It sure looks as if Alberta’s United Conservative Government is prepared to let more than 600 families whose homes were destroyed by last July’s wildfire go homeless if that’s what it takes to pursue its political vendetta against the Liberal federal government in Ottawa.
According to The Canadian Press, this was the view of the 200 or so Jasperites who marked the six-month anniversary of the devastating forest fire with a protest march through the town last Friday.
The government of Danielle Smith says otherwise, of course. In a news release the same day, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon and Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver argued tendentiously it’s all Ottawa’s fault that the UCP has broken the promise made by Mr. Nixon last fall to provide $112 million to build modular housing for residents who lost their homes in the July 22 fire.
The emergency housing was supposed to be ready by the end of this month, which if you’ve got a calendar handy you’ll see is in less than a week.
But, the two ministers claimed, since the federal government won’t allow construction of new single-family houses outside the boundaries of the town, which is located inside Jasper National Park and subject to a mixed federal-provincial jurisdiction, there just isn’t enough land to rebuild the town.
Mr. Nixon told CP reporter Jack Farrell earlier in the week that the province is pulling its promised funding if the town won’t agree to build single-family residences. Town officials say that would mean only 60 residences could be built while 250 are needed immediately. The Alberta ministers say that means Ottawa has to expand the boundaries of the town.
“Alberta’s government remains ready to build homes for displaced Jasperites, but we can’t do that without land,” the news release’s author insisted. “If the federal government decides to step up and make land available, the province is ready to build the homes.”
In other words: Expand the boundaries of the town, or we’ll abandon the folks who live there and say it’s your fault!
This may seem odd to you, since all of the buildings that were destroyed in July are within the town boundaries, but bear with me.
The inevitable temptation is to treat this as merely another he-said/she-said story about a federal-provincial turf war with Jasper residents caught in the crossfire. No slur on Mr. Farrell’s excellent coverage, but the traditions of Canadian journalism strongly encourage reports of such situations to be “balanced,” as if each side’s arguments have equal merit.
Obviously, though, the “ecological imperative” set out in section 2 (1) of the Canada National Parks Act requires Parks Canada if possible to maintain the current boundaries of the townsite.
“Ecological integrity means,” in the words of the Act, “with respect to a park, a condition that is determined to be characteristic of its natural region and likely to persist, including abiotic components and the composition and abundance of native species and biological communities, rates of change and supporting processes.”
So the prudent way to rebuild from the catastrophic fire last summer would obviously be to maintain the current boundaries of the town while adding density to address present and future housing needs. From that perspective, the province’s position as articulated by Messrs. Nixon and McIver, seems incomprehensible to a sensible person.
Of course, readers will be starting to get the gist of the real problem when they look at the situation with the UCP’s perspective in mind. Not growing the town and shrinking the park is anathema to the UCP for at least these six reasons:
- Everyone understands that one reason the Jasper fire was as bad as it was is the reality of global climate change. However, like Premier Smith’s hero, U.S. President Donald Trump, the UCP is in deep denial about climate change and extremely hostile to any environmental initiative, especially anything that gets in the way of making money. They do not believe climate change is taking place in spite of the evidence of their lyin’ eyes. Their minds cannot be changed on this, at least not by credible evidence.
- They hate Justin Trudeau with an irrational and consuming passion, and Mr. Trudeau advocated a more environmentally conscious approach to resource management – although, in truth, federal Liberal concern about the environment is more vibe than genuine commitment, as the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project clearly illustrates. Nevertheless, this makes the UCP leadership want to pick any fight they possibly can with Ottawa, no matter how picayune or irrational, and to oppose environmental policies, even mere gestures, as a matter of principle, as with their crippling restrictions on renewable energy projects.
- Under Premier Smith the UCP has adopted the Steve Bannon strategy of “flooding the zone with shit,” and this is more of that stuff with which to flood the zone. This makes it very hard to keep up with what Alberta’s government is getting up to on any given day, which clearly works strategically for the Smith Government. Readers will note that Friday was the day the government released its “task force” report advocating COVID quackery and supporting pandemic conspiracy theories, and this statement may also have been timed to provide cover for that.
