Going to a national park in Canada can be a dangerous business, says Blacklock's Reporter..Parks Canada has approved numerous out of court settlements involving injuries or deaths in national parks, says a report..“Serious incident reports” included an average 11 fatalities a year, excluding motor vehicle accidents..“A review of legal files from 2013 to 2019 for visitor safety incidents demonstrated the agency had a lower level of liability compared with the monetary size of the legal claims made,” said the report..“Twenty-one visitor safety-related legal claims were made against the agency during the period and the cases that have been closed to date were primarily settled out of court and did not continue.”.“Slips and falls made up a large proportion of visitor legal safety claims followed by accidents resulting from activities or natural hazards.".It did not detail claims or the costs of legal settlements..Parks Canada said it spent $11 million annually on visitor safety programs..“Anecdotal evidence pointed to the reduction in the frequency and severity of visitor safety incidents,” wrote auditors. “However there was little quantitative evidence to support the achievement of this outcome.”.The agency earlier released a decade’s worth of accident reports through Access To Information that detailed drownings, suicides, fatal falls and other mishaps. Few incidents involved alcohol. Several deaths involved those in canoes and kayaks..Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cape Spear National Historic Site, near St. John’s, saw multiple drownings by tourists swept into the Atlantic. In one incident a security guard warned two young couples “about the danger of being on the rocks” moments before one man was carried out by a rogue wave. His body was recovered a month later..Most drownings occurred in Alberta parks, including Jasper where cliff-jumpers perished at Horseshoe Lake and one tourist drowned in 2012 at Athabasca Falls while “standing on a rock upstream of the falls preparing to take a picture.” Parks Canada staff later found his ball cap downstream..One drowning was marked in files as a “strange” fatality, the disappearance of a fisherman at Jasper’s Amethyst Lake..“He declared he was going to swim across the lake, a distance of 1.2 kilometres, and then swim back,” wrote staff..“He was last seen at 8 pm two-thirds the way across the lake,” said an incident report..“He did not seem to be in any distress.” The lone swimmer was never seen again..Suicides included a Valentine’s Day death at Banff National Park in 2007. Parks Canada reports said the victim was drinking vodka alone, “feels despondent,” “had been talking about moving back to Vancouver” and waded into the Bow River.
Going to a national park in Canada can be a dangerous business, says Blacklock's Reporter..Parks Canada has approved numerous out of court settlements involving injuries or deaths in national parks, says a report..“Serious incident reports” included an average 11 fatalities a year, excluding motor vehicle accidents..“A review of legal files from 2013 to 2019 for visitor safety incidents demonstrated the agency had a lower level of liability compared with the monetary size of the legal claims made,” said the report..“Twenty-one visitor safety-related legal claims were made against the agency during the period and the cases that have been closed to date were primarily settled out of court and did not continue.”.“Slips and falls made up a large proportion of visitor legal safety claims followed by accidents resulting from activities or natural hazards.".It did not detail claims or the costs of legal settlements..Parks Canada said it spent $11 million annually on visitor safety programs..“Anecdotal evidence pointed to the reduction in the frequency and severity of visitor safety incidents,” wrote auditors. “However there was little quantitative evidence to support the achievement of this outcome.”.The agency earlier released a decade’s worth of accident reports through Access To Information that detailed drownings, suicides, fatal falls and other mishaps. Few incidents involved alcohol. Several deaths involved those in canoes and kayaks..Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cape Spear National Historic Site, near St. John’s, saw multiple drownings by tourists swept into the Atlantic. In one incident a security guard warned two young couples “about the danger of being on the rocks” moments before one man was carried out by a rogue wave. His body was recovered a month later..Most drownings occurred in Alberta parks, including Jasper where cliff-jumpers perished at Horseshoe Lake and one tourist drowned in 2012 at Athabasca Falls while “standing on a rock upstream of the falls preparing to take a picture.” Parks Canada staff later found his ball cap downstream..One drowning was marked in files as a “strange” fatality, the disappearance of a fisherman at Jasper’s Amethyst Lake..“He declared he was going to swim across the lake, a distance of 1.2 kilometres, and then swim back,” wrote staff..“He was last seen at 8 pm two-thirds the way across the lake,” said an incident report..“He did not seem to be in any distress.” The lone swimmer was never seen again..Suicides included a Valentine’s Day death at Banff National Park in 2007. Parks Canada reports said the victim was drinking vodka alone, “feels despondent,” “had been talking about moving back to Vancouver” and waded into the Bow River.
