A change for good

I read your editorial regarding Tourism Jasper. I have had the priviledge of living and working in Jasper for the past five years. As general manager of The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, tourism sustainability is obviously a major concern to me but also a major opportunity. I also had the pleasure of working in Banff for three years prior to coming to Jasper. Although Jasperites cringe at the thought of Jasper being anything like Banff, in my humble opinion, it never could, should or will be if for no other reason than our completely unique geography.

However for the past several years Banff has had a well-organized and functioning DMO. What this has enabled them to do is to reduce the peaks and valleys that we find so challenging here. The goal is to market this destination as a year round destination. As a business operator so many of the challenges we face would be minimized if we didn’t struggle to survive during the down times. Imagine being able to keep staff all year round, imagine not having to re-invest in recruiting and training every year, imagine being able to attract young, professional families who see a long range future in Jasper, imagine not having to have community dinners because our staff can’t afford to eat due to a lack of hours, imagine being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Banff as a world class destination. As a Jasper resident, imagine being able to find fresh produce at the Grocery store all year round due to higher movement of inventory, imagine increased income to Parks Canada being translated into increased investment in environmental initiatives, imagine initiatives that would encourage Parks Canada to maintain and enhance the Icefields Parkway so that we all felt safe when travelling south.

Change can often be frightening but it also brings opportunities. I for one, am excited about the chamber of commerce becoming a business advocacy body. I have often had conversations with our Mayor who has asked us to demonstrate why we are meaningful and relevant to the community and I believe our chamber will do just that.

Amanda Robinson,
Jasper, AB

Singing the anthem blues

One breath of fresh air in the throne speech last week, and they snatched it away!

Changes to some of the words in the national anthem are long overdue, and I welcomed that announcement. Ah, but it turns out it was just a joke, or perhaps a PR stunt. It was a crafty little distraction which they never really intended to follow through on. How can Stephen Harper think we can’t see through that - it’s rather insulting to our intelligence.

Well, in the grand scheme of things, the anthem is a minor issue. Let’s talk about the real issue. You think the economy? How about the state of the earth (upon which the economy happens to depend) and how about climate change. I didn’t hear any mention of that.

Perhaps it is easier to keep our heads in the sand (better yet - the tar sands) and ignore that we are biological beings of the earth and completely dependent on the natural biosphere. When it has all been consumed, polluted, destroyed, do we then eat money?

Why should we be surprised to find such a stunning absence of positive action on climate change and the environment in the budget speech last week, when our prime minister is the very same man who called global warming a socialist conspiracy plot just a few short years ago!

Monika Schaefer,
Jasper, AB

An apology for the offended

I wish to publicly apologize to anyone I may have offended at the recent International Women’s Day celebrations while promoting the upcoming Vagina Monologues on April 29. As someone who knows (even promotes) the importance of audience awareness, some of my own audience may have judged that I was crude, crass and destroyed the ambience of the evening.

The message I meant to deliver was that often abuse is sustained and even made worse through silence. We are silenced by our fears; fear of being harmed, but also fear of speaking about a subject or words which are made unmentionable through societal taboos. Eve Ensler, the creator of The Vagina Monologues aims to help lift this veil of silence by giving voice to words and stories which have held, and continue to hold, many of us prisoner.

Through watching a story covered by American reporter Nicolas Kristof  about the women of the Congo (the spotlight cause of The Vagina Monologues), I recently learned the story of a woman who had her leg cut off by militia after they invaded her home and attempted to rape her.

Six million people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of women in the African country have been raped. For a full account of the horrific story and the plight of women in The Congo, readers can visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzDiKwhWlVo&feature=channel

Again, I apologize to those who were offended by my choice of word(s). Some things just aren’t that shocking to me anymore.

Kim Wallace,
Jasper, AB