- The Smith Government deeply committed to MAGA-style culture war, and MAGA has decreed that increased urban density anywhere – “15-minute cities,” and all that – is a World Economic Forum/United Nations/Deep State plot to control the movement of free people. This is of course utter nonsense, but even if the UCP’s leaders don’t believe it, their base eats it up, and their base is surly and aggressive. This puts them in opposition to any kind of urban planning – in Edmonton, Calgary or Jasper – that would increase housing density for any reason. The UCP will stick with this until the moment U.S. right drops it.
- The UCP is fundamentally opposed to the Canadian National Parks model that controls and limits commercial development inside parks. Consider their plans for the province’s own provincial parks. As professional biologist Lorne Fitch put it in a guest post on this blog, the UCP wants to pave paradise and put up a parking lot! Have no doubt that part of the UCP’s ongoing sovereignty scheme is to gain control of national parks and open them up to uncontrolled development and hunting.
- The Alberta Government is openly using public funds and the bully pulpit provided by the levers of power to campaign for the federal Conservatives in the next federal election, whenever that takes place . As such, it’s any old port in a storm. Fighting with Ottawa over the people left homeless in Jasper, even when the problem is caused by the province’s refusal to keep its own promises, is just grist for the mill. This is likely to get worse if any more national voter-intention polls like the one published recently by EKOS show the Liberals recovering support now that Mr. Trudeau has stepped aside and Donald Trump is in the White House.
Looked at this way, the provincial policy, while cruel, unfair, and foolish, makes sense from the perspective of the Smith Government.
It never ends with the UCP, does it? Picking fights is one of their many failures.
It’s the only tool in their toolbox. Hammer, nail.
If the Smith UCP were to be given a performance appraisal report card, one of the common statements would likely be that they do not work well with others. I hope someone would give them a work plan for improvement for this shortcoming, but even if that could happen the UCP would likely ignore or dismiss it too.
Of course it makes no sense to need to expand the Jasper town boundaries, just rebuild what fit in the existing boundaries. Of course more density probably makes sense, but some of that should up to the residents.
So once again in the opinion of the UCP, the PM is wrong and the residents of Jasper probably too. Because only the dear leader Smith knows what is best for everyone.
Of course they try to blame the Feds because this terrible fire happened in a national park, but the Slave Lake, Fort McMurray and more recently Los Angeles fires, which were as bad or worse, all did not. Really the only common factors for these fires were very dry and windy conditions.
Unfortunately the UCP has lost touch with reality. I feel the only thing that might help is if the voters give them a hard kick in the keister.
And they are magically mining the coal out of our mountains and foothills now without leaving a trace! Smith must be musing on something like a laparoscopy, in and out, like in a private day surgery. No roads, no machines, no holes to disturb the ‘pristine’ viewscapes. Sweet. I gather she hasn’t read the links ‘her’ energy minister helpfully provided on his slick webpage https://open.alberta.ca/publications/recommendations-for-the-management-of-coal-resources-in-alberta, nor the transcript of the hearings on Grassy Mountain. https://www.aer.ca/documents/applications/hearings/Proceeding-444-vol-3-Jan-14-2025.pdf
I found Vern Emard’s account of events particularly poignant.
Speaking of flooding the zone, how are they addressing the auditor general’s surface water management (or lack thereof) report? https://www.oag.ab.ca/reports/surface-water-management-performance-audit/#:~:text=We%20examined%20processes%20in%20place,2019%20to%20November%2030%2C%202022.&text=We%20conclude%2C%20based%20on%20our,surface%20water%20management%20is%20lacking.
This is news?
This is not news. This is what these low life cretins do. Everyday! They could care less about citizens.
I would pose another hypothesis to explain Jason “Lurch” Nixon’s vindictiveness’s towards the people of Jasper. In the last election, his UCP caucus colleague Martin Long won 72% of the votes. But when you look at the poll-by-poll results, polling stations in the Jasper townsite were the only ones to go NDP.
Could retribution for voting against the UCP be a contributing factor in this matter? I sure wouldn’t put it past any of them. This is, after all, a political party that views all non-conservative parties, candidates and votes as illegitimate.
http://www.elections.ab.ca/election-results/
Jerry: Of course you are right. Given the nature of the community’s core “industry,” there is bound to be a higher percentage of people in Jasper who support and understand federal policies, and support protecting and preserving the environment. DJC
Of course! That’s how 44 years of Conservatives ruled in Alberta.
