Council passed a motion to support the 2015 Tour of Alberta with up to $60,000 in funding, Nov. 3, pending Parks Canada’s approval and further financial support from the community.
The decision was unanimous, with all present councillors enthusiastically voting in favour. (Couns. Dwain Wacko and Gilbert Wall were absent.)
The Tour of Alberta courted the municipality last month, pitching its plan to make Jasper the mountain stage for its 2015 bike race. The plan is to have the tour’s world class cyclists complete Stage 2 in Jasper on Sept. 4, 2015—the Friday of Labour Day long weekend.
Hosting a finish line comes with a rights fee of $150,000. (A start is $100,000.) So, in order to bring the event to the park, the community has to come up with the cash.
The municipality has put forward its pledge of up to $60,000, leaving the remaining $90,000 up to its community partners. It is also relying on Parks to give the tour its approval.
If those conditions are met, the municipality will utilize funds from “council initiatives,” a budget line with $35,000 remaining in it for 2014 and an allotment of $50,000 in the proposed 2015 budget.
The Tour of Alberta is the highest ranking cycling event in the country, attracting the same cyclists that compete at the Tour de France. The inaugural event was held in 2013, taking cyclists from Edmonton to Calgary—in 2014, the route was reversed.
Now that the event is established—attracting 200,000 spectators and 41 million international television viewers—the hope is to showcase other areas of Alberta, including Jasper National Park.
“I think it’s a great thing for us to host here,” said Coun. Rico Damota, as the motion came forward earlier this month. “[This] at least shows that from the council standpoint we’re serious about bringing something like this and helping expose our beautiful area.”
Since Duane Vienneau, the executive director of the tour, presented to council in October, numerous meetings have taken place between community stakeholders to discuss the possibility of bringing the tour to town, including a Jasper Parternship meeting on Nov. 3.
Another meeting will also take place today, Nov. 13, allowing the municipality, Parks, Tourism Jasper, the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce and some of the town’s attractions an opportunity to discuss logistics and hash out any unanswered questions.
Vienneau is also expected to return to town with his colleagues, including the tour’s technical director, to further discuss what is required of the municipality and its partners.
If each of the participating communities give the go-ahead, this will be the tour’s first time heading north, with the race beginning with time trials in Grande Prairie on Sept. 2. The following day, the County of Grande Prairie will host Stage 1 and on Sept. 4, the proposed route is Grande Cache to Jasper, making up Stage 2 of the race.
The remaining routes will see the cyclists travel from Edson to Spruce Grove in Stage 3, through Strathcona County in Stage 4 and on a circuit in Edmonton for the fifth and final stage.
Although Vienneau indicated that he would like to secure the communities by the end of October, Mayor Richard Ireland said that he is understanding of Jasper’s unique position.
“He recognizes that we have procedural issues that must be addressed. Sooner is better, but we’re not in any particular danger,” said Ireland. “This is an indication of council’s commitment and financial support and then the discussions will continue.”
Nicole Veerman
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