Mr. Speaker, the nation's 400 park wardens have been unable to fulfill their responsibilities to enforce the laws and regulations of the National Parks Act as a result of a decision by the labour department. In Jasper National Park alone, wardens have been unable to act on any of the 900 violations that have been witnessed.
One incident this summer highlighted how ludicrous the situation has become. A diligent park gate attendant saw a pool of fuel after a diesel tanker pulled away. A warden two kilometres away answered the call but his enforcement powers had been neutered. He could not get involved with enforcement. The warden followed the visible stream of fuel from the diesel tanker through the entire park, waiting for the RCMP to show up and deal with the environmental mess, but nothing was done.
The heritage minister must agree that wardens need their enforcement responsibilities returned. I ask the labour minister to rein in her department. A little common sense would save our parks.