Canada Warnings or Dangers

No danger, but a real annoyance. Though our Canada journey was great, one thing really put us off: The behaviour of foreign tourists in the national parks (less so the local visitors). There really are only a few rules on how to behave there, but even those are constantly ignored. A few examples:

1. On the Mt. Edith Cavell meadows - hike three tourists (from the accent I`d say they were from Switzerland) were having a lunch in the mountain meadows. Now almost every 500 meters along the path big signs show that the alpine vegetation is fragile and easily destroyed and hikers must stay on the path at all times. The signs also reminds all hikers - with photographs - that because of visitors strolling off the path, much plants had been destroyed in recent years, so that the park authorities had to lots of path-rebuilding and re-planting. For those who can`t read English, icons show that it is forbidden to step on the meadows. When we saw them sitting there, we said in no uncertain terms that they should get off the meadows very quickly, as the meadows are a no-go-area, and explained why. They did not. We asked them why they chose to ignore the park rules, they said they didn`t know about them and nobody told them (simply ridiculous, there were signs and icons everywhere). Mistaking us for Canadians, they even complained about Canadians not being very friendly. These people should never-ever be allowed to enter a national park again. I will report this incident to the park authorities, too, knowing that they probably can`t do much about it.

2. Dogs are to be held on the leash at all times in National Park, and there are some areas where dogs are completely forbidden (like Caribou recovery zones or areas where bears with cubs are known to live). We saw lots of people walking their dogs off-leash and sometimes ignoring the no-dog-zones, too. I simply don`t get it. Why can`t they walk their doggies in their residential areas ? Even a leashed dog will scare away wildlife.

3. Tourists smoking (!) in National Park areas, woods etc.

4. Tourists ignoring the warnings not to cross the security barriere at Columbia Icefields glacier, instead walking on the Glacier, sometimes with their kids.

5. Tourists stopping their cars abruptly on the driving lane once they see a wild animal. Tourists getting out of their car and approaching or even feeding wild animals to get a better photo shot.

A lot of tourists behave as if they own the National Parks and behave real stupid or reckless. As I see it, there are only two solutions: First, the park authorities should send staff on the most popular hiking trails on a regular basis to fine tourists who violate park rules on the spot and maybe even deny them further entry into the national park. Second, every responsible tourists should instantly critisize the behaviour of those who don`t follow park rules and not just ignore them.

Canada Warnings or Dangers

Visiting Canada?

Visiting Canada?