Manitoba plans parks reservation service makeover

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This article was published 14/01/2022 (1382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba is upgrading its oft-overloaded provincial parks booking system.

Conservation and Climate Minister Sarah Guillemard said in a news release Friday the government will develop a new reservation service with upgraded software, while making short-term changes to improve the current platform.

This season, the province said it will upgrade servers, among other technical enhancements, increase the number of booking days to five (from three), limit the number of reservations that can be booked at one time, and reduce the maximum length of stays at cabins and yurts.

(People will only be able to book two yurts or cabins in one session, down from three, and will only be allowed to stay a maximum of seven nights, down from 14.)

A tendering process will soon be underway to develop and implement a replacement reservation system for future seasons, the province said.

Meanwhile, both opposition parties were withholding praise.

“Manitobans made it clear to the province that their system wasn’t working, and so it’s good to see that some changes are being made,” MLA Lisa Naylor, NDP critic for the environment and climate change, said in a statement Friday.

“But there are still things they could do to make parks and yurts more accessible, including expanding the season, so that families can vacation safely this spring.”

The Manitoba Liberals went further, scrutinizing the province’s decision to issue the contract to an American company.

“While these minor changes may help, we need to ensure all systems are locally owned and publicly operated. In May 2020, the PCs sold the public park pass contract to a Texas company, which made passes less accessible and more expensive for all Manitobans,” Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said in a statement.