The Jasper Local May 1, 2019 by The Jasper Local

a lt e r n at i v e +

LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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wednesday, may 1, 2019 // ISSUE 144

FACE SHOT // WAPITI WONDERING WHY WINTER WON’T WEAKEN // INSTA: @ SIMONEHEINRICHPHOTOGRAPHY

Business owners question Parkway closures Mountain Park Lodges, which operates five hotels in Jasper, After the Icefields Parkway was shut down during the Easter long weekend, attributed between 80-100 cancelled room nights over the some local business owners were questioning Parks Canada’s commitment to making Jasper a viable winter destination. Paul Hardy, owner of SunDog Tours, said his transportation business was once again affected when Highway 93 was closed for avalanche control and highway maintenance on Thursday, April 18. But what troubles Hardy more than the money spent on having to log extra miles and use extra drivers in order to connect his shuttle passengers to Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise via Edmonton, is the message that Jasper sends its guests when road conditions are challenging. “Guests’ expectations are that the main scenic road to get to Jasper is going to have an adequate and appropriate amount of maintenance to keep it open,” Hardy said. “And when they see that it’s doesn’t have that, they’re dumbfounded.”

weekend to the road closure. Hardy made it clear he isn’t criticizing local avalanche forecasters, visitor safety members or highway maintenance staff. But he does question the federal government’s resourceallocation for the local field unit. “I know the men and women on the ground have a huge responsibility to keep that road safe, but I wonder if Parks has given them the resources and the tools that the whole town needs and deserves?” Hardy pointed to the Trans Canada Highway at Kicking Horse and Rogers Pass as examples of a highway which traverses high mountain passes but which is adequately resourced. “The Icefields Parkway is a tremendous asset. Why can’t we treat it that way?” he said. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 144 // wednesday, may 1, 2019

editorial //

Local Vocal Travelling the Icefields Parkway is arguably one of the most spectacular drives on the planet and every Jasper brochure, every local marketing campaign and

every tourism ambassador in the Rockies will tell you as much. All over the world, in fact, wholesalers, tour operators and boutique travel agents who specialize in the Canadian experience profess to their clients the eye popping beauty of the 230 kilometres between Jasper and Lake Louise. And why wouldn’t they? The Parkway sells itself. A big part of the allure, of course, is the rugged nature of the mountains which straddle either side of the road. This mountainous environment contains natural hazards which can make keeping the parkway safe a major challenge: avalanches, rockfall, snow, ice, wildfires, fog... there’s good reason for the big signs at either end of the road which indicate whether driving conditions are good, fair or poor. But lately, to some at least, it seems like those road signs all too often show the Icefields Parkway as closed. We’ve spoken to Jasperites on and off the record and there seems to be a growing concern that Parks Canada as an agency is not giving our local JNP staff enough resources to adequately maintain the road in the winter. If we weren’t a tourism-dependent community, perhaps these complaints wouldn’t hold as much water. But let’s consider this from our guests’ point of view: Imagine you’ve saved up for a once-in-alifetime trip to the Rockies in the winter. You’ve booked your hotel rooms, rented a car, researched some restaurants and bought a new camera. After a long flight into Calgary and getting your first glimpse of the Rockies in the Bow Valley, you’re anticipating a close up view of glacier-capped peaks, ice-covered lakes and of course, the Columbia Icefields. You’re eagerly discussing with your travel partners whether to partake in a day of skiing at Marmot Basin or an ice walk in Maligne Canyon when you discover…wait…what’s that? The Icefields Parkway is … closed? Let’s be clear: this newspaper is not trying to tell local JNP officials how to do their job. We have enormous respect for the avalanche forecasters and visitor safety specialists and highway maintenance teams who work tirelessly to make the Icefields Parkway as safe as possible for the travelling public, and we would hope our track record of reportage demonstrates as much. But the Icefields Parkway is just that: a parkway. The 2009 Icefields Parkway Strategic Concept describes the road as a “scenic heritage highway with an emphasis on the visitor experience and

