Town works toward sustainability plan

Jasper is working on its stamina.

Plans are underway to implement a year-long engagement strategy that will aim to learn the priorities and aspirations of Jasperites when it comes to sustainability. In mid-October, the Jasper Community Sustainability Plan Working Group will hold a kick-off event that will be the first of a number of initiatives to collect public input.

“In order to be a sustainable community you really have to have all residents and stake-holders engaged,” said Ron Hooper, chairman of the working group. “So it’s really critical that we find mechanisms in understanding the needs and aspirations of the community.”

A sustainability plan, Hooper said, addresses five areas – environmental integrity, economic health, social equity, cultural vitality, and supporting governance structures – and determining how the community can achieve them. 

On Oct. 15 at 5 p.m., members of the community are invited to attend the Activity Centre for the first step in the engagement strategy. Hooper said it will be an opportunity to have a guest speaker talk about what a sustainable community is and to discuss some key issues. It will be the beginning of a 12-month process during which the Working group will undertake a number of initiatives to collect public input. 

“One of the things we will be doing is trying a variety of techniques because not every one works for every demographic,” Hooper said. “To give people a range of choices in how they feel comfortable participating, we’ll do our very best to accommodate them.”

The Working Group will first look for the community’s vision, then for targets and aims. “If we have a goal for enhancement of cultural programs in the community, as an example, how would we know if we’re successful?” Hooper said. The next step will be to identify strategies and actions that need to be taken in both the short and long term to achieve the community’s desired goals.

“It’s really trying to ensure the community really understands the importance of the plan and is engaged in helping to procure it,” Hooper said. “So it’s not just a case of two levels of government having all the responsibility, we all will, in different ways, as residents of this community.”

The Working Group’s role is to facilitate public discussion and then report the results of the discussions to the Steering Committee, said Verne Balding, director of corporate and legislative services. The Steering Committee, which consists of the mayor, council and the superintendent of Parks Canada, appointed volunteer members to the Working Group in early spring following an application process. 

At the beginning of September, council authorized the signing of a $235,000 contract with FoTenn Consulting Inc. of Ottawa, Ont. as the principal consultant for the process.

“Responsibility for creating the plan and managing that process rests with the Steering Committee, and then there’s a consultant retained to assist with the technical aspects of the planning process and the business of actually drafting the plan,” Balding said. “They’re there to provide resources and technical expertise.”

In 2007, Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper signed the Community Plan Charter which established a planning partnership, as the Jasper Community Land Use Plan from 2001 was coming up for review. 

The sustainability project has a budget of $400,000. The municipality agreed to contribute $121,000; $100,000 comes from Parks Canada, and the remainder from the Green Municipal Fund and the Alberta Sponsorship Grant.

The Working Group meets again on Sept. 29 to finalize the details of its first event. “We’re aware there’s a degree of cynicism and fatigue with consultative processes,” Hooper said. “So we’re really looking at creating something that will draw people out and get people’s attention that this is a truly important process for the future of the community.”