With the Canada Infrastructure Bank, we found them lean and mean, so we didn't have an issue there.
Our issue has really been with Parks Canada. They are a bureaucratic bear. We knew that. We were private citizens living in Banff prior to getting involved in this. The feedback we've had within our community over the 24 years we've lived there is “don't even attempt to try to work with Parks”, as if there's a big “keep out” sign on their door for private businesses.
We understand their role as a regulator. All the businesses in Banff understand their role as a regulator. It's an important role, but there should also be an opportunity to have a business hat on and to work with private operators. Instead of a “keep out” sign, what we're thinking—and what many businesses are thinking—is that there should be a sign that says something like “come on in” and “we want to partner with you, with considerations”. Just like in the business-to-business community, considerations can be contracts and they can be agreements. We understand all of that, but work with us, with the private sector.
What we have observed with the bureaucracy at Parks Canada is there isn't that same sense of urgency to get things done. As I mentioned in my remarks, intercept parking had been official town policy in Banff for over 40 years, and not a single lot was built. Now, why was that? The Town of Banff and everyone in it wanted an intercept lot. The issue was that they didn't have land, and Parks Canada wasn't going to give them any. We got involved and bought land from CP rail, or leased it, and created the first lot. That's an example of businesses understanding urgency and importance.
Just to summarize, what you find in Banff National Park is that there's this real commitment to the status quo, and the changes that happen are so incremental—