The Whitehorse contractor who ran the summer tourism program at the S.S Klondike for years says last summer's management of the historic site by Parks Canada has to be questioned.

Mike McLarnon was adamant in a recent interview that his critique of the federal department's performance has nothing to do with sour grapes. He's not interested in getting the contract back, because he's moving on to other things in life.

But when a federal branch takes over management of a public facility that was previously operated privately, and the costs go up while the level of service goes down, taxpayers should know, McLarnon insisted.

McLarnon says most of his evidence is anecdotal, gleaned from what he saw and heard personally through his summer work at the Tourist Information Centre down the street, in his visits to the S.S. Klondike with his own private tours, and from conversations he's had with coach drivers from other tour companies.

There are also, however, the policies implemented by Parks Canada which are indisputable, like the overall hike in fees for visitors, says the man who was under contract to manage the tourist attraction for 11 of the last 12 years.

The former Liberal MLA accuses the federal department of bolstering its complement of bilingual staff to secure the additional funding Ottawa allots to bilingual staffing programs, to maximize its operating budget.

'I do not think this is the way bilingual programs are supposed to be used,' he says. 'Unilingual tour guides were discriminated against because Parks Canada needed the money.'

Clearly, says McLarnon, it was not to increase French service, because the service to visitors in French was reduced.

He contends it was a conscious effort to build the nest egg as big as possible, because officials knew that operating the facility would be costly.

The federal department, he adds, knew it had to come up with the required budget any way it could, as Parks Canada was going from a position of earning revenue by contracting out the S.S. Klondike, to a position of carrying the entire operational expense.

'Where before, they were actually receiving $6,000 to $10,000 a year, now they were paying $120,000 to do less,' he says.

The move to take over the facility was based on a model forged in Ottawa, to make it bigger, better, to attract the attention of larger tour businesses that might even want to build a restaurant onto the visitor reception centre at the site, he says.

McLarnon says that plan went bust last fall when the federal vision was blinded by disinterest from the private sector.

McLarnon's was the only reply to the call from Parks Canada for proposals to build upon the federal vision. And his response was of limited interest, that he would only run the operation under the same conditions in years prior.

No go.

Along with the imposition of the federal model, he points out, was the closure of the gift shop at the onsite reception centre, as competitive merchandising by federal departments is not allowed.

While not a huge revenue generator on its own, the shop did provide visitors with the opportunity to buy local goods and souvenirs keepsakes and was an important outlet for a couple of local authors who benefited from sales there, McLarnon says.

McLarnon does believe Parks Canada could assume a leadership role and enhance the city's tourist industry if it maximized the S.S. Klondike's potential as a historic site. He acknowledges it was the department's first year, and bumps and bruises could be expected.

'But if they are just going to come in and nickle-and-dime it, and don't (take the leadership role), then they should re-examine their model.'

It just doesn't make sense for the department to take over the attraction, increase its draw on the public purse while reducing the level of service to visitors, he says.

McLarnon says he knows tour groups were often backed up, and they did receive complaints at the Visitor Reception Centre where he worked.

When tours did begin, they often took longer than allotted for by the private companies, which are typically on a rigid schedule, he says.

A particular thorn in McLarnon's side was the decision by Parks Canada to reduce its French language tour to once a day.

He points out when he was under contract to manage the site for the summer, he was obligated to provide a tour in French within one hour of being requested to do so, all day long.

It was a contractual obligation that required he maintain a complement of staff large enough to handle regular tour traffic, and also provide a French language tour on request, he notes.

If he had to provide only one French tour, says McLarnon, staffing levels could have been adjusted accordingly, and he would have made more money.

Also annoying was the irony of Parks Canada designating more staff positions as bilingual, but paring the service in French while erasing opportunities for veteran tour guides or others who have something valuable to offer, but aren't bilingual.

In addition to the four bilingual positions were three student positions and an in-house supervisor, as McLarnon understands it.

He says if you weren't bilingual, and you weren't a student, you need not apply.

Of course there is a need and place for bilingual staff, but when numbers start climbing disproportionately and the level of service is reduced, one has to wonder, says McLarnon.

He also notes that passing the test to be qualified as bilingual is no easy feat, and that for the most part, those who have English as a first language but speak casual French would not make the grade.

It could give rise to a situation where positions for those without French, who aren't students but have a backpack full of other qualities to offer the S.S. Klondike for the summer, wouldn't be able to apply, he says.

For a couple of years, McLarnon recalls, he employed the late Bill Jarvis as a tour guide. Jarvis used to work on the riverboats, and who better, McLarnon asks, to tell tourists how it was? Jarvis, says McLarnon, would not have been able to apply last summer.

'If somebody had time, they could sit down and argue the constitutionality of it,' he says of the bilingual and student staffing levels that closed the door on opportunities for those who did not fall into either category.

He's concerned that Parks Canada did not have the regular visits from a trained conservator that occurred when McLarnon was running the boat.

The conservator, he says, makes sure the tour guides are watching that visitors don't handle artifacts they're not supposed to, to avoid the build-up of skin oil and such on sensitive materials.

All told, McLarnon insists, the taxpayer dished out more and got less with Parks Canada's decision to take over.

'I think I am one of the best people in the territory to judge the service provided by others,' says McLarnon.

Dan Verhalle of Parks Canada accepts McLarnon's criticism. He has spoken with him, as well as with private tour operators, to get a sense of how Parks Canada can better serve them in the future.

There is room for improvement, and he and his department accept that.

It wasn't all bad, Verhalle said in a recent interview, noting there were also the positive comments from visitors.

The overall fee hikes were in keeping with national park policy, Verhalle maintains. But he doesn't think they had anything to do with a 15-per-cent decrease in the total number of visitors which dropped to 14,200.

The drop, he insists, was more in keeping with the overall decline in the number of of tourists visiting the territory last summer.

Verhalle says there was nothing sinister about the hiring policy.

There were seven positions, he says, including one supervisor, two bilingual positions from within existing Park Canada ranks, and one other position designated as bilingual. There were three student positions, one of which was designated bilingual.

One of the bilingual park staff was given training as a conservator, he says.

Verhalle says while Parks Canada recognizes improvements need to be made, it must also be understood why the department has taken over the S.S. Klondike operation.

Parks Canada was watching a third party operate what Verhalle termed an icon site for the federal department, he explains.

The opportunity, Verhalle says, came along to take over the site. It was an opportunity for the department to fly the flag, to fulfill its mandate of showcasing Canada's historic sites in a Parks Canada way.

'There was a lot of support within the field unit to do this,' he says.

Verhalle says the total cost to run the S.S. Klondike for the summer was $121,000, with revenues of $70,000, resulting in a cost to taxpayers of $51,000.

Rob Taylor of Holland America said his issues at the boat this year centred around timing. With three hours to provide the entire tour of Whitehorse, there's no room to run over the one-hour time slot allotted for the S.S. Klondike tour, he said from his Whitehorse office.

Taylor says when McLarnon operated the facility, things ran much smoother, and on time, to accommodate the company's schedule.

The issues over timing with Parks Canada were eventually worked out by the end of the summer, he says.

Taylor acknowledged it was the federal department's first summer, and that it had to be a bit of a learning curve.

But he also suspects staff were caught up in providing the full spit and polished tour, and did not fully appreciate the time crunch private tour operators were under.

To their credit, says Taylor, Verhalle and other management staff were easy to contact to discuss issues as they arose.