safety.” Perhaps it’s time for Parks Canada to start thinking about it as a proper transportation route? Maybe that way it would get more of the resources which help to keep Highway 1 at Kicking Horse and Rogers Pass open? The Icefields Parkway passes through extreme landscapes. It summits two high mountain passes. There can be unpredictable weather events at any time of the year. But by marketing ourselves as a winter destination and by challenging our visitors to “Venture Beyond,” we are asking people to come here. They

shouldn’t be out there on a poorly maintained yak trail. They shouldn’t have to deal with a 24 hour shutdown on a holiday long weekend. They shouldn’t be expected to be satisfied with a 12-hour detour around the mountains. And if they do experience these issues, who could blame them for never wanting to come back? The word is out: the Icefields Parkway is one of the most spectacular roads on earth. It’s also one of this community’s most important tourism assets. It’s time to start thinking about it that way. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

The Jasper Local //

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// local environment

wednesday, may 1, 2019 // issue 144 // the jasper local// page A3

Enviro leadership will be hard to replace: ESAC

REDUCED // JANET COOPER WAS JASPER’S ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP COORDINATOR. THE POSITION WAS DISSOLVED BY PARKS CANADA AND THE MUNICIPALITY OF JASPER // BC

Members of Jasper’s Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC) are concerned for a lack of environmental leadership after the Municipality of Jasper dissolved its half-time Environmental Stewardship Coordinator position. “There’s no longer an environmental stewardship champion,” said John Wilmshurst, who penned a letter suggesting he and his fellow ESAC members were “blindsided” by the decision to cut Janet Cooper’s job. “Without a champion on staff, issues tend to get missed.” Council’s decision was made as part of its 2019 budget discussions. The town has said that it is committed to environmental responsibility. “There’s no change in services for residents,” said Christine Nadon, director of legislative services. “Waste management operations, items in the transportation master plan…those are being captured.” Wilmshurst isn’t so sure. He said Cooper had a sizeable portfolio, files of which will be difficult to delegate. “Janet had a pretty extensive work plan,” he said, citing commercial sector composting and taking on governance of Parks Canada’s transfer station as examples. “There are all kinds of things that somebody has to think about and have the appropriate amount of time to initiate.

Busy municipality employees probably don’t have that time.” On December 31, Parks Canada quietly withdrew its support of the Environmental Stewardship Position, a funding arrangement it split 50/50 with MOJ. The town had initially considered increasing its utilities budget to cover the $85,000 shortfall, and council also considered creating a environmental services technician position to replace the managerial job. Eventually, the debate landed back in operations’ budget conversations. With competing financial priorities, however, council decided to scrap the position altogether. “In the end it was a large amount to add and that was something council was not prepared to do,” Nadon said. ESAC hasn’t been given its marching orders, although the committee gets its mandate from the terms of reference agreed to by Parks and MOJ, an agreement which expired when the federal agency pulled its funding. “My sense is there is a will to keep it, but the paperwork supporting it has to be updated,” Nadon said. For Wilmshurst, that’s the only silver lining to the news. “It’s unfortunate Parks Canada and the municipality couldn’t resolve this one,” he said. “We think the position needs to be reinstated.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

page B1 // the jasper local // issue 144 // wednesday, may 1, 2019

Local community //

Local railroader wants to put heritage engine under steam again Harry Home wants to rekindle a fire that’s been extinguished for far too long. The 85-year-old railroader is once again blowing the whistle for his beloved steam engine, the 6060; Home wants to bring the famous mountain engine back into service. “This engine is world famous,” Home said. “We’ve got a lot of heritage here that I want to preserve.” Home’s own railway heritage also runs deep. He remembers his first ride on a steam engine like it was yesterday. His father, an engineer based in Hanna, Alberta, let him hop aboard. “It scared the blazes out of me,” Home said. “I burnt my hand on the throttle, but the engine moved about three feet. I was hooked right there.” That was eight decades ago. His enthusiasm for steam engines hasn’t waned, even if it is hard to describe. “Steam engines have a soul,” he says. Harry’s own soul stirs a little when thinking about what it would mean to get the 6060 back on the rails. Since 2011 it’s sat idle, but for 13 years before that, Home took passengers back in time via a 25-mile run near Stettler, Alberta. The success he enjoyed with Alberta Prairie Steam Tours makes him think that the 6060 could once again be a boon to the province’s historical tourism industry.

