Originally Posted By: Teslinhiker
Thoughts on this??

Facing dwindling attendance , park officials want to draw new Canadians and children of urban families into the great outdoors. And the demand is there – new programs that gently ease fledgling campers into the experience have had a positive response, inducting newcomers into the quintessentially Canadian world of canoes, sleeping bags and black flies.

The number of visitors to Canada’s national parks has dropped 22 per cent from 1995, while the country’s population has increased nearly 18 per cent – prompting Parks Canada to ask why. One realization: Not enough attention has been paid to the needs of the nation’s transforming demographic.


Part of the reason is the decline in travellers from the US because of the inflation of the CDN $ and downturn in the US economy... But mostly its because we are more urban than ever before and kids have been brought up on all things electronic and not enough outdoors. Since this story is Toronto-centric, you could add that Toronto has been heavily influenced with immigrants from other countries who don't have a background or tradition in camping. The challenge is to educate them about the fun part of being outdoors instead of living in a concrete jungle.
PS. "For Better of For Worse" comic strip just finished a storyline of the family who went out to Northern Ontario for 2 weeks of roughing it. Interesting read.