The Alberta NDP says an off-highway-vehicle ban for Crown land within the Forest Protection Area was lifted only days after it was announced by the government.
On April 14th, Premier Jason Kenney said the ban was necessary “to protect public health, safety, and ultimately lives” as resources are already stretched thin due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, NDP Agriculture and Forestry Critic Lorne Dach says that restriction is no longer in place.
“That was announced with great fanfare and force, and two weeks later with no announcement whatsoever, they quietly undid that whole ban for inexplicable reasons,” he says.
Dach says this revelation comes at a time when recent warm weather and dry spring conditions have increased the risk of wildfires in Alberta.