“There’s real potential for continuing this on as a heritage initiative,” he said. Constructed in 1944 and retired from active service in 1959, the 6060 was Canada’s largest operating steam locomotive. This year, it turns 75-years-old.

“As a railroading community we’re attempting to provide a special salute.”

Home’s no spring chicken himself. He knows the clock is ticking if he wants to celebrate the milestone in the cab of the 6060. “As long as I’m on the right side of the grass I should get my knowledge passed on,” he said. And his knowledge is extensive. As he pours over one of many Locomotive Encyclopedias which adorn his basement office, Home points out the repairs to the 6060’s firebox which will need to be signed off on. The job—plus the other necessary upgrades required by the appropriate authorities— will cost an estimated $750,000. He’d like to get it done this year, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of CN. “As a railroading community we’re attempting to provide a special salute,” Home said. This wouldn’t be the first time the 6060 was restored. In 1980,

BACK ON THE RAILS // IN CONJUNCTION WITH CN’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY, HARRY HOME IS FUNDRAISING FOR THE RESTORATION OF HIS BELOVED 6060 STEAM ENGINE. // BOB COVEY

after it fell into disuse, CN gifted the 6060 to Home and the Rocky Mountain Rail Society. Funds were raised, a volunteer mechanical crew was organized and six years later, Home was rolling into Vancouver station just in time for the 1986 Steam Exposition. Now, 33 years later, he wants to once again get the old girl running. “It’s part of me,” he says. “Railroading is a way of life.”

Home, who has seen the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from the cab of his beloved 6060, knows there’s a lot of work ahead to get the firebox lit up again. But his own fire is blazing hot for the opportunity. “I’m an eternal optimist,” he laughed. “I want to see it running.” To help put the 6060 locomotive under steam again, visit GoFundMe.com and search for the 6060locomotive fundraiser. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

wednesday, may 1, 2019 // issue 144 // the jasper local// page B2

Local housing //

SMALL SPACES, BIG QUESTIONS: New Aspen Row Homes generating interest New apartment units in Jasper are being scooped up almost as fast as they were put up.

On March 4, the first of two large precast concrete forms were erected in the 200 block of Bonhomme St. A mobile construction crane lifted what would become the east exterior wall on the 21-unit Aspen Garden Row Homes and less than eight weeks later, realtor and property manager Cam Jenkins has nine units under contract. “The number one comment I get is that they’re a lot bigger than they seem from the outside.” “There’s been a ton of interest,” Jenkins said about the 888 sq-ft, two bedroom units. There’s also been a lot of questions about the units’ affordability, viability and usability. Starting at $449,000, the units are on the steeper end when priced per-square-foot, coming in at around $500/sq-ft. By comparison, a two bedroom, 1,055 square-foot Stone Mountain unit lands in around $455. But the Row Homes are brand new. “This is the first thing in 10 years that’s been built that’s open to the public,” Jenkins said, noting that those wanting to purchase one of 62 units built by the Caribou Creek Housing Cooperative in 2012 had to qualify as a member of the co-op. During a tour, Jenkins points out the

