Free wifi in town facilities
Council unanimously supported the installation of free ShawGo Wifi in town facilities.
The service will be available in the fitness centre, Emergency Services Building, Community Outreach Services building and the Jasper Activity Centre.
Shaw Communications approached the municipality last September, proposing to install several micro transmitters on municipal infrastructure across town, allowing the company to provide free wifi access to its customers, as well as the general public.
Council then launched a public engagement campaign, surveying 165 residents to determine whether the community was interested in free wifi and where people would like to see it installed.
The response showed that 91 per cent of respondents were in support of free wifi in public facilities. There was also significant support for it in the downtown core, with 86 per cent of respondents in favour.
Other available areas included residential areas and open spaces, like municipal parks and playgrounds.
With council’s approval, the municipality will now enter into a non-exclusive contract with Shaw and the company will then be allowed to install micro transmitters in the approved public facilities.
Once that installation is completed, Shaw customers will be able to log on free of charge, and non-customers will be able to access the network for a specified time by providing an email address.
Jasper endorses the right to a healthy environment
Following lengthy discussions, council unanimously supported a declaration of the right to a healthy environment.
The declaration includes the right to everything from the right to breathe clean air to the right to drink clean water and know about pollutants and contaminants released into the local environment.
Jasper is the first municipality in Alberta to pass the declaration, joining councils from more than a dozen other Canadian communities—including Vancouver, B.C., Montreal, Que. and Yellowknife, N.W.T.
This movement began with David Suzuki, who travelled across the country last fall, launching his Blue Dot Campaign. The hope is to have municipalities across the country pass the declaration so that it can be used to lobby the Canadian government to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Prior to voting on the declaration, council requested Parks Canada’s support, as it is Parks that has jurisdiction over the environment, as well as land use, planning and development, not the municipality.
That support came in the form of a letter from Cathy Jenkins, manager of municipal and realty services.
Funds for economic development
Council granted funds to two community organizations from the Economic Development Fund.
The Jasper Pride Festival Society received $3,500 to hire a one-time contractor to develop a business plan for the festival. The society had requested $5,000, but that equates to the entirety of the fund and council had three requests.
Habitat for the Arts requested $1,650 for marketing and promotion of its brand new summer art camp. It received the remaining $1,500 from the fund.
The Jasper Folk Music Festival had also applied for funding, requesting $5,000 to rent generators, lighting and portable toilets, but council deemed the festival’s request unfit for the economic development fund, as the fund is for one-time purchases, not recurring expenses.
As an alternative, Coun. Rico Damota suggested that council instead sponsor the folk festival, using funds from council’s own budget.
On June 2, he will bring a motion forward to that effect and council will vote to determine whether to award the festival with $3,000.
Coun. Gilbert Wall expressed some concern with the idea, and asked that administration do some research to determine whether council has ever sponsored an event in the past.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