A lyrical and heart-rending description from Lorne Fitch: “in light of consistent budget cuts…availability of critical information is severely limited. Other key features missing are: mineral licks; dens; cavities; seeps; springs; and burrows important for nesting; foraging; calving; lambing; nursery; source water; and overwintering habitats.
Cruelty is a feature for the TBA cult that runs your province. Being cruel helps the cult members feel better about their own miserable lives.
CX: I sincerely believe that the UCP can subject its own base to almost any cruelty and it will lap it up, as long as some group of people they hate will suffer even more. This is also true of the Republican base in the United States. DJC
Thank you so much for providing the link to the EKOS poll, David! It was a joy to wake up to, and it has made my morning, thinking that we may not be stuck with a Pierre Poilievre government.
I wonder if more poll results will make Jagmeet Singh reconsider his plans to bring down our current government.
Bob: I understand from social media there is a Mainstreet poll of Ontario voters’ intentions in a federal vote that tands to back up the EKOS results. However, when I looked at Mainstreet’s website when I was writing this last night, I couldn’t find it, so I didn’t mention it. DJC
Here’s the solution. Jason Nixon could provide mats on the floor in an overnight shelter for the people of Jasper, including children. They’d have to clear out every morning, of course, and nothing would be done to solve the long-term problem of their homelessness. The elderly and infirm could be shipped off to motels outside Jasper and fed fast food kiddy meals until they expire — the people, that is.
Then a coyote hunt (with prizes) could be set up to amuse the townsfolk and distract them from their growing resentment and anger, thus preventing protest marches. Someone who owns a tourist hunting company would be perfect to get this started.
If you won’t allow mega resorts outside the town boundaries, and if you won’t allow the trees that suck up all the water to be logged, and the underbrush to be grazed and the park’s big game to be hunted in a lottery for wealthy foreigners, what do you expect? Hand over Jasper to Danielle Smith or else! Clear them out! Send the people to Jordan or Egypt or something….
If all else fails, Ric McIver could call his dear friend Art to unite Jasperites in prayer.
2 years and 4 months.
Of course, there could be another railroading. That’s the wild card. With more opportunities to osculate the gluteus maximus of the orange chaos monkey in the excited states, and no one with “nice hair” to blame at the federal level, “trash can” Dani will continue to be her own worst enemy.
However, with all due respect to Mr. Buonaparte’s sage adage, Mr. Nenshi should do a little more to encourage the united clown parties’ self-immolation and hopefully ameliorate the damage inherent to another 29 months of their ineptitude.
Gerald: Mr.Chauvin, surely! DJC
Marlain-a-Lago could not possible care less about the working class people of Jasper especially, as a previous poster noted, when they don’t vote for her. For Stormy Danielle, the Jasper wildfire was a photo op and another opportunity to pick a fight with Ottawa – nothing more.
The UCP is likely aping the Trump playbook in southern California.
Quite chilling to watch Trump propose elimination of all planning regulations and pushing municipal and state officials to let people start rebuilding immediately — bigger and better than ever with a 15-per-cent bonus on their insurance payouts.
Aside from other dangers from that, such a process would circumvent discussion on using different and less volatile construction materials than those helping make the fires within built-up areas so devastating.
Trump’s answer to the California fires has been to attack those he says he urged years ago to clean out all the scrub in the valleys and hills around LA.
We can expect the UCP to be promoting the destruction of all the trees and other natural cover around Jasper.
Andy: In fact, they were doing that very thing within hours of the fire burning into the Jasper townsite. https://albertapolitics.ca/2024/07/danielle-smith-touts-letting-loggers-cut-trees-and-ranchers-graze-cattle-to-help-manage-fire-threat-in-national-parks/ DJC
Which – let’s be clear – that’s just a giveaway of millions of dollars in feed to the beef industry – it has nothing to do with “fire management” – all discussion of how it would destroy the eco system of the park aside – which it would.
Completely agree. This is yet another case of never letting a good crisis go to waste. DJC
DJC, I will humbly submit my theory for consideration.
I don’t think it’s a big secret that the UPC and other interests have long desired to turn Jasper (town) into the next Banff (town); over-developed, commercialized, overrun and lucrative. Forcing the towns boundaries to expand using these underhanded tactics could be the start of the “Banffication” of the area: meaning bring in the developers and let ‘er rip. I personally hope this doesn’t happen as I’ve always felt Jasper had more of a quaint small town vibe, much different than the hustle and bustle of the town to the south.
