Budget increase for tourism, but closures for some small historic sites

In the provincial budget released on Tuesday, tourism funding increased overall, but a few individual sites ended up on a list of cuts. 

Last fiscal year, the province spent $87.8 million on tourism, and under the new budget, $92.8 million is budgeted.

A news release from Tourism Industry Association president Ginette Doiron commended the budget.

“For the association, which represents the voice of New Brunswick’s tourism operators, this budget marks a clear recognition of tourism’s economic importance across all regions of the province,” Doiron wrote.

But while the budget overall grew for tourism, a memo distributed to reporters from the province said that 10 “underutilized” provincially-owned tourism and heritage sites that saw under 5,000 annual visitors would be divested.

The sites that will not open this year are Bonar Law Provincial Heritage Place in Rexton, Sheriff Andrews House in Saint Andrews, Doak House Provincial Heritage Place in Doaktown, the Antique Automobile Museum in Edmundston and North Lake Provincial Park in Lakeland Ridges.

Also on the list is the MacDonald Farm near Miramichi, which already did not open last year after the group operating it said it had not received enough funds from the province.

Lakeland Ridges Mayor Leonard Foster said he was caught by surprise at the decision to close North Lake, especially since it just opened in 2022.

“When they're faced with cuts, I don't think that little park costs a lot to operate,” Foster said. 

“It's not a sandy beach like you would get down on, say, P.E.I. or wherever. But it's a lovely beach, especially since they brought in a bunch of sand and made the shoreline part of it quite nice,” he said. 

The park lies on a remote stretch of the U.S. border between Woodstock and McAdam. Aside from a number of campsites, Partners for Youth, an organization that provides programs for at-risk youth, has held camps in the area.

For a place called Lakeland Ridges, “We're surrounded by lakes but there’s few to no public beaches,” Foster said. 

“There's going to be cuts and that sort of thing. I just didn't quite realize that a little park like over here in North Lake would be affected.”

Also included on the list are four provincial parks that will remain open this season “while transition discussions take place.” Those parks are Val-Comeau in Tracadie, Anchorage on Grand Manan, Oak Bay near St. Stephen, and Cape Enrage, which is between Alma and Riverside-Albert.