for Park and Protected Area boundaries is not only a commitment to Albertans, it also defines strict boundaries and legislated conditions for development. These are some of the most predictable guides for development to follow. This is not the case for the All-Season Resorts Act. The All-Season Resorts Act removes this consistency and reduces certainty for the tourism sector, thus weakening our ability to attract investment in this sector with any guarantees on regulatory frameworks and requirements.

The Ministerial Order that changed these Park boundaries for All-Season Resort Areas must be rescinded immediately to restore confidence in the parks system and trust Albertans have in their government to honour commitments. The All-Season Resort Areas should remain but be confined to previously existing park boundaries.

I look forward to hearing your response in this regard. Albertans and I will be watching closely for you both to remedy this error.

Respectfully,

Sarah Elmeligi
MLA Banff-Kananaskis
Shadow Minister Environment and Protected Areas

#Alberta 
#Kananaskis 
#Banff

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## Tags

banff, alberta, kananaskis

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