It's going to cost more to visit N.B. provincial parks this year
Camping fees, cabin rentals, entrance fees, maintenance fees are all going up
The province is also introducing a tiered pricing system.
"It doesn't seem like a fair system," said Salma Burney, a moderator on the Camping New Brunswick Facebook group, which has about 19,500 members. She also co-owns a private campground.
Burney said she's seen nothing but frustration in response to the cost increases at provincial parks.
"If they're owned by taxpayers, then why do taxpayers have to pay twice as much to use something where their tax dollars have gone to?"
Mount Carleton Provincial Park is a popular destination for camping and hiking. (Tourism New Brunswick)
For example, renting the Maple heritage cabin at Mount Carleton Provincial Park used to cost $113.04 a night in August. Renting that same cabin during the same month this year will cost $225, almost double, and that doesn't include taxes.
Seasonal rates are also going up.
A seasonal RV campsite with electricity at Mactaquac Provincial Park cost $1,652.17 in 2022. This year prices vary between $2,000 and $3,250, depending on water and sewage availability and the type of electrical hookup requested. Again, those prices don't include tax.
Park entrance fees are increasing by 50 per cent, from $8.70 to $13.04, plus taxes.
And at Parlee Beach Provincial Park, a fee designated for beach maintenance that is tacked onto the entrance fee is increasing by 66 per cent, going from $2.61 to $4.35, taxes extra.
The province has also proposed raising some of these fees annually until at least 2025.
Prime Pricing
New Brunswick is introducing high-season and low-season rates this year. According to the province's website, May 19-22 this year and July 1 to Sept. 4 are considered high season.
It means that camping sites will cost about 25 per cent more during those summer months and the May long weekend compared to the rest of the year.
A campsite at New River Beach, near Saint John, with electrical and sewer hook-up will cost $44.00 a night in June, but $55.00 a night in July. (Tourism NB)
Visiting Sugarloaf Provincial Park and using an unserviced campsite, a site designated for pitching a tent without electricity or water, will cost $24 during the low season. But during the high season the cost of that same spot will jump to $30.
A site for a night at New River Beach with access to a 50-amp electrical outlet and sewer hook-up will cost $44 a night in June, but increases to $55 a night in July.
"I was a bit shocked to say the least," said Matt Richard, who has had a seasonal spot at Mactaquac Provincial Park for his family's camper the last two years.
He said his family has loved their time at the park, but watching prices increase is a tough pill to swallow when services haven't improved.
"Everything is going up, but to go from $1,750 to now $2,250 and you still have no sewer hook-up, that's a drastic increase."
He said he expects he and his family will only get a camping spot for the occasional weekend this summer and will likely pass on the seasonal camping.
"Camping is one of those nice things that is an affordable thing to do with the family," Burney said. "It shouldn't be cost prohibitive, but now they're putting it in a level where, you know, the lower-income people can't just enjoy a simple camping trip with their family."
The province said one of the reasons for the bump in fees is the addition of 'an accessible playground, washrooms, family area' at Parlee Beach, shown here in August 2022. (Shane Magee/CBC)
Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace would not be interviewed about the fees. Instead, spokesperson Mark Taylor sent a statement about what the fee increases pay for.
He cited new accessible family washroom buildings at several campgrounds, upgraded and winterized shelters, "significant capital improvements to power/sewage/water services onsite" at the largest campgrounds and "an accessible playground, washrooms, family area and other infrastructure at Parlee Beach."
That email also said, "many of the new spring/fall rates are lower than the previous rate for the entire camping season."
As a comparison, an unserviced tent site at Mactaquac Provincial Park cost $26.96 last year. This year that same site will cost $2 less outside the high season. But between July 1 and Sept. 4, and the May long weekend, it will cost $30, or $3 more than last year, not including taxes.
Burney said creating a price tier between July and September precisely targets when kids are out of school for the summer and family vacations begin. She worries that could mean lower income families will suffer the most, either having to pay more or schedule time away from school and work in order to avoid paying steeper rates.
"It can frustrate the parents because they're trying to get everyone together," said Burney.
Fees, fees, fees
Burney said she's also seen sentiment sour toward increasing fees.
"There is a fee to make a booking and then if you cancel there's a fee to cancel. There's a fee for everything. They charge for firewood. They charge for this, they charge for that, they nickel and dime you," said Burney.
These increases come at a time when New Brunswick's Provincial Parks have become wildly popular. An increase in people getting into outdoor activities came during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the department's annual reports the vast majority of campers in provincial parks are New Brunswick residents.
This summer some cabin prices at Mount Carleton Provincial Park will be double what they were last year. (Shane Fowler/CBC News)
The email from the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture also stated, "Most fees have not been increased in several years and these fee increases impact nine provincial parks."