apartment’s clean, modern lines, the stackable washer/dryer team, the unit’s solid (read soundproof) construction and the sleek, modern kitchen (including dishwasher). The tour doesn’t take long. The units are not as small as a two-bedroom apartment at the Patricia Street Walk Ups (770 sq-ft), for example, but they’re still pretty teeny. “Super easy to clean,” Jenkins winks. Partly because of the limited space available, the builder, Jasper MultiFamily LP Group, opted to install electric furnaces, rather than natural gas-fired (gas requires more clearance space). This has led to some questions about efficiencies: natural gas is cheaper than electricity to operate, and (newsflash!) Jasper gets cold in the winter. The flip side is that electric heaters have a much longer lifespan than gas, they’re easier to maintain, they’re safer and they’re arguably greener. Overall, Jenkins is anticipating that the energy costs would be comparable. “The whole idea with this project is that it’s super efficient,” he said, pointing to the high-rated (R40) insulation and the airtight nature of the building. It’s tight alright. Some have asked about storage space—or the lack thereof. Jenkins admits these units aren’t suitable units for hoarders. A four-foot crawl space underneath the unit, a small backyard and several smart closet organizers are what people can expect to stow their stuff with. Still, Jenkins is confident that for the right buyer—whether it’s a young family looking to get into the real

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL // CAM JENKINS HAS BEEN SHOWING THE RECENTLY-BUILT ASPEN GARDEN ROWHOMES. THE UNITS FILL A NICHE IN JASPER’S HOUSING MARKET, HE SAYS. “THESE ARE 21 UNITS THAT WEREN’T AVAILABLE BEFORE,” HE SAID. // BOB COVEY

estate market, empty nesters wanting to downsize or a local employer who needs to house management staff, the Row Homes will be a great fit. “The number one comment I get is that they’re a lot bigger than they seem from the outside,” he said. But are they good value? As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. “I think they’re priced well for the

Jasper market,” Jenkins says. “You see trailers sell routinely for half a million, two bedroom Patricia Place units are pushing half a million. I think these are placed right in that sweet spot.” The anticipated move-in date for unit owners is June 1. Bob Covey// bob@thejasperlocal.com THEJASPER ARTISTS’ GUILD IS HOSTING A SILENT AUCTION OF ECLECTIC ARTWORK SPANNING SIX DECADES. PROCEEDS FROM “JASPER COLLECTS” WILL HELP KEEP THE LOCAL GALLERY SUSTAINABLE. BIDDING IS OPEN UNTIL MAY 4 AT 2 P.M. JAG INVITES YOU TO COME BID. // BOB COVEY

Save the Date

Visit Screen Test in

Jasper May 27 - 31

Call for an appointment 1-800-667-0604 (toll free) ***Volunteers needed*** Screening mammograms are the best way to find breast cancer early. And it can truly save your life.

www.screeningforlife.ca

Screen Test brings screening mammograms to your area with it’s mobile clinics. Women 50 to 74 should plan to have a screening mammogram every 2 years, and can self-refer.

BE WILDFIRE READY Information Session

THURSDAY, MAY 23 Jasper Activity Centre 6:00 p.m.

Information and displays

7:00 p.m.

Presentations by the Municipality of Jasper and Parks Canada

Watch our websites and local media for details in coming weeks. www.jasper-alberta.com • www.parkscanada.gc.ca/jasperfireupdate

page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 144 // wednesday, may 1, 2019

FEATURE // STORY BY BOB COVEY

JASPER FITNESS & AQUATIC CENTRE JASPER ACTIVITY CENTRE

SHOW BOATIN’

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Steam room, full-size pool, hot tub, wading pool

RACQUET PASS $196.97 (6 months)

Tennis, squash & racquetball

REC ALL ACCESS $362.99 (4 months) Access to all facilities

Offer valid until May 31. Prices include tax. 303 Bonhomme St. | 780-852-3663 | www.jasper-alberta.com

SHOW ME A MORE SCENIC ALL-DAY DRIVE THAN PINCHER CREEK, ALBERTA TO JASPER NATIONAL PARK VIA THE COWBOY TRAIL AND THE ICEFIELDS PARKWAY, AND I’LL EAT MY HAT.

pullout next to Waterfowl Lake —inquired about the boat’s outrigger channels; the thing has three holes on each gunwale. Once I explained that when set up, the Chironomid is fitted with an oar frame and pontoons, these folks could quickly see its utility. They imagined that having a fast, light, one person canoe which is rowed, rather than paddled, and which is

around massive Maligne L 10 hours one day last fall, t how many of my favourite fish before I needed to mak

