The Alberta government wants to hand off management of 164 provincially run parks to outside groups.
The move was hinted at in yesterday’s budget and confirmed by a spokeswoman for Environment Minister Jason Nixon.
Jess Sinclair says the United Conservative government will begin looking for partners to run the parks in May.
She says the government is subsidizing a financially struggling parks system that needs to be modernized.
Budget documents say some provincial parks will in the future by run by everyone from municipalities and Indigenous groups to non-profit societies.
The documents say that will allow the province to focus its funding on “high-value areas.”
The government has budgeted for a slight decline in parks spending over the next three years.
The Canadian Press