That’s obviously the plan. The kind of developers the UCP loves to give money to don’t build single family homes (though what, no slush fund for ATCO trailers, what’s going on there?) They build grand projects that cost millions of dollars, and those developers don’t like paying for costly regulations that Jasper currently has when building out said mega projects.
Being that the majority of buildings effected were single family homes and most business survived mostly or complete intact, you have to consider one of the main motivations being luxury properties on those neighborhoods that were completely laid to waste. I bet they have the drawings already.
I couldn’t be happier to see Trudeau resign. Although he was a hero to Alberta by the Billions of Dollars he gave us, his time was up and I think Carney or Freeland can make fools of Poilievre. Fords early election promise has already been a huge mistake like it was with Joe Clark and Stephen Harper the Liberals are already gaining ground we are told on them.
when the news first reported the UCP wanted to expand the “townsite” my first thought was which large hotel chain wanted to build a hotel and which condo developer wanted to build a nice big building to sell those off. One could say I’m not giving the UCP the benefit of the doubt, but their quest for riches and fame exceeds their desire to protect the environment. Then it came to me, those two cabinet ministers in Texas, perhaps they were gathering “information” about how to convert a National Park of some fame into a privately operated tourist destination, with a private air strip for personal jets. ( in B.C. el gordo, former premier, Gordon Campbell, turned the operation of provincial government parks/campsites over to private contractors and then they instituted a “reservation” policy. Good luck trying to get into a provincial park to go camping.
Jasper could become one big disney knock off with winter hunting, etc. Although Canada is a large country with a lot of forests, etc. much of it is not accessible by Canadians given the lack of roads, etc. Our national and provincial park systems are a wonder to behold. They are also like a bank machine for governments and their friends.
Smith isn’t interested in protecting the enviornment. She isn’t interested in ensuring Albertans have a decent place to live. Who knows perhaps she would like all those who lost their homes to move out of Jasper so it can be “rebuilt” in her vision. If PP is elected do expect him to become Smith’s enabler.
Rebuilding a burnt out town, means rebuilding what was there, not some ones version of what would be good for whomever. People deserve to have homes to live in and to be made whole. If the residents of Jasper want to live on their properties and open their businesses again, I’d suggest they put up tents and ask for foreign aid or do as the people in N.C. are doing–being lent trailer they can live in. If the feds were smart they might want to simply move in accomodation for businesses and resident and ignore Smith. Its federal land isn’t it?
With people having no where to live, watch for a push for a rail system to Jasper. The workers can live some where else, leaving the town just for tourists.
I knew this was coming when the Nationalist post (ironically a yellow newspaper) sent Donna Kennedy Glans (not even a journalist) to interview a hotelier who of course blamed the lack of progress on Ottawa and “regulations” have to say I haven’t seen anyone who actually lives in Jasper call for expanding the town borders or building mc mansion style single family homes throughout the park. Maybe that’s because they realize it’s the regulations that make Jasper what it is. I’m sure the UCP isn’t a fan of the tight rules around whom is allowed to purchase housing in Jasper either, they would love to push out the residents, move in their rich friends and make it just like Banff is now.
I despise these transparent, hack politicians.
This is the most biased and partisan article I’ve ever read. The author uses opinions as facts and gives no evidence to support their claims. Simply stating, “Everyone understands that one reason the Jasper fire was as bad as it was is the reality of global climate change”, is gross, it shows that the author is deeply locked in to the ideological dogma surrounding climate and social justice. This article is trash. After a disaster such as the fires occurs, changes should be made. If it means expanding the borders of the townsite to accommodate a athe huge rebuild and make room for modernized infrastructure than so be it. Prove me wrong.
Up here in Canada we take our National Parks Act seriously. It means that we have limited boundaries for development within the very few Parks where townsites are even allowed. The boundaries of those townsites are defined in the Act. Parliament (as we call our federal government house) would have to agree to any expansion of a townsite. The idea, and the Act, long predate any thoughts of climate change, modern ideology, or your apparent problem with social justice. The Act is in place to ensure that Canadian National Parks are safeguarded to ensure they remain in a natural state for all future generations. Pretty simple really.