Parks Canada is under fire for branding Canada’s national parks a “colonial injustice,” prompting critics to accuse the federal agency of turning national pride into national shame.
“For millennia Indigenous people have cultivated reciprocal relationships with land, water and ice guided by cultural practices, values and knowledge systems,” said the report Evaluation Of The Indigenous Guardians Initiative Internal Review.
The 2024 Parks Canada document says national parks displaced Indigenous people and barred them from traditional lands. It was quietly released Jun. 22, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
Management admitted to withholding the unsigned report for two years. Parks Canada did not respond to a Juno News request for comment.
Conservative heritage critic Rachael Thomas called the designation “insane” in a social media post Thursday.
“Instead of celebrating Canada’s natural beauty and history, Parks Canada is reviewing heritage sites through an ideological lens,” Thomas said, adding that Canadians are “proud” of the country’s national parks and historic sites.
“They should be protected, preserved, and celebrated, not treated as something to be ashamed of.”
