ALTERNATIVE +
LOCAL + INDEPENDENT
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 // ISSUE 176
A NEW DAWN // Times are a-changin’ at Maligne Lake as winter ice slowly sets up. See our feature story on page B3 and B4 to learn about changes to the way the Maligne Valley can be accessed this winter. // SIMONE HEINRICH
thejasperlocal.com
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The Jasper Local // ISSUE 176 // SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
EDITORIAL //
Local Vocal It’s municipal budget time and 2021 looks like it’s going to be a doozy. We knew this was coming. After council made big cuts to last year’s budget in order to cushion the blow to Jasper ratepayers’ wallets in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was going to be no other way out of the hole than to crawl right back up the way we came. Understandably, council doesn’t like the optics of having to pass a 20 or 30 per cent increase over 2020 figures, but however you choose to look at it, $9 million is a lot of money. It may be that some relief will be felt as administration figures out what costs will be covered by the recent federal and provincial Municipal Operating Support Transfer (MOST) funding, relief money given to municipalities dealing with pandemic-associated expenses. But by and large, just like every other municipality and city in Alberta, we’re on the hook for regular operating costs.
That $7,000,000 tax requisition might look slick on paper, and it might have made officials feel better to know they saved homeowners a few hundred bucks, but when it comes down to it, it’s a completely arbitrary figure. Not to mention that the hotels whose money they were so bent on saving were full all summer and local landlords—as Instead of municipal managers presenting their operational budget and the associated sticker price, well as every other Canadian with a pulse—qualified for emergency subsidies. they’re first asking council what sort of number Instead of building an operational budget starting from another they’re comfortable with, with the intention of arbitrary number, why not have staff create a budget to reflect the designing their services around that number. services required to operate the municipality? Then you can debate Think of it like going into a car dealership with a the finer points of what constituents are telling you they want and maximum dollar amount one is willing to spend, then telling the salesperson you need a vehicle that need, instead of scrutinizing every toilet brush and oil change. tailors to that figure. You’d be setting yourself up to Jasper councillors have expressed their queasiness with the proposed get hosed! budget figures (see story on A3). Sorry gang, but you made this bed. Now it’s time to lay in it. Considering the pressure it’s going to put on Municipalities, like cars, need regular local ratepayers, hopefully you can get some sleep. maintenance. Things inevitably come up. If your brakes start to squeal and you didn’t budget for BOB COVEY // bob@thejasperlocal.com new pads and rotors, then what? The calipers wear out and you hit the ditch, that’s what! The Jasper Local // Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper Unlike most other towns and cities, however, Jasper is going about its financial planning process upside-down.
Is it not more prudent to take a look at your transportation needs and create your budget from there? How can councillors pretend to know the ability of local residents to pay their taxes? Of course ratepayers want municipal operations to be as efficient as possible, but that doesn’t mean we want council to project their concerns onto our capacity to pay. This is what happened last time around when councillors decided on that nice, round figure in the wake of the pandemic.
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// LOCAL GOVERNMENT
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 // ISSUE 176 // The Jasper Local // PAGE A3 SCRAPING IT TOGETHER// Jasper Municipal council is planning for the 2021 budgeting process, and looking at big hikes to meet recommended trasnfers to reserves. Public budget meetings are tentatively scheduled for November 9 and 10 but that could change. // BOB COVEY
Reality bites: council staring down big budget hikes Jasperites could be facing a 20 to 30 per cent increase over the 2020 municipal tax requisition in 2021. That was the hard pill mayor and councillors were swallowing at the October 27 Committee of the Whole meeting, where administrative staff asked for council’s direction as they worked to produce a budget ready for public consumption. Public budget meetings are tentatively scheduled for November 9 and 10. “The first step is to set a target,” said John Greathead, who was appointed interim CAO on October 20 following Mark Fercho’s departure. Administration is asking council to give them a dollar amount, around which they can then build an operational budget, rather than presenting an operational budget that comes with a price tag. Last year, with the COVID-19 pandemic guiding their hand, council passed a $7,000,000 tax requisition after many iterations and back-and-forth meetings,
both in public and in-camera. Councillor Paul Butler, who led much of those discussions, said its important to remember last year’s process was a one-off. “I’m very concerned framing this in terms of percentages,” he said. “While it’s true it’s a 30 per cent increase over 2020, it’s only 14 per cent over 2019.” Staff presented two figures for council to use as goal posts: one which represents the fixed costs of providing 2019 service levels in 2021 (including non-discretionary items such as utilities, insurance and debenture repayments); and another which represents a “best practices” number— including costs such as contracted maintenance and repairs, staffing requests and increased transfers to reserves. The difference between the two goal post figures is $693,000, nearly 70 per cent ($472K) of which is in the operations department, and a “good chunk” of which represents transfers to reserves, according to Legislative Services Manager Christine Nadon.
“We need to put more away in reserves for everything,” Nadon said. “Not just water, sewer and recycling.” Greathead told council that he recognizes the larger “best practices” number is troubling, but Jasper is running on fumes when it comes to its deteriorating infrastructure. He said among other capital assets, Jasper needs to “future proof” its utility system. “I agree it has a bit of sticker shock,” Greathead said. “But having said that, this isn’t an arbitrary ask.” Councillor Jenna McGrath expressed her discomfort with the notion of such a steep tax hike. “I simply couldn’t agree to a 30 per cent tax increase,” she said. Councillor Scott Wilson suggested council will have to bite the bullet. “It’s going to be sour for some, but I don’t want to not be putting money away for future generations,” he said. “By going with figure one we limit ourselves for what’s going away to pay for costs coming at us.” BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com
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PAGE B1 //
The Jasper Local // ISSUE 176 // SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
PHA discussion could have massive implications for community Parks Canada wants to know where Jasper municipal council stands on Private Home Accommodations (PHAs) in the community.
Sketch from Parks Canada’s 2019 “What We Heard” report on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs):
A letter from Jasper National Park’s Realty and Municipal Services Manager, Moira McKinnon, dated September 30, appeared on the latest Committee of the Whole meeting agenda, alongside a request from MOJ staff on how to respond.
• •
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But council had more questions than answers. •
“Has there been any research into how changes in PHA requirements will change housing values?” asked councillor Scott Wilson, starting off the discussion. While perhaps not research on that particular query, Parks Canada has gone to the community to consult on how the agency should address affordable housing. Through public consultations in February and March of 2019, JNP officials sought input on updating Jasper’s zoning regulations; considerations for accessory dwelling units (ADUs); and how to mitigate the impact of PHAs on the supply of ADUs. Armed with plenty of feedback but apparently still not prepared to make decisions that would ultimately affect the livelihood of residents and the makeup of the community, Parks Canada has come to Jasper municipal council to help guide the drafting of new planning regulations. “Does council support making changes to PHAs in order to increase the town’s housing supply?” McKinnon wrote. While councillors Wilson and Jenna McGrath wasted no time unmuting their Zoom microphones to weigh in (Wilson: no he doesn’t support undermining the local real estate market; McGrath: yes, reduced housing prices would help young families), the mayor came at the discussion somewhat more strategically. He noted the significance of this item being presented at the council level, and suggested that failing to leverage
the agenda item into a broader conversation about the transfer of land use and planning from Ottawa to Jasper would be a “huge step backwards.” “These are matters of extreme importance to the community,” Richard Ireland said. “I think we should use this to renew really serious discussions of transfer of jurisdiction.