Manitoba has paid $1M in e-licensing fees to U.S. company contracted to sell park passes online

Manitobans have been able to go online for the past two years to buy a provincial park pass, but that convenience also resulted in an American company pocketing $1 million.

Documents obtained by the Opposition NDP show that Aspira — the Texas-based firm the province contracted in 2020 to sell park passes, as well as hunting and angling licences, online — received $558,145 in the first year in e-licensing fees and an additional $528,071 from April 2021 to January 2022.

Altogether, the province has spent $1,086,216 for the online service, which the Progressive Conservative government initially touted as providing Manitobans with easier access and decreasing the carbon footprint.

However, the deal was eventually lambasted, as Manitobans noticed their fees going stateside to a company based in Dallas.

Consumers also paid more, since Aspira tacked on a $4.50 administration fee for the online purchases. For a day pass which previously cost $5, the surcharge nearly doubled the price of entry, to $9.50.

Online buying popular: government

NDP environment critic Lisa Naylor acknowledged the government probably needed to modernize its paper-only booking system, but says the execution was off the mark.

"The old process cost the government about $50,000 a year. The new process costs the government 10 times that much … and all of that money is going to another country, and that's a problem."

Naylor suggested there could be an alternative where an online supplier in Manitoba is used instead. She also said the administration fee, as it stands, is too high. 

Currently, park passes can be purchased online and through participating retailers, but there are not nearly as many in-person locations as before.

A government spokesperson said that the vendor won the right to sell park passes online through an "open and transparent tendering process."

"This online option has become very popular with consumers and was particularly practical offering contactless access to licences during the pandemic."

During question period on Thursday, Parks Minister Jeff Wharton repeated an already-announced pledge that Manitoba would improve its reservation system in time for 2023.

The system gets bogged down every spring as demand for camping spots outstrips supply.