Maligne is a test piece for a any fisherman. It’s huge, co wind. Its whitecaps have su boats. Every day from May

I probably wouldn’t make that bet if I wore a Stetson, but to demonstrate my confidence that no other 600 km route can hold a candle in terms of eye-popping, supernatural splendour, I am willing to wager a few bites of the trout-themed ball cap I wore the last time I made the journey. That was last summer and boy was I turning heads (some, even, with Stetsons atop). Now I know how people who drive restored classic cars must feel. In this case, however, what was drawing folks’ attention was not the car I was driving, but what was lashed on top of it. No one really glanced twice at my 2003 hatchback, with its spidered windshield and Cheerio-covered carseat inside. On the other hand, I was practically getting wolf whistles for the rooftop cargo: a 14 foot, cream coloured, kevlar Chironomid fly fishing canoe, built by Joe Cunningham of Pincher Creek, Alberta. Don’t get it twisted, not everyone was gawking. Anyone can identify a soupedup ‘Vette. However, it takes a certain eye to recognize a unique fishing vessel. Those second takes were coming from folks who could spot fine craftsmanship. They were coming from lake lovers—people who’ve spent plenty of time with a paddle. They were coming from adventurers. They were coming from men and women who could relate to hauling a toy which was worth more than the vehicle hauling it. They were coming from fly fisherman. There are a lot of fly fisherman on the Alberta Rockies’ eastern slopes, and so there should be. It’s arguably among the best places in the world to wet a line. There are thousands of angling opportunities in myriad rivers, creeks and lakes. And so, it made sense that I ran into a few of the folks who take advantage of the resource. Anglers who asked about the Chironomid—at a gas station near Black Diamond, at a campground outside of Bragg Creek and at a road-side

“Fishing season is around the corner. I can’t wait. This year, I am more amped than usual in the lead up.”

stable in wind and chop, would be pretty slick. “How do you like it?” they’d ask. I had to be honest—I told them I couldn’t say. I told them I just got it from Pincher and I was bringing it home to Jasper. I told them I was pretty darned excited to get it into the water. But that was last summer. Now, after a season of fishing from it, I can say. And what I can say is this: The Chironomid is a hell of a fishing tool. First of all, it’s a hell of a boat. It’s an incredibly comfortable, efficient way to travel on the lake. At 40 pounds, it’s as light as anything. It tracks incredibly well. It feels as safe and stable as a raft. And importantly, you can spend all day in it without ruining your body. Heck, I sculled

it gets churned up by 50-pa boats going up to 20 knots be stingy. The areas contai numbers of fish are often m there are eons-old rockslid from the lake bottom ready rig if you get too shallow to

How did the Chironomid p just say that guy in the sou on that straight stretch nea would have been impresse

Maligne Lake for nearly y last fall, trying to see y favourite zones I could ded to make camp.

t piece for any vessel, and It’s huge, cold and prone to aps have sunk big, sturdy y from May to September

up by 50-passenger tour to 20 knots. And it can reas containing good are often miles apart and ld rockslides jutting up ottom ready to wreck your o shallow too quickly.

ironomid perform? Let’s y in the souped-up Vette stretch near Chain Lakes n impressed.

Unlike every other canoe I’ve taken on Maligne, because of its incredibly stable pontoons, my new boat handled the lake’s infamous wind chop like butter. It rode the giant waves kicked up by the godforsaken tour boats like an absolute dream. Unlike the classic Maligne rig, a 24-foot flatback canoe powered by an electric motor and several deep cycle batteries, the Chironomid took me mere minutes to launch. There was no backing up a trailer and spending precious time waiting in line for some greenhorn to get out of the way. I just grabbed my boat from my roof rack, set it down near the dock and clicked all the pieces into place. Ten minutes later, I was stripping line out. Shortly thereafter, I was putting my wooly bugger over top of rock structure and in between weed beds more precisely than I ever had before. I soon learned that rowing an ultralight canoe from a central position makes it much more nimble than propelling a ponderous freighter from its stern. I certainly

didn’t miss lugging batteries to the boat ramp, heaving them over the gunwale and praying that I didn’t have any wiring issues that would ruin my day. Instead, I knew as long as I remembered my rigging kit, I’d be able to make a mile. And the Chironomid can move. I loved the workout I got from rowing. Like cycling, it’s frictionfree yet highly invigorating. Moving along stillwater with the Chironomid can be a terrific aerobic workout, a meditative float, or anything in between. And yes I caught some nice trout. The first one was from a ledge in about

