Fort Battleford may cease to exist in its current form because of serious budget cuts to Parks Canada, losing costumed interpreters and many of its staff.
The cuts, announced April 30, amount to a total loss of $29 million across the country. Parks Canada tried to make these cuts mostly through cuts in back office jobs, but was forced to consider cuts to historical sites to make up the difference.
Historical sites were told to make cuts by laying off staff, removing year-round staff when the sites are seasonal and changing the format of sites.
Parks Canada paid especially close attention to the 31 least-visited sites around the country. Two Saskatchewanian sites made the list - the Motherwell Homestead and Fort Battleford, which recovered $1 for every $10 that was spent.
In the case of Fort Battleford, with seven paid positions, 10 volunteer positions and a budget of around half a million dollars, cuts will result in the site being closed during the winter months and employing only three staff. Only two of these staff can work at the same time.
The site will also cease to employ costumed interpreters, and change how visitors interact with the historical buildings and artifacts. Guided tours will cease and costumed interpreters will no longer be part of the Fort Battleford experience.
Parks Canada is looking at using technology to make up for the loss of employees, especially geocaches and smartphone apps. Neither is expected to be ready by next summer though, so the site's format will likely be very different in a year.
The issue of funding cuts had come up at town council May 7, as the town approved its annual budget. The town had budgeted to spend $75,000 on the maintenance of the facility, but council agreed the money might have to go towards operations costs. The budget had been prepared before the Parks Canada announcement though, and so was passed in its original form. Because of the size of Fort Battleford's budget, it is unlikely the town would be able to make up for the loss of funding.
A total of 1,689 Parks Canada back office employees across the country were affected by the cuts, either losing their jobs outright or having to relocate in order to keep them. Most of these changes, however, did not affect Parks Canada employees in Saskatchewan, where the majority of jobs lost were not office-based.
For now, however, the operation of Fort Battleford will continue as it has, with costumed interpreters. The changes demanded by Parks Canada will only take place at the start of September. For more information on Parks Canada, visit www.pc.gc.ca
