CALGARY (CP) – The head of Parks Canada has denied national park wardens the right to carry handguns, a move that has wardens threatening to walk off the job. Tom Lee, chief executive officer of Parks Canada, said if wardens with safety concerns don’t like the decision, they can stay home.

The ruling brought an immediate and angry response from wardens, but Lee insisted firearms were not the answer when dealing with danger. He said wardens must instead avoid dangerous situations, like approaching armed poachers who may be drinking.

“Where people encounter those situations, they need to have proper training in how to deal with them, and one of the things is to back off and go get help,” Lee said.

Mark Halley, president of the National Park Wardens Association, called the decision unacceptable.

Halley said he will consult members of the wardens’ union to discuss a walkout.

“It’s being considered, yes,” said Halley, who works in Ontario.

The ruling rejects a confidential report prepared for the Alberta region of Parks Canada in 1997.

The report, written by a private risk management company, found a majority of wardens thought not having a handgun lessened their ability to protect the public.

“If a bunch of wardens refuse to work, what happens to the public? How can they be protected?” asked Halley.

He suggested it could mean big trouble when poachers hear wardens are off the job.

But Lee said there were two options for wardens who disagree with his decision.

“Some may wish to be reassigned, and we would accommodate that,” Lee said, “And if an employee feels they are in danger and the employer has not taken steps to correct it, they can refuse to work,” Lee said.

Lee said the Canada Labour Code would then come into effect, and a government official would decide who was right.

That process – with appeals – could take some time, but employees would be paid throughout, he said.

Reform MP Myron Thompson, who thinks wardens should have handguns, called it another example of the power of Ottawa bureaucrats.

“They don’t listen to front-line people, like the park wardens. They do what they think is right, and they don’t know anything,” Thompson said.

Alberta conservation officers have carried sidearms for 10 years.

Thompson’s Wild Rose riding encompasses Banff National Park, where warden Doug Martin works.

“Nine out of 10 provinces have chosen to provide their conservation officers with sidearms,” Martin said. “It’s time for Parks Canada to support its workers.”

Lee said wardens should spend less time as police and more as park employees.

“If we’re off running into this other stuff, then we’re being drawn off the job that we really need to do.

“When we find people doing something wrong, our objective isn’t to toss them in jail or fine them, but help them to find the way to do things right.”

Parks Canada policy states the main duties of wardens are law enforcement, resource conservation and public safety.

(Calgary Herald)

? The Canadian Press, 2000