Donegal Wilson Unhappy with Province’s Lack of Trail Stewardship

The Midway Advance recently reported on Japanese automaker Toyota deepening its support of the 29,000-kilometre Trans Canada Trail with a $750,000 contribution.

But all is not rosy with regard to the state of the TCT, especially as it pertains to Boundary Country.

Donegal Wilson, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen and the Official Opposition Critic for Water, Land, Resource Stewardship and Wildlife Management, laments how, in 2020, “Recreation Sites and Trails BC quietly walked away from a 67-kilometre section of the Columbia Western Rail Trail (CWRT) between Castlegar and Christina Lake. “

“Since then, there has been no plan, no budget, and no responsible stewardship,” Wilson wrote in a recent memo attacking the issue.

Instead of proper maintenance, Wilson says the Province will post hazard signs telling people to keep out, warning visitors of unsafe trestles, rockfalls, and collapsing tunnels. But the trail is a “main route that connects people and communities, provides access to private land, and keeps local history alive,” she notes.

“The BC sections of the Trans Canada Trail once stood as a promise, a legacy for future generations when the Canadian Pacific Railway corridor was handed over by the Trans Canada Trail Foundation and given to the Province of British Columbia in 2004,” Wilson remarked. “Today, in my riding of Boundary-Similkameen, this promise is being broken in plain sight.”

The MLA believes that the Province “must take responsible ownership of BC’s rail trails and make a clear call on how these trails will be used, funded, and maintained for the people and communities who depend on them.”