Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland delivered his annual State of the Municipality address during the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce鈥檚 general meeting at Cassio鈥檚 Italian Restaurant on May 10.
Ireland acknowledged the importance of tourism when it came to community health, telling the chamber members that their concerns were frequently reflected in council鈥檚 priorities.
One major concern of local businesses is labour, which is tied to housing.
鈥淐ouncil continues its focus on housing, which, of course, is a focus on business,鈥� Ireland said.
As an example of this commitment, the municipality has provided utility services to land parcels on Connaught Drive in order to accelerate the development of affordable housing.
The structure of the Jasper Housing Corporation, meanwhile, is being reconfigured to allow business to better leverage the opportunity to invest in new employee housing.
The municipality also has a new position for a housing co-ordinator.
In addition, the province announced in March, and the municipality has budgeted for borrowing another $5 million.
鈥淎ll of that reflects a focus on business needs and a reflection of our commitment to the fundamental importance of the tourism economy,鈥� Ireland said.
The mayor noted that council鈥檚 focus on childcare, such as the development of a childcare strategy and action plan, would benefit the business community as many employees require options for childcare.
鈥淎nd unlike most other municipalities, Jasper has long taken a direct approach to addressing that need,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淭hat is not to say we can address it alone, and the development of a strategy and an action plan will assist the entire community in continuing to address a need which impacts almost every business.鈥�
For years, Jasper, Banff and Canmore have been pushing for the province to recognize their unique status as tourism communities.
This would allow these three towns to access more grant funding from existing sources, rather than taxation tools as initially conceived.
According to a recent independent analysis, 32 per cent of Jasper鈥檚 expenditures were directed to the provision of services and infrastructure for visitor use in 2021.
This included the wastewater treatment plant, extra parking, enhanced lane markings, washrooms, street maintenance, improved municipal facilities, solid waste management and recycling, among other services.
鈥淭hose investments service the visitors that you need, that those investments demonstrate a municipal commitment to the fundamental importance of business and the tourism economy,鈥� Ireland told the chamber.
They also drive another agenda, which is the possible transfer of some land-use planning and development responsibilities from Parks Canada to the municipality.
鈥淭he negotiations are unfolding as they should,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淧arks Canada has undertaken its legislative requirement for consultation, and we all joined in. We are all waiting [for] the receipt of the 鈥榃hat We Heard鈥� report, but the expectation remains that we will provide a recommendation to the minister by the fall.鈥�
Ireland also noted
