As Jasper continues to recover from a wildfire that destroyed nearly a third of the townsite, Mayor Richard Ireland is optimistic about the New Year.
Although having dealt with various challenges such as establishing local government, COVID-19 and the Chetamon wildfire, the last year had proven “without question” to be his most difficult one as mayor.
Nonetheless, Ireland asserted there was “a degree of optimism and hope for the future.”
“People have certainly demonstrated lots of resilience and lots of patience until now,” he said. “And I think they are encouraged by the visible signs of progress – that is, lots being cleared up – and so they know that work is underway to be prepared for rebuilding in the spring.”
Another sign of hope is that site servicing has been completed for interim housing. The Alberta government has committed to providing 250 modular homes, with the first of these expected to come online early next year.
Ireland noted the municipality was not part of the procurement process and acknowledged there were some issues between the federal and provincial governments related to land leasing.
“We are hopeful that those things will get settled,” he said. “The prior assurances that we had was that there would be housing on the ground early in 2025, and for the benefit of the community, that’s what we’re hoping to see.”
As for the long-term rebuild, which will take years, Ireland said the municipality, through the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre, would do everything within its power to facilitate this process. That includes assisting the insurance industry to help residents rebuild homes and working with Parks Canada to find accommodations for the necessary workforce.
During the first half of 2025, the municipality is expected to take over land-use authority from Parks Canada, a long-time aspiration that was accelerated by the wildfire.
Ireland noted this transfer would require the municipality to develop a planning department, work with Parks Canada to configure the rebuilding guidelines that were announced several months ago and get the province to have a change in the Order in Council that created the specialized municipality of Jasper.
Developers will continue to submit applications to Parks Canada for the time being. Ireland assured it would be a seamless transition for developers once the municipality takes over.
As for the upcoming summer season, Ireland said they were working on plans with industry to potentially provide camp-style accommodation.
“The visor economy is heavily reliant on a workforce, and we need to be able to accommodate those people in order to restart our economy,” Ireland said.
While Jasper is several hundred rooms down for visitor accommodation because of the fire, Parks Canada has promised to have the major campgrounds ready in time for summer.
This month, Jasper’s recreation facilities are reopening following over a year of renovations, which were delayed due to the wildlife. The renovations included upgrading changing areas for the Aquatic Centre and Jasper Arena while adding new dressing rooms for the arena.
Ireland described the completion of this project as “a great relief.”
“I have every confidence that people will be really impressed with the product that is now available to them and available, of course, to people from all over the province who come here for tournaments,” Ireland said.
One project the municipality is putting the brakes on, at least temporarily, is procuring electric buses for its transit system. Ireland said they would know more in the spring once interim housing was installed and see whether there will be a greater need for transit.
“Council has, I think, quite properly, put some of those considerations on hold for now, because the landscape is so uncertain,” he added.
With municipal elections coming up in fall 2025, Ireland has yet to announce whether he will run for re-election and plans to leave that question until late into the summer next year.
“So much can change between now and then, both in my personal life and in the life of the community,” he said. “I am fully engaged in getting through the challenges that we face right now, and I think I will continue to be so engaged until well into the New Year, and so I will come back to a consideration of the election in 2025 when the timing is right.”
According to Ireland, next year’s candidates will – as always – need to demonstrate a strong commitment to serving the community, and the question of who is qualified will ultimately rest with residents.
As a message to Jasper, Ireland offered similar words that have gotten the community through the past five months, ones that encourage the resolve needed to face the current and coming challenges and surmount them.
“Resilience is a word that has been used repeatedly, and it is absolutely appropriate,” he said. “Our community has shown a great amount of resilience, and I think we’ll continue to do that, and we’ll need to continue to do that.”
The other quality that Jasperites will require as they move forward is unity.
“We are in this together,” Ireland said. “We will only get through this together, and as long as the community continues to work together to demonstrate their resolve and to show their resilience, then I think we will get through this.”
