Quote:
Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker
Sent mine:
Good day, Parks Canada,
Signal Hill is an integral part of downtown St. John's. It hosts numerous residential streets, public roads, and significant portions of the city's Grand Concourse public trail system. I hike there every morning and, even in hurricanes or blizzards, there's always a crowd.
It shouldn't even be a legal possibility for Parks Canada to charge for access to these and all of Signal Hill's public amenities. It has been part of the daily life of downtown St. John's since before Canada even existed. You didn't pay to develop this site and Canada is only indirectly related the myriad of historic events that took place there prior to our entering this federation.
Like most things taken over by the federal government, Signal Hill has been neglected. If you can't be bothered to keep up appearances with general funding, then, please, give it back. I'm sure we could do a better job of it ourselves.
I can assure you St. John's will fight any attempt to charge a fee to enter Signal Hill tooth and nail, as we have in the past. It's a disgusting proposal.
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I certainly agree that Signal Hill has been neglected, as has all Federal parks in NL. Mr. Johnson has done a lot to shame Parks Canada into the little effort they have done.
As for the fee, it's not an entrance fee, AFAIK, it's the fee for use of the Interp Centre. So, it's still free to visit and park and hike Signal Hill. If they ever (again) propose a fee to enter Signal Hill Park, we'll take the area back from them, I hope.