Last week hikers near Devil’s Thumb in Banff National Park found names and slogans scratched into the rock on one of the most visited landscapes in the country.
Banff is not a bathroom stall. It is a national park.
That is not an isolated idiot. It is a pattern:
- August 2026 – a man was filmed spray-painting a red “memorial” across boulders at Golden Ears Provincial Park, a day after a drowning at the Lower Falls. He later turned himself in. Vandalism is still vandalism when you call it a tribute.
- July 2026 – ancient petroglyphs at Sandwell Provincial Park on Gabriola Island were scratched with graffiti. Those carvings are older than Canada. The Heritage Conservation Act already allows fines up to $50,000. Almost no one pays that.
- July 2025 – fluorescent paint on the cliffs of The Crack in Killarney Provincial Park. Park staff posted an open letter from the mountain. Hikers called it a great insult. The paint stayed.
- July 2025 – names, birthdates and hometowns scrawled at the base of Ha Ling Peak above Canmore. A guestbook no one asked for, on a mountain that is supposed to outlast us.
- 2022 – a visitor caught spray-painting boulders on the Whistlers Summit Trail in Jasper National Park pleaded guilty. The fine: $4,000. Volunteers spent days scrubbing rock.
The law already says don’t do it.
Parks Canada regulations ban removing, defacing, damaging or destroying natural objects in a national park. Rocks count. Public notices talk about fines “up to $25,000.” The Contraventions Regulations ticket for defacing a natural object is $100. A Jasper case that actually went to court landed at $4,000. Meanwhile a parking ticket in downtown Banff can cost more than tagging the mountain.
And they dump. Pullouts full of bags. Diapers in the bush. Camp garbage that feeds wolves — Banff handed out $350 for that. The ticket for trashing a national park should not be cheaper than lunch in Lake Louise.
That is why it keeps happening. The cleanup is on us.
- We need mandatory minimum fines that hurt. Not $100. Not $4,000. Start at $10,000 for a first offence of graffiti, carving, paint, or etching on rock, cliff, tree, or trail feature in a national or provincial park. $25,000 for a second. $50,000 where the site is a heritage, archaeological, or Indigenous rock-art site.
- Make them pay for the cleanup. Full cost recovery for every hour of staff, contractors, helicopters, chemicals, and volunteer time – on top of the fine. If the scar is permanent, the fine should be too.
- Name them and ban them. Public conviction, park ban of at least five years, and a flag on every Parks Canada and provincial park permit. No quiet diversion for “first-time” vandals who treated Lake Louise like a yearbook.
- Use the cameras we already have. Trail cams, parking-lot plates, and social-media evidence should be standard, not a lucky break from a hiker with a phone.
Sign below if you agree!
(When this petition hits 25,000 people, I will hand-deliver it to Ottawa and Edmonton! Signing will get you on the Juno News email list so you can get updates on the campaign.)