In a landmark decision, the Town of Jasper has unanimously passed the Community Sustainability Plan, a broad reaching document that essentially sets an outline of what policies the town will adopt over the next decade and beyond.

The ‘most auspicious motion,’ according to Mayor Richard Ireland, unanimously passed through Jasper Town Council on July 6 after years of formulation, public hearings and debate. The documents signed by each member of Jasper Town Council will now be shipped off to Ottawa where it will be debated by the federal Minister of Environment Jim Prentice and staff.

“There’s still a bit of a journey yet,” said Jurgen Deagle, an environmental management specialist with Jasper National Park. “Those pieces of paper will be well travelled.”

How long the approval process in Ottawa will take is anyone’s guess, although councillors are hoping that because Jasper worked hand in hand and equally with Parks Canada staff while developing the plan, the process should be brief.

“Maybe we can put [the papers] in a trailer like the totem pole truck, tour them around,” said Councillor Rico Damota to the laughter of council.

Councillor Mike Day said he had heard from one resident in Jasper who was not happy with the direction of the plan. They wanted to remain anonymous, but they wanted it known for the record, not everyone was happy with the plan.

The Mayor said the plan was intended to be a document that evolves over time.

Councillor Ralph Melnyk said he liked the plan for that reason.

“Nothing in there is completely set in stone,” he said. “We should be able to review what ideas work in there and which do not.”

He added that six months from now, if a new idea for a policy comes up that is not in the plan and Jasper seems gung-ho to adopt it, then councillors can move to formally adopt it.

Councillor Brenda Zinck said that she thought the signing of the document was really exciting.

“This is about what we want to be,” she said, adding that the document will allow for residents to hold the town accountable. Jasperites can open up the plan, find a goal and ask council what is happening with it.

Councillor Brian Skehill said that potential expansion of land-use powers in the plan were the most important item to him.

“It’s really important that we have more control over land use because that will allow us to do so much more,” he said.

While the plan currently does not provide any significant new land use powers to the town, it does set a framework for consultations that could possibly devolve greater powers over time to the municipality.