Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
The three mayoral candidates fielded questions from the public on the cost of living and other subjects during the municipal forum on Oct. 4.
Hosted by the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce over Zoom, the forum was moderated by past Chamber president Richard Cooper with 1,800 users being reached or engaged.
The forum began with an opening statement from each candidate, with candidate Basil Byrd chosen to go first by random draw.
Byrd began by noting the need for new leadership in Jasper.
“Promises were made and sadly nothing’s changed. I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers, but unfortunately they don’t build houses and they certainly don’t change the situation.”
Byrd argued that community involvement in the decisions of past councils has become “stagnant.”
“We’re in desperate need of a new breed of municipal government, a changing of the guards if you will, but (one) that doesn’t rely on hindsight to solve problems.”
Paul Butler, who is currently a councillor, spoke next about how Jasper has changed over the past 20 years since incorporation and was overall a good place to live.
“But it is not perfect. There are real challenges ahead. We need to adapt; we need to change and face those challenges in order to secure a successful future.”
Butler said these challenges included the lack of affordable housing, the closure of local businesses and the deterioration of infrastructure.
“Even though doing so is uncomfortable, we have to face the reality that sometimes what we’ve been doing all along may no longer be working as well as we thought.”
Richard Ireland, who has served as Jasper’s only mayor for the past two decades, used his opening remarks to express how his leadership approach would be “based on fundamental principles of humanity, humility and honour.”
“My role, my goal, my duty is to serve the community, all of the community, not a segment or a sector of the community, but the community as a whole,” Ireland said.
“As a servant-leader, I serve residents. There is enormous and valuable diversity in the community. I choose, however, to focus on the one characteristic which I know unites us: we are all residents.”
Ireland added how he wanted to sustain a culture of “unifying governance.”
“I sense that evolving culture is now at risk. I am here because I think that it’s worth retaining. I think it’s worth growing. I think it sets us apart.”
The candidates then answered questions from the public.
One asked the candidates how they would address the cost of living.
Ireland said the municipality can continue to keep user fees modest for recreation facilities but noted that food costs were beyond the realm of municipal government.
As for the cost of housing, Ireland advocated for the municipality getting control of its land-use planning from Parks Canada.
“We will need more housing and that will help with residential costs, which is an issue that drives the expense of living in this community.”
Byrd advocated for a rent cap, noting how he had heard of increases of $800 or more during the pandemic.
“Something like that can destroy a person, absolutely destroy a person, and I think we need to have some policies here that are going to protect the families and the people who are actually living and working here.”
Byrd added that there was an issue of out-of-towners buying houses and renting them out at “extortion costs.”
Butler noted how the municipality puts a lot of money into recreation, such as the new waterslide, new ice surfaces, arena upgrades and the $300K commitment to the skatepark.
“I’m very proud of the support in this community for families,” he said.
“We should never sit back with a sense of self-satisfaction, but I am really proud of the work we do to make Jasper as friendly and livable (a) place for families as we possibly can.”
Butler added how rent was firmly within the jurisdiction of the provincial government, but he did express concern with the rising rents.
A recording of the forum can be watched on the Chamber’s Facebook page.
The election takes place on Oct. 18, with advance votes on the two Wednesdays prior.
For more details, visit jasper-alberta.com/elections
A forum for councillor candidates is also scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 5, starting at 6:30 p.m. More details can be found on the Chamber's Facebook page or its website for the Zoom link.
