{"id":7174,"date":"2013-01-15T17:00:07","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T22:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=7174"},"modified":"2013-01-15T12:35:30","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T17:35:30","slug":"parks-canada-fee-proposals-include-steep-hikes-for-historic-canals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2013\/01\/15\/parks-canada-fee-proposals-include-steep-hikes-for-historic-canals\/","title":{"rendered":"Parks Canada fee proposals include steep hikes for historic canals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Locking through Smiths Falls, Ontario on the Rideau Canal in June 2007. (photo by Lucy Martin)<\/p><\/div>\n

How important is boat traffic to the Rideau Canal and the communities along that corridor? And what effect might higher fees have on canal usage?<\/p>\n

From Jan 11 until Feb 18, Parks Canada is seeking public comment<\/a> on a variety of user fees, most of which\u00a0have been fixed for the last 5 years. (Some current fee schedules can be found here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Proposed changes include steep hikes to use locks on historic canals, including the Kingston to Ottawa Rideau Canal. Parks Canada has this FAQ on\u00a0proposed canal fee changes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The current payment system includes single passes that permit boaters to use as many or as few locks as they chose, in spans ranging from single-day to full season. \u00a0The new proposal would consist of buying tickets for each lock used.\u00a0According to a detailed article<\/a> by Don Butler in the Ottawa Citizen:<\/p>\n

The new fee structure would raise the cost of travelling the full length of the canal by 287 per cent. The owner of a 20-foot boat now pays $93 in lockage fees for the Ottawa-to-Kingston trip, but would pay $360 under Parks Canada\u2019s proposal. For owners of 40-foot boats, the cost of a one-way trip would soar from the current $186 to $720.<\/p>\n

The percentage increase would be even larger \u2014 more than 340 per cent \u2014 for boaters who now buy a season\u2019s pass. The owner of a 25-foot boat can buy a season\u2019s pass for $220. But the same boater would pay $975 for 130 tickets under the new system.<\/p>\n

The fee increases apply to canoes and kayaks, as well, though they would need one fewer ticket to pass through a lock station than a power boat. Under the current system, those who want to paddle the full length of the canal can buy a transit pass for $74.40. If Parks Canada\u2019s proposed fees are adopted, the cost would rise to $182.40 in 2014.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monday’s Ottawa Citizen included an editorial that criticized the proposed fees<\/a> for the negative impact they could have on the “culture and economy of eastern Ontario”.<\/p>\n

Private citizen Ken Watson hosts a website dedicated to the Rideau Canal.<\/a> That site now has a “save our Rideau”<\/a> page\u00a0which argues these hikes (and other policy decisions) are short-sighted and will prove detrimental to boating and the region’s economy.<\/p>\n

There are several\u00a0Facebook page on the issue\u00a0as well, “Save the Rideau and the St. Lawrence<\/a>” and “Historic Canals Historique: Behind the Scenes\/En Coulisses<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are arguments to be made in favor of higher fees for boaters, and for a per-lock ticket system. But so far the general reaction seems largely critical.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How important is boat traffic to the Rideau Canal and the communities along that corridor? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[880,5638,48,6726,5389,9441],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}