REGINA – Saskatchewan provincial parks have had an alcohol ban during the May long weekend for 10 years now… and for good reason.
“They basically vandalized the whole park, the bathrooms were like totally trashed, things written on the walls,” Gail Korchinski said.
She has been camping in Saskatchewan for 15 years and says she had her fair share of noisy neighbors.
She described one year at Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park where a group of teenagers aged roughly 16-20 were, “so drunk… they could barely stand on two feet.”
The group allegedly vandalized the entire park, including the shared washrooms. She explained one night they were cutting down trees while intoxicated in order to chop more firewood, an illegal activity even when sober.
Mary-Anne Wihak is the director of visitor experiences at Saskatchewan Parks and says the alcohol ban was put in place because the cost of damages was getting excessive.
“We were spending in excess of 29 thousand dollars,” Wihak explained.
Global found Lorne Honeysett at Echolake Provincial Park this may long weekend. He remembers before the alcohol ban took effect there was a unofficial party section of his favorite park, and he knew not to book there.
“The kids would go down there but the park people were always down there patrolling,” he explained.
Sask Parks says that some vehicles are still randomly searched for alcohol when checking in for the weekend. If any is found it is removed and the camper is still allowed to enjoy their long weekend camping, but must vow to remain sober.
There are however some that make it through without being caught.
Last year there were 25 warnings handed out, a small number in comparison to the five thousand in 2005. Last year on the May long weekend officials say there were 28 alcohol-related charges throughout the province. That’s roughly one per park but the officials say stats for where tickets the were the given are not available.
“It seems like the parks people are doing a pretty good job of controlling it,” Honeysett said.
It’s a consensus many campers felt.
“It’s a lot better now than it was years back,” Korchinski explained.
Comments