Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland discusses efforts to rebuild what was lost in last year’s wildfires with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: Well, let’s maybe start on the need for housing to help replace what was lost. Parks Canada has most recently said it’s working with all levels of government to get interim housing in place and alleviate uncertainty. What level of progress do you see being made?
Richard Ireland: There is some progress, certainly evident on the ground in and around the town, and it has been really quite spectacular, from our perspective, from late November until now, the amount of land that has been prepared and serviced.
Housing of course, and interim housing in this case, is foundational to our recovery. It’s foundational to social recovery. We want to get people back into the community and back into homes where they feel like part of the community. But it’s also foundational to our economic recovery.
We need a labour force for our visitor economy to make that thrive again. All aspects of our recovery are founded on interim housing, so it’s absolutely critical from our perspective,
MH: The province had proposed to bring in some housing. Are you seeing that on the ground as yet?
RI: We haven’t seen the housing on the ground yet. We worked diligently through the fall, and with assistance from the provincial government, monetary assistance, we serviced a bunch of land that Parks Canada had made available. So a little over four hectares of land available.
It’s been cleared within the town boundary, it’s been serviced, we’re just waiting for final plans to think about how the individual lots or units will be serviced, but the parcels have been serviced and we’re ready to go.
I appreciate that Canadians certainly may not generally be aware of how large a hectare is, it’s sort of a new measurement, but in comparable sizes, I am told that it is in excess of four Canadian Football League fields. So using a Canadian perspective, that’s the land that we have available, serviced, ready to go.
MH: Getting homes in the ground, I have to think that cannot come soon enough.
RI: Absolutely it cannot, and there are some hard deadlines that we’re looking at. Again, the province has been wonderful in helping with transitional housing.
From the date of the fire, there have been people in hotels, whether in our community or in other communities. That funding, particularly locally, runs out at the end of the end of February. So there is a looming deadline, six weeks or a little bit more away from us now.
And then into the spring, there are other people who will be required to vacate existing housing that is accommodated in hotels, because those hotels have to get ready to start welcoming the visitors that we need to drive our economy through the summer.
MH: We’re in the thick of winter and is Jasper normally buzzing with skiers bound for Marmot basin. How important is tourism to the community at this stage of the recovery process?
RI: It’s vital to our recovery, it’s vital to our sustainability as a tourism-based community, and it always has been. We’re in the throes of winter now, we’re also in in the middle of Jasper in January, our signature winter event, and that is going well.
I know I was talking to one hotelier this morning and they’re heavily booked for this weekend and throughout the remaining part of January. Jasper in January lasts till January 26 and so we welcome people from particularly across northern Alberta and Edmonton to our community, and they continue to show up to support us, and we are so grateful for that.
MH: What assurances can you extend to those who are maybe either uncertain or hesitant to visit Jasper?
RI: There should be no hesitancy. I would encourage everyone to book ahead. Accommodation is somewhat limited, but it is available. As you would on any trip anywhere, I think it’s wise to plan ahead and book your accommodation. There is accommodation available.
Marmot basin has been open since the fall, conditions are good, and there’s more snow in the forecast so they’re going to improve. The town is alive and ready to welcome visitors. We have some new attractions like an ice climbing wall in the downtown core, for example. So we are absolutely able and quite anxious to welcome visitors, so do not hesitate, make your plans and come and visit us.
MH: Where does the coming wildfire season register on your radar?
RI: That is extremely high on our radar. That has been the situation for the last couple of decades, and I know that the community still feels threatened, and is threatened, from the area west of town, which has always been our primary concern.
It was a bit unexpected last summer to have the fire approach from the south, not that it was unexpected entirely, but we still did think the greater threat was to the west. That forest is still alive and Parks Canada is taking steps to reduce or mitigate the risk of wildfire west of town. More work will be conducted this winter, we’re anxious to see that get underway, and that will get underway in the next couple of weeks.
MH: On a personal note, municipal elections are on the horizon in 2025. Where are your thoughts about seeking another term as mayor come October?
RI: My thoughts right now are focused entirely on the ongoing recovery. I haven’t put a considerable amount of effort into planning for myself. We have a community plan, we need housing for so many residents.
It is, I acknowledge, an election year, and an important year, and I encourage people to start thinking about it. I invite people to get their nominations in. Nominations open January 1, and they don’t close until the third Monday of September, so there is lots of time. But I will say that from my personal perspective, I have more than enough to occupy my time dealing with the urgency of the rebuild of Jasper, and I haven’t spent much time thinking about my own future prospects.
