Environment & Parks Minister hopes to return voices to “disenfranchised” Castle-Livingstone-Porcupine region

Aug 1, 2019 | 11:02 AM

CROWSNEST PASS, AB – Minister Jason Nixon is touring the southwestern section of the province to speak with residents and stakeholders.

Castle-Livingstone-Porcupine extends from the farthest corner of Alberta through the Crowsnest Pass and extends along the provincial border to an area just south of Calgary.

He says a lot of people in the region felt that they were not being heard by the previous NDP administration, especially as talks were going on about only allowing off-highway-vehicle owners to ride on designated trails.

“The reality is that many stakeholder groups feel that they were disenfranchised during that process, that they did not have adequate access to the minister or the government in regards to decisions that were being made and they felt like they weren’t being heard.”

Nixon claims that he, along with Livingstone-Macleod MLA Roger Reid and Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf, are not visiting the area with any particular agenda, but rather, to simply lend an ear.

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There are a few items that he says are always on their minds.

“We campaigned on having a look at how we balance the land use issues between recreation and, obviously, conservation, which is an important environmental concern, and as well as the economy as well as having a look at how we manage public lands and how we work with non-profit organizations that help us on the landscape. Those are all key components of our platform.”

Nixon is looking to grow those partnerships in both the short and long term.

The trio started their trip on Tuesday and head back to their constituencies Thursday night.

by David Opinko