I've watched it move across the province.
Mr. Carroll, Parks Canada's guiding principles and operating policies state that:
National park ecosystems will be managed with minimal interference to natural processes.
We constantly hear that the pine beetle is a natural process, but there is a following sentence there that reads:
However, active management may be allowed when the structure or function of an ecosystem has been seriously altered and manipulation is the only possible alternative available to restore ecological integrity.
I am bringing this question up because you're probably aware that, if you drive from the west side of Jasper National Park to the east side, you will see it is brown. It is not green anymore, folks; it is brown. I can give you letters from two or three different people. The town of Jasper is in a panic situation for fire. The residents are panicking. The visitations are down because of the brownness of our park, yet we're not seeing any action being taken to stop the pine beetle within the park. It has moved through the park. We've watched it over the last seven or eight years, and now it's out the gate and it's spreading through western Alberta.
Do you believe action needs to be taken and that there could be more action taken?
I'm putting you in a tight spot.