20 feet of water where I had stealthily slipped the bow and stern anchors in a spot I knew was fishy. After about 20 minutes of watching my indicator while intermittently standing up to cast and adjusting the anchor lines so to keep my back to the wind, I got a strike. Later, I got another while on the oars, drifting a fast-sinking line into a slot between two huge rocks, a maneuver I’d never try while trolling via electric motor for fear of bottoming out the prop or wrapping the line around structure. Because the Chironomid has minimal draught and because it’s so easy to reverse in the event of a snag, I was immediately more confident to slide into tight, shallow areas where I knew trout were likely to be. Likewise, landing the fish was made so much easier on account of the boat’s stability. Unfortunately, soon after that maiden voyage to Maligne, the snow started to fly. The fishing season on Jasper National Park lakes came to an end and the Chironomid got slung up beneath my front deck, where, if the current forecast is accurate (today is April 28), it will likely remain for a couple more weeks. But fishing season is around the corner. I can’t wait. This year, I am more amped than usual in the lead up. During this transition time, I’ll often find myself lost in thought, wondering what day the ice will come off of Maligne. I know that when it does, the sunlight will start to penetrate the water surface and the lake weeds will start to reach up. Next, the freshwater shrimp, leeches and dragonfly naiads will start to feed on those plants. Finally, the trout, famished from a long winter and starting to move from their mud holes under the ice, will be primed to unlock their biological instincts. And I’ll be there, in my Chironomid, a boat which was named by its builder for the very fly I plan to be dangling from a long leader come opening day. Show me a more scenic spot to fish in a more perfect boat and I’ll eat my hat. Bob Covey// bob@thejasperlocal.com This story originally ran as a blog for Cunningham Boats. The author was not paid and the content was not previewed or approved by the company. He just really likes his new boat.

622 Connaught Dr. Upper level PO Box 2079 Jasper, Alberta T0E 1E0

Phone: 780 852-2242 Fax: 780 865-1022

page B5 // the jasper local //issue 144 // wednesday, may 1, 2019

local arts //

Two artists, two different styles, one exhibition

”REMEBERING THE FUTURE” BY SOPHIE PFISTERER

Hana Rode and Sophie Pfisterer are both Jasper students.

They both like to ski. They both like to hang out with friends. They both like to watch Netflix. And they were both asked by Mme Vanessa Martin, whose 20-student fine art class exhibited its work at the Habitat for the Arts in late April, to display what they’d been producing on their own time. The artwork, just like the two young ladies, was fresh and original. And just like their personalities, their creative processes couldn’t be more different.

Hana is 12-years-old. Grade 7. Punk rock. Her art is punk rock, too. “I draw when I’m angry,” she says. The characters that crop up are cartoony. Mischievous. Spontaneous. “I have no clue what I’m I’m going to draw until I’m doing it,” she shrugs. Sophie, on the other hand, is more methodical. She’s four years older than Hana, sure, but she’s always been a bit of a classicist. She plays violin. She dances. Her art, by turn, is deliberate. Like a bow being drawn across strings. “I have to be calm before I paint,” she says. Hana, an only child, is inspired by graffiti. She loves witches. She calls things “cringy”—as in “emo girls who vlog on tumblr and make cringy TikToks.” Go figure. Sophie, a twin, likes Picasso. She remembers the Spanish museum she visited when she was eight. She is part of a local anti-plastic-straws campaign. But they’re both artists. And they’re both uniquely talented. And just like the rest of the art class, who displayed their pottery and

paintings and sketches and sculptures, Hana and Sophie are both inspiring to their teacher, Mme Vanessa Martin. “I find the way children create is fascinating,” Martin says. “The result is not always what I expect.” Hana, with her witches spiralling out of her pen like black magic, can certainly relate. Wherever her art takes her, she just wants to improve. “I just want to get better,” she says. Sophie, with her oil painting and detailed sketching, also knows that art is a journey. One with no hard and fast rules. “I love art because it’s never wrong,” she says. “And you can always get better.”

