Jasperite wants Parks to let him stay

Mike Perham just wants to live in his hometown.

The Jasper resident has been searching for a home for nearly a month, however high occupancy rates have left him out of luck.

After a two-week stay at Snaring creek campground, Perham must move again, and is frustrated with the lack of housing in town.

“I want to stay in Jasper. But there’s no housing and no place to rent, and August is busier than July,” Perham said.

He’s asking Parks Canada to allow him to stay at one of the campgrounds for the duration of the summer, however his requests thus far have been denied.
“They’re letting contractors stay out there. It’s a double standard.”

Yet Perham’s apartment search is different than most. For more than 10 years, Perham called Jasper home.

Two years ago, Perham was making $90,000 a year working for KinderMorgan. He enjoyed the job and had put in 24 years with the company. But as stresses in his personal life began to mount, mental illness began to manifest in his personality. Following a traumatic loss, Perham was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and placed on medication to control his behaviour. However Perham said the side effects of the medication left him drowsy, and one day driving back from Valemount, he nearly sent his truck over a cliff.

The brush with death convinced the Newfoundland native to take action.

Fearful for the future of his two children, he took long term disability from his job at Kinder Morgan, and Perham was in and out of hospital in Edmonton for a year, receiving treatment for bipolar disorder. While in hospital, he helped many other patients deal with their illness.

“Depression with bi-polar is ten times worse than regular depression,” Perham said. “I worked on myself in Edmonton... and I helped other people as well.”

 Perham said he now has his depression under control and he wants to give back to the community. He’s often seen cruising around Jasper with Cabot, his massive Newfoundland dog, hanging out the side of his car, which has proven popular with tourists.

After getting out of the hospital, he said it’s important that he find a home to get settled. And for Perham, Jasper is home.

“I have friends and roots here. It’s my home,” Perham said.

He has contacted the town about setting up a support group for those with bi-polar disorder in Jasper.

“There are about 12 people with bi-polar in Jasper. I can help those people dealing with mental health issues in Jasper,” Perham said.

Perham, 52, will be on disability until he’s 65, when his pension will kick in. He’s also asked the pipeline to provide him with housing, however those houses are currently full, he’s been told. He wants to stay in Jasper to be near family and to enjoy fishing in the creeks.

“I’m a camper and a fisherman. This is what I enjoy,” Perham said.

Currently, Parks Canada has a two-week limit on campground stays. Individuals must move to a different campsite after 14 days.

According to Pam Clark, manager of visitor experience with Jasper National Park, the 14-day limit is a national policy designed to ensure all Canadians have reasonable access to the sites.

“It’s a national policy... the campgrounds are available for all Canadians,” Clark said.

Perham says it’s frustrating to pull up stakes every two weeks. The campgrounds have been quite full this summer and he dislikes being forced to uproot himself every two weeks.

Despite Parks’ two-week policy, exemptions have been granted. Currently, a handful of contractors working on the rock scaling project are staying at Parks Canada campgrounds for the summer. Clark said in instances where the workers are required to be close to the site, some exemptions are granted. Those costs are included when Parks Canada contracts out its work.

“Generally those are worked into the agreement with the contractor. We don’t have the capacity for a work camp campground,” Clark said. “We contracted them to do the work. There are three individuals at three sites currently.”

Some Kinder Morgan pipeline workers were given campgrounds for homes, however Clark said those were extenuating circumstances.

“TMX had 650 workers and it was creating intense housing pressure, so we actually allowed for some extended stays,” Clark said. “There were between six and twelve workers staying at the campgrounds.”

“In rare instances, there have been exemptions tied to contractors. The whole issue is capacity for visitors.”

Exemptions for workers have been granted at other sites, however only during the actual work. In Lake Louise, construction crews working on the twinning of the TransCanada highway are using overflow campgrounds near the village.

In the meantime, Perham and Cabot continue to search for a new house. ‘This is my home’ Perham said.