But campsite fees for those parks were raised in 2020, according to the province's annual report on fees. Prices increased three years ago at Mount Carleton, Mactaquac, Herring Cove, New River Beach, Parlee Beach, Sugarloaf, Murray Beach and La République provincial parks.
Fees are being introduced for North Lake Provincial Park, where there have been none since it opened last July 1.
Park entrance, beach maintenance and cabin fees were last raised in 2016.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities. Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted."
Hello Bon Jour
Road feud raises questions about Tory veteran's political comeback
Greg Thompson says his return to politics not motivated by spat with province over private road
Jacques Poitras · CBC News · Posted: May 04, 2018 5:00 AM ADT
Yet watch to see just who was; been off work for some time now, but no one seems to want to share why.
Uninformed Consent - Official Full Documentary
Friday, 4 May 2018
Methinks a lot of my political foes know why I am gonna enjoy this circus N'esy Pas?
5 long years later the Circus goes on and on and on
Road feud raises questions about Tory veteran's political comeback
Greg Thompson says his return to politics not motivated by spat with province over private road
But Greg Thompson acknowledges that his frustration with incumbent Liberal MLA John Ames over the issue was "running in the back of my mind" when he decided to run against Ames as a Progressive Conservative.
Birch Forest Road residents felt they met the requirements to have the province take over the private road. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
In March 2017, Thompson and fellow residents of Birch Forest Road in Bayside thought they had persuaded the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure to turn the private road into a public road if residents upgraded it first.
But in the end, despite the upgrades, the department refused to do it.
In an interview with CBC News in St. Andrews, the veteran Tory politician insisted he's not running to punish Ames for that — despite accusing Ames of breaking a promise he made about the road.
Thompson said he's motivated by other issues, including what he calls Ames' failure to save the St. Stephen courthouse and to champion the Charlotte County Hospital.
Thompson said his return to politics would be to champion the Charlotte County Hospital. (Cherise Letson/CBC)
In a subsequent telephone interview, however, Thompson said the road issue contributed to his conclusion that Ames is an ineffective MLA.
"There would be a connection in the sense of his inability to back up a commitment he made," Thompson said. "It's more a reflection of his weakness in Fredericton."
Ames responded: "Isn't that unfortunate we have someone running for politics for personal reasons."
Thompson endorsed Ames
Thompson is a former six-term MP. He sat in the House of Commons from 1988 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011, and was veterans affairs minister for four years in the Harper Conservative government. He'll be nominated Saturday as the PC candidate in the St. Croix riding.
Despite his deep Tory ties, Thompson wrote a public letter last June praising Ames, a first-term Liberal MLA.
"I am very proud to have you as my MLA and without hesitation or reservation want you to know that I will be voting for you in the next election," Thompson wrote in a letter read at the June 22, 2017, Liberal nominating convention in St. Croix.
Tourism Minister John Ames was endorsed by Thompson last June. (CBC)
Ames pointed out that both the courthouse and hospital issues Thompson is raising now "were long, long discussed before he wrote that letter."
Thompson's endorsement came three months after a March 25 breakfast meeting at the Algonquin Resort, where Thompson said Ames and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Bill Fraser made the promise. "They didn't invite me down there to say no," he said.
Thompson said the road commitment did not lead to his glowing endorsement of Ames in June. "I meant it at the time," he said, "but the erosion of that support was something he brought on himself, not me."
Thompson also said if elected as a PC MLA in a PC government, he would not use his position to get his road taken over. "It's not on my agenda, if you will," he said.
Liberals say they made no promises
Both Ames and Fraser say they don't make promises about roads without consulting staff. "I don't make any commitments to anything unless it's a sure thing," Ames said in an interview.
Ames refused to discuss Birch Forest Road specifically, but said he often gets requests about private roads and he always points residents to the provincial standards that must be met.
An aerial view of Birch Forest Road in the St. Croix riding. (Google Maps)
He said he's never encountered a case in his time as MLA where the specifications were met and the province took over a road.
Fraser said he follows the recommendations of staff engineers on road issues. "I'm not an engineer, so I don't have the expertise to make those decisions," he said. "Any of these technical decisions would be based on a technical process, not based on politics."
A document summary obtained by CBC News shows that DTI staff visited the road last Aug. 2. Thompson says they agreed the required upgrades had been done and would recommend the province take over the road.
The province has a 75-page document detailing the minimum standards required for the province to take over a private road. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
The province's 75-page "minimum standards for the construction of subdivision roads and streets" lists criteria for the province taking over a private road. They include road width, maximum gradient, proper drainage, and culverts, among others.
Back in Fredericton, the documents say, senior official Jules Michaud "casts doubt" on whether the upgrades met the standards. Another civil servant, Colleen Brown, said there were "a number of remaining deficiencies," including no second entrance to the road.
