PARK AND C EM ET ER Y. 
170 
of an expensive dam without the expendi- 
ture of a cent. 
To help educate the public upon the 
necessity of care in the use of matches, 
with a view to minimizing the danger of 
forest fires, the Branch recently arranged 
with the largest match factory in Canada 
to print, at no cost to the department, a 
fire warning notice on every matchbox is- 
sued. 
I do not believe any of these would have 
been done had the administration of parks 
matters been chiefly the concern of indi- 
vidual superintendents of parks. 
The view of the Parks Bureau is that 
parks are intended for the use of all the 
people of Canada. They do a great deal 
of good for our people by providing them 
with wholesome recreation and also by con- 
tributing to the development of habits of 
wholesome recreation. Therefore the basic 
idea of the Canadian Parks administration 
is to make the use of the parks by the 
public as free and untrammeled as possi- 
ble. The consequence is a policy which 
perhaps could properly be called a free- 
trade one in contradistinction to the policy 
of regulated monopoly. 
With respect to lands, anyone may ac- 
quire a lease. With regard to business, 
everyone is entitled to pursue any occupa- 
tion or business, provided it is not incon- 
sistent with the general purpose for which 
parks exist. Concerning lands, the prac- 
tice is to survey townsites wherever there 
is likely to be any demand for building 
sites. The lots are offered for lease at 
merely nominal rentals, running from $8 
to $15 per annum, payable half yearly. An 
applicant for a lot is given an agreement 
good for one year. This agreement pro- 
vides among other things that within one 
year the applicant shall erect a building of 
a certain minimum valuation. This valua- 
tion varies in various townsites. In Banff, 
the most important townsite, the valuation 
is $800. The applicant is not allowed to 
commence building operations until he has 
submitted plans and secured approval of 
them by the parks administration. The 
conditions outlined are insisted upon for 
two purposes : First, to guard against 
speculators blanketing the lots and thus 
standing in the way of the bona fide ap- 
plicant; second, to guard against unsightly 
buildings being constructed. Failure to 
comply with the conditions of the agree- 
ment within the year is followed by can- 
cellation. When the holder of an agree- 
ment has complied with the conditions he 
receives a 42-year lease, renewable for- 
ever. The consequence of this policy has 
been the development of a number of 
townsites and the erection of many at- 
tractive houses, some permanent, many 
used simply as summer residences. It has 
also resulted in the provision of large ho- 
tel and boarding house accommodation, 
with rates sufficiently varied to suit all 
purses. The Canadian Pacific Railway Co. 
has erected fine hotels at several points 
throughout the parks traversed by its lines. 
The hotel at Banff cost over a million and 
a half dollars. The one at Lake Louise, 
only twenty-five miles away, cost in the 
neighborhood of a million. The Grand 
Trunk Pacific, which has a line through 
Jasper Park, is also planning to erect a 
million-dollar hotel at Jasper. This class 
of accommodation could not have been 
supplied if the companies had not been 
able to secure a lease for a considerable 
number of years. At Banff there are also 
seven smaller and less expensive hotels. 
It is felt that the law of supply and de- 
mand will at all times, under the circum- 
stances, assure living accommodation for 
tourists and visitors. 
In Canadian parks there are no stage 
companies with special or exclusive privi- 
leges. Anyone may go into the livery busi- 
ness. All that is necessary is to secure a 
license, the fee for which is merely nomi- 
nal. The license requirement is simply to 
enable the department to exercise proper 
control. A liveryman who violates any of 
the regulations or who charges higher rates 
than those prescribed by the government 
promptly loses his license. This is a seri- 
ous matter for him, because it means 
closing up his business. Even the 
drivers of livery rigs are licensed. This 
means that drivers who become intoxicated 
or who otherwise endanger or annoy pas- 
sengers promptly lose their opportunity to 
make a living in the parks. 
All other lines of business involving ser- 
vice to the public are similarly controlled. 
The license system affords an easy meth- 
od of eliminating incompetents, where in- 
competency affects the comfort or safety 
of tourists. Before issuing a license for 
some occupations certain precautions are 
taken. For instance, mountain guides are 
required to pass an examination and tests 
set by our chief fire and game wardens. 
Even ordinary livery drivers must satisfy 
the parks officials as to their ability to 
handle horses. 
The '‘Free Trade” policy carries with it 
many obligations and difficulties. This is 
especially the case in regard to townsites. 
Absolute control of the townsites rests 
with the government and consequently it 
has to assume all the duties in regard to 
those townsites that are ordinarily carried 
by a municipality. Take Banff, for in- 
stance, the Branch there has installed and 
maintains waterworks, sewer system, side- 
walks, street lighting, telephone service, 
garbage system, and all other services re- 
quired by a community, besides providing- 
recreation grounds, golf links, toboggan 
slides, and other aids to the enjoyment of 
the residents. 
With regard to natural resources a simi- 
lar freedom is permitted. The Canadian 
policy is to permit and encourage the de- 
velopment of all natural resources in the 
parks so long as such development can be 
carried on without damage to the chief 
purpose for which parks exist. For in- 
stance, there may be a waterfall capable 
of producing a large amount of power. 
If, by the enforcement of stringent pre- 
cautions and restrictions, this power can 
be developed without unduly injuring the 
scenery or otherwise interfering with the 
use of the parks as national playgrounds 
development is authorized. Each case is 
carefully investigated and dealt with pure- 
ly on its 1 merits. Parks interests are al- 
ways paramount, but parks policy is to 
encourage industry where it can be carried 
on without the sacrifice of parks interests. 
The consequence is that in our parks 
mines, power schemes, etc., are not un- 
common. 
You will see that the Canadian policy is 
based on a desire to have the parks utilized 
by the people to the utmost. If anyone 
wishes to live in the parks we make it 
cheap and easy for him to do so. If he 
wants to go simply as a tourist we en- 
deavor to make his visit one of safety, 
comfort and delight. 
To meet these conditions the Parks 
Branch necessarily relates to the quality 
of the service of whatever kind, rendered 
by those dealing with the tourist ; character 
of accommodation, protection against ex- 
tortion ; provision of minor attractions to 
fill in between the nature trips; the con- 
struction and maintenance of roads and 
trails of first-class character in order that 
the various attractions may be comfortably 
and safely reached ; special care in the 
matter of the dust nuisance and the rough 
road nuisance; supervision over sanitary 
conditions, water supply, horses and ve- 
hicles, guides, drivers, charges and rates, 
furnishing of full and reliable informa- 
tion, and generally, in not only reducing 
discomforts to a minimum, but in so ad- 
ministering matters that the tourist shall 
be as satisfied With the treatment received 
while in the parks as he 'inevitably must 
be with the scenic wonders he has viewed. 
The elasticity of our parks legislation 
has encouraged us to a wide departure 
from the original idea of national parks, 
viz., the preservation of certain portions 
of the country of exceptional scenic gran- 
deur and majesty. Briefly, parks work to 
us in Canada is now primarily concerned 
in the conservation of life, whether animal 
life, plant life or ( human life. 
How far this viewpoint has led our 
Bureau is indicated by the multiplicity of 
subjects, distinct from the ordinarily ac- 
cepted idea of parks activities which have 
been dealt with during the past year. 
We have had to deal with matters con- 
cerning Steffansson's White Esquimaux, 
the preservation of the musk-ox, the cross- 
breeding of buffalo and domestic cattle ; we 
have made investigation concerning the 
possibility of woodland caribou ranches in 
northern Canada and the utilization for 
food purposes of the millions of barren 
