Okanagan Mountain Park as seen from West Kelowna. Credit: Wikipedia

Okanagan Mountain Park to get bigger under new legislation

PARKS IN OKANAGAN FALLS AND OSOOYOOS HAVE ABORIGINAL NAMES MADE OFFICIAL

OKANAGAN – Okanagan Mountain Park will get a little bigger if the provincial government gets its way.

Environment minister Mary Polak introduced legistation yesterday that would add 11,700 hectares to various provincial parks.

Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park would grow by 263 hectares, next to the new Johns Family Nature Conservancy, according to a environment ministry media release.

Other local parks will get some attention, too. In Okanagan Falls, swenxnitkw Park (the former Okanagan Falls Provincial Park) will grow by 0.4 hectares, bringing the park up to 2.6 ha.

Both swenxnitkw Park and swiws Park (the former Haynes Point Provincial Park) will have their former names removed after their official renaming last May.

Chief Clarence Louie of the Osooyoos Indian Band said the renaming of the parks honours the original inhabitants of the South Okanagan and is an important step toward meaningful reconciliation.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca

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