'Connection'
In his first interview for this story, Thompson blamed "higher powers" in Fredericton for the decision. "I think that Mr. Ames had a hard time overturning those decisions," he said. "I'll just leave it at that."
In the subsequent telephone interview, though, he said the outcome reflected on Ames and that played a role in his decision to run for the PCs.
"If John wants to pretend that's why I'm running, you could say yes, it's government's incompetence to execute on a promise that was made."
He said it would be "stupid" to claim the road dispute had no role in his candidacy because "it's running in the back of my mind."
Many attempts on road
Planning for the Birch Forest Road subdivision began in 1994. It was built on private land off Route 127 between the St. Croix River and Chamcook Lake.
DTI documents show repeated references to the road not meeting minimum requirements for the province to take it over. In 1997, officials noted that a road of that length might require a second entrance.
There's a lot of things in life you have to put behind you, and this road is one of them.
- Greg Thompson
Residents, including Thompson, began pushing for provincial servicing in 2008. They were turned down, tried again in 2013, and were rejected again.
Ames promised to look into the issue after he was elected in 2014, Thompson said. "I have to say that I was impressed that he would meet with me and talk this through even though I didn't vote for him."
To-do list
Thompson said after his March 25, 2017 meeting with Ames and Fraser, he received "a to-do" list of necessary upgrades that residents would have to pay for out of their own pockets.
DTI staff estimated the cost at $526,000, based on an initial costing from October 2016. Another estimate at the same time put it at $479,000.
Thompson said the residents did the work for much less than that, thanks to one resident donating heavy equipment and others pitching in with manual labour.
Birch Forest Road, located by the red marker, sits north of Saint Andrews. (Google Maps)
In a June 11 email, however, district engineer Alan Kerr said residents had been given "the impression" that the department was now "expected to carry out the work or accept the road as is."
The next day, another email from Kerr said Ames still believed "that the residents will perform the upgrades but they want assurances that when the work is done the road will be taken over."
Ten days later, Thompson wrote his letter praising Ames.
'Significant political storm'
By July 2017, Thompson said, the upgrade work on the road was largely done. In early August, Kerr and Alan Acheson, superintendent of DTI's St. Stephen office, visited the road and declared the upgrades satisfactory, he said.
The next step was a DTI survey of the road. "Mr. Kerr also stated that he would not be upset if our Minister, John Ames contacted his cabinet colleague Bill Fraser to speed up the process," Thompson wrote in an Aug. 3 email to Ames that he shared with CBC News.
Instead, Thompson said, DTI officials in Fredericton raised a new requirement for the road that he claims they did not mention before: a second entry point.
The Birch Forest Road residents hired a lawyer to sue the government, but no lawsuit was ever filed. (Roger Cosman/CBC)
In fact, the province's document listing the road standards, available publicly on line, says there must be "at least two points of access to each street." Fraser provided CBC News with a copy of the document, which is dated May 2017.
Discussions continued into November, when Ames made "a series of technical inquiries" to DTI, including about the possible second entry point.
But later that month, according to a Jules Michaud email, Fraser told Thompson that "no compensation or consideration is due Mr. Thompson or the residents. … It is noted that this issue has become a significant political storm."
Lawyer hired
The Birch Forest Road residents also hired Moncton lawyer Mike Murphy, a former Liberal minister whose spouse is now a PC election candidate, to sue the province to force it to take over the road.
But Murphy said in an email he was instructed to drop the case before Thompson announced he was running for office. No lawsuit was ever filed.
Thompson said residents are resigned to the fact they paid to upgrade the road and did not get what they expected in return.
He said if he's elected this fall, he will advocate for a better policy on private roads. "There's got to be a policy established that makes sense to people."
But he said he would not use his position to get his own road serviced by the province. "There's a lot of things in life you have to put behind you, and this road is one of them."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Comments
David Amos
New Brunswick hands service commissions $40M for economic development, newcomer retention
Money to be split among 10 of province's 12 commissions as they take on new tasks
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Jan 31, 2023 3:36 PM AST
David Amos
Welcome back to the circus
David Amos
Reply to David Amos
"Fredericton is not that smart. People in regions are smarter," Allain said during a press conference in Moncton attended by various mayors, regional commission staff and others.
David Amos
Reply to David Amos
"The changes will see the province adopt some of the 12 recommendations made by an expert panel in a report released last week, but ignore others.
Allain said the province had heard concerns from communities about fully implementing the suggestions at this point.
He said the formula the province is establishing should be reviewed in five years, but the legislation won't require that review. "
Bud Gardiner
Reply to David Amos
Is this the circus with Ringmaster Jiggs & The Inane Clown Posse where nothing (even though there are no magicians in the show) is actually what it appears to be?
