Andrew Campbell, Senior Vice-President of Operations for Parks Canada, previously told MPs: “We do not take notes at my operations team meeting.”

That revelation prompted Conservative MP William Stevenson to file a formal Order Paper Question demanding to know whether this was standard practice, whether the minister’s office signed off on it, and how it could possibly comply with federal record-keeping rules.

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In his response, then-Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault defended the practice, saying the absence of records allows for “open discussion.” According to Guilbeault, any “formal decisions” are documented elsewhere, but the day-to-day deliberations, warnings, and debates that could reveal what the agency knew about Jasper’s fire danger were never written down.

'It was a matter of time': Jasper-area locals react to federal mismanagement of wildfire

A devastating wildfire swept through Jasper National Park and into the historic Jasper townsite July 24, claiming 30% of the town's structures.

Although Minister of Environment and Climate… pic.twitter.com/s0pkDdLfKb

— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) August 1, 2024

For years, experts warned that the pine beetle infestation left Jasper National Park loaded with dead, highly flammable timber. Residents, experts, and local Conservative MP Jim Eglinski repeatedly raised alarms that the town was surrounded by a powder keg. 

When the fire finally ripped through Jasper last summer, it destroyed entire neighbourhoods and forced mass evacuations.

Now, when Canadians demand to know whether Parks Canada understood the scope of the risk and what action was considered, there’s nothing to examine — no notes, no minutes, no trail of accountability.

The government’s defence? That keeping no records made people feel more “open” when talking.