//HANA RODE’S ART IS SPONTANEOUS AND GRAPHIC NOVEL-INSPIRED. // BOB COVEY

b covey //bob@thejasperlocal.com

“MURPHY DEMON” BY HANA RODE

Drivers Guides Sales associates

Simply send in your resumes to

pete@sundogtours.com 1-780-852-4056

//SOPHIE PFISTERER’S ART IS CLASSICAL. BOTH ARTISTS EXHIBITED AT THE HABITAT FOR THE ARTS RECENTLY. // BOB COVEY

local pride //

wednesday, may 1, 2019 // issue 144 // the jasper local// page B6

Jasper Pride

// MATT QUIRING

THE JASPER PRIDE FESTIVAL TOOK PLACE APRIL 25-28. DESPITE THE COLD WEATHER, THINGS WERE HEATING UP AS FESTIVAL GOERS SHOWED THEIR COLOURS ALL WEEKEND. 2019 WAS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FESTIVAL THAT CELEBRATES AND SUPPORTS THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY. // ASHLEY KENNEDY

Municipality of Jasper – Proposed Single-Use Item Regulation Bylaw

PLASTIC CHECKOUT BAG BAN Jasper Municipal Council is proposing a plastic checkout bag ban starting January 1, 2020 with voluntary compliance encouraged by July 1, 2019. The proposed Single-Use Item Regulation Bylaw could be updated in the future to include other single-use items such as plastic straws, utensils, take-out food containers, polystyrene foam cups and containers, and flushables.

What’s happening?

Council is considering a ban on plastic checkout bags. This means Jasper businesses would no longer be able to provide plastic bags to customers to carry the items they purchased (usually provided at the till). Exemptions are proposed for specific items.

Which bags would be prohibited?

All types of plastic checkout bags would be banned, including Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and biodegradable plastic bags. Some communities differentiate types of plastic bags; the proposed ban for Jasper includes all types of plastic checkout bags.

Which bags would be allowed?

What are the exemptions?

Plastic bags may be provided in-store to package, wrap or protect: • Loose bulk items (nuts, grain, candy, etc.); • Loose small items (nails, bolts, fish hooks, etc.); • Produce, frozen foods, meat, poultry and fish; • Flowers or potted plants; • Prepared foods or bakery goods that are not pre-packaged; • Prescription drugs from a pharmacy; • Linen, bedding, large items of clothing or other similar items that cannot easily fit in a reusable bag. The bylaw would not apply to prepackaged plastic bags intended for use at the customer’s home, such as garbage or Ziploc bags.

Businesses could provide either paper or reusable checkout bags. Paper bags should contain at least 40% of post-consumer recycled content, and reusable bags should be designed and manufactured to be capable of at least 100 uses, and be primarily made of cloth or other washable fabric.

Own a business?

How would the fees work?

Send a letter or an email addressed to Mayor and Council to info@town.jasper.ab.ca, or use the feedback portal on our website at jasper-alberta.com/feedback.

If, after being asked, the customer indicates they need a bag, businesses would have to charge a minimum of $0.10 per paper bag and $1.00 per reusable bag. Businesses could charge more for paper or reusable bags, but the minimum fee would be mandatory for all businesses in Jasper.

We would like your feedback on the proposed exemptions, and on the paper bag and reusable bag definitions. Please identify yourself as a business owner in your submission, using the contact information provided below.

Resident with an opinion?

Written submissions will be accepted until Thursday, May 9 and included in a report to Council.