Opening Up the Land of Forests, Lakes and Campgrounds
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Version 0 of 1. While it hardly qualified me as a wilderness expert, my time as a Cub Scout and Boy Scout at least gave me a general idea of what camping is all about. But even that kind of familiarity is not something many, if not most, immigrants possess when they arrive in this land of lakes, forests and campgrounds. For much of this decade, Parks Canada, the national parks service, and some of its provincial counterparts have been holding learn-to-camp programs at various levels of complexity, although all appear more complete than the chaos of Cub Scout camping. They are aimed at novices, generally, but have attracted many immigrants. Earlier this week, I took a look at the most basic class. At the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, three students hired for the summer were showing interested visitors how to pitch a family-sized tent, and set up and operate a camp stove, offering tips on keeping food safe from animals and spoilage as well as fire building and safety. Long paddles and two gadgets that tip to give some sense of what it takes to do stand-up paddle boarding were used to lure bystanders. Parks Canada also offers novice campers the opportunity to get their training while spending the night outdoors using its gear. Where appropriate, those sessions provide for a full Canadian experience with canoe and fishing lessons. Ontario Parks even has “graduate” courses that include “tarping skills” and “camping kitchen tricks.” Ed Jager, the director of visitor experience at Parks Canada, told me the program dated back to 2006, when the service noticed that camping was slightly declining. (Before any recreational vehicle owners get worked up, we’re only talking about traditional tent camping here.) Research conducted by Parks Canada, he said, showed that the biggest barriers for most people to camping were lack of knowledge about how to do it and lack of equipment. “So we wanted to give people a context where they could learn to do it right and be comfortable with it,” Mr. Jager said. “Camping is sort of an essential Canadian experience.” It’s also inexpensive. In British Columbia’s provincial parks, campsite permits range from 5 to 35 Canadian dollars a night. Sure, everyone can offer some horror story about camping, usually involving biblical rain, bugs or both. But some of my fondest memories of our sons’ childhoods involved modest, weekend camping trips often with other families or, in the case of our youngest son, his scout group. Parks Canada and many provincial parks services now offer alternatives to tents for people who find them uncomfortable or unappealing. Some offer Mongolian-style yurts at campgrounds. But more commonly, they are following the lead of Quebec and offering semi-permanent tents on wooden platforms with proper beds and, in some cases, stoves, fridges and heaters. There have also been some efforts to overcome another barrier to camping for many people: simply getting to a park. Two nonprofit groups offer low-cost bus service to several national and provincial parks from six Canadian cities. Since the learn-to-camp program began in 2011, the centennial of the founding of Canada’s first national park, Mr. Jager said the use of Parks Canada’s campgrounds has steadily risen. The program has also ballooned. From 10 events and 1,000 participants at its beginning, the program grew to 500 events involving 80,000 people last year. While those numbers include a wide cross section of Canadians, Mr. Jager said participation has also involved new Canadians, including refugees. 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