David Amos
Reply to Bud Gardiner
Yup
David Amos
Methinks that folks are entitled to know why my coffee came out my nose when I read that N'esy Pas?
Please read the info I provided long ago under this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vugUalUO8YY
"WITHOUT PREJUDICE" ??? YEA RIGHT
David Amos
It's going to cost more to visit N.B. provincial parks this year
Camping fees, cabin rentals, entrance fees, maintenance fees are all going up
Shane Fowler · CBC News · Posted: Feb 01, 2023 8:00 AM AST
Robert Losier
We traded in our 54 foot diesel pusher motor home for a 48 foot park model camper with three slides - after a very rude reception at a provincial park. Two millennials on bikes with tent and gear complaining about us getting the seniors discount. We're parked now year round where some are not permitted.
David Amos
Reply to Robert Losier
Say Hey to Higgy for me will ya?
Robert Losier
Reply to David Amos
Get real. We are not welcomed down that newly paved road where he and his associates have their cottages.
David Amos
Reply to Robert Losier
Methinks you and Cardy must be in the same boat now Seems that Thompson's ghost got the last laugh N'esy Pas?
1 HR AGO
Reply to David Amos - view message
I assure you that I have never ever been and never ever will be in any boat with Cardy.
Yet watch to see just who was; been off work for some time now, but no one seems to want to share why.
David Amos
David Amos
Matt Steele
Samuel Porter
Gerry Ferguson
Roland Godin
A shared 3M$ federal, provincial, municipal project adding their 1M$ administration fees, your cost et la mienne 4M$...et voilà.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/twinning-route-11-1.4605144
Route 11 twinning gets $180M in federal, provincial money
About 20 kilometres of the eastern New Brunswick highway to be twinned, starting this summer
Philip Drost · CBC News · Posted: Apr 04, 2018 6:39 PM AT
then taxes & transfer monies would keep new brunswick a rich part of canada.
this is not a political tirade...it is the truth and not said by political interference....but shows we in southern new brunswick need to get together and save this land from destruction from lack of taxation directed to southern new brunswick and thus lack of real economic development......look back then move forward together...even if this causes the BNA/constitution to be opened to allow enterprise of new brunswick/new ireland,loyalists/roving indigenous...etc. God Save southern New Brunswick !!!!!
(current politicians will not do so)
Duplication of whatever’s for your official language is costing to much, if you say so...et voilà.
Yea Right
Methinks the lady doth protest too much N'esy Pas?
Sean Onuaillain
And what it is it with these old, pensioned off MPs looking for a retirement gig in the NB Legislature? Our problems are not going to be resolved by rehiring the people who have failed to do so in the past.
About every two or three weeks Poitras or the TJ releases some word of wisdom from Frank McKenna, who hasn't lived in NB for decades. Frankie talked a good game but we now have the benefit of history. Look at the economic development, employment and debt ratios during his time in office. Same old same old. Call centres and doing whatever the McCain's and Irving's wanted done.
New ideas and people are need to get us out of this mess.
Methinks you may enjoy a couple letters I wrote to Franky By McKenna after I ran in the election of the 38th Parliament in the riding where he grew up and I operated a business within. Take careful notice who acknowledge the first letter. They can be found near the bottom of this small 27 page pdf file.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right
John Haigh
William Roberts
Why not just forgo the cost, inconvenience and deception and just let Irving appoint provincial managers? The change would be barely noticeable.
Methinks you should ask yourself why I ran for public office five times as an Independent while nearly everybody laughed at me N'esy Pas?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/fundy-royal-riding-profile-1.3274276
Chuck Michaels
Everyone has a tipping point at which they are motivated into action. I would toss my hat in the ring in a heartbeat as a candidate for the Libertarian Party if they ran a nomination for my riding. I like to think I'd have a pretty good chance against what we have here now.
Tired of waffling back and forth between red and blue in this country and sinking deeper and deeper into dept, despair (and soon DOPE).
Redmond O'Hanlon
Jason Inness
Methinks I should thank you for the comic relief Thompson has been a part of the Harper government the same dude who called us defeatists now he wants back on the gravy train because his liberal buddies did not honour a backroom deal N'esy Pas?
"government stimies development is our history!! remember scots/irish, scots, loyalists,irish famine peoples had a strong dose of what government is capable of ...before they came to new brunswick."
Are you talking about wagon trails pulling boats along the rivers or something? Roads made with chipseal and asphalt were built by governments.
And please let me know what history book you have read to lead you to the conclusion that government played no part in our development. As they are historically inaccurate.
Daniel White
Methinks its interesting that Higgy would not permit a former journalist speak to the press about her own actions N'esy Pas?