Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
After refining the municipality鈥檚 strategic priorities for 2022-2026 at a workshop last week, council voted to adopt the revised document at its regular meeting on July 19.
Council began working on the municipality鈥檚 strategic priorities in early April, when they spent two days off-site in Banff at a session facilitated by Tracey Lorenson, a local government advisor with CivicExcellence.
The purpose of the Banff meeting was to begin discussing and identifying 鈥渢he strategic directions and themes that Council wished to incorporate into its Strategic Priorities for the term,鈥� notes the July 19 agenda item.
On three occasions after their first meeting, including a workshop on July 12, council reviewed and refined the document stating the municipality's priorities for the next four years.
Over the course of their discussions, council identified 31 鈥渋ndividual strategic actions鈥� that fall under the scope of six main priorities: community health, housing, relationships, environment, organizational excellence and advocacy.
A 鈥淢essage from the Mayor鈥� notes the significance of these strategic priorities.
鈥淚t is essential to recognize that just as our community is an integrated whole 鈥� and much more than the sum of its parts 鈥� this document is similarly intended to be read and understood as an integrated whole: that each identified action does not stand alone; that they work in unison, and that each may fit within and advance any number of Strategic Priorities.鈥�
The July 12 workshop to revise council鈥檚 strategic priorities was deemed necessary after Coun. Wendy Hall raised a couple of questions about the document as presented to council on July 5.
Hall鈥檚 first concern was that she believed the paper鈥檚 introduction was missing some historical context regarding the immeasurable contributions of Indigenous peoples 鈥� before and after European contact鈥� in what is now known as Jasper.
This concern was remedied in the revised version with a fulsome recognition of Indigenous peoples鈥� having lived upon the land for millennia 鈥� establishing the social and political ties that would lead to a foundational trade economy 鈥� with Jasper becoming a trading post and later a place where a railroad would quickly lead to a thriving modern economy.
鈥淭he Municipality of Jasper respectfully acknowledges that Jasper National Park and the Municipality of Jasper are on Treaty 6 and 8 Territories as well as M茅tis Region 4 (and that) (t)his land is the Traditional Territory, meeting ground, gathering place, travelling route and home for the Dane-zaa (Beaver), N锚hiyawak (Cree), Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Secw茅pemc (Shuswap), Stoney Nakoda and M茅tis,鈥� the document stated.
鈥淭he Municipality honours the historical and ongoing relationship between this land and the many Indigenous Peoples that were present and thrived in this area since time immemorial.鈥�
Additionally, the document notes the historic struggles Indigenous peoples have had to endure, and the importance of working to accept such truths, in an attempt to right the matter moving forward.
鈥淭he Municipality of Jasper acknowledges the past and ongoing impacts of the colonization of Indigenous Peoples and lands and commits to reconciliation efforts in partnership with those whose Traditional Territory the Municipality of Jasper occupies.鈥�
Hall鈥檚 second concern with the original version was that the priority of 鈥渞elationships鈥� did not include Indigenous people and voiced her apprehension at passing the strategic priorities as they were first written.
In its revised version, the 鈥淩elationships鈥� portion of the document now includes collaborating with 鈥淚ndigenous partners鈥� and 鈥渃ontinu(ing) along the path of Reconciliation.鈥�
After a brief in-camera break to discuss the document, council returned with a few minor edits and voted unanimously to pass Hall鈥檚 motion that council adopt the 2022-2026 Strategic Priorities as amended.
Mayor Richard Ireland voiced his happiness with the municipality's strategic priorities, calling the motion a 鈥渟ignificant milestone鈥�.
鈥淚t has been a tremendous amount of work, and I congratulate council, and thank Mr. Given and his staff for helping us get to this point,鈥� he added.
Coun. Hall thanked the mayor and her colleagues for helping her though the process as council devised the municipality鈥檚 priorities until 2026.
鈥淭his is my first strategic plan, and hopefully not my last, but the next three-and-a-half years are going to be really great,鈥� Hall said.
鈥淟et鈥檚 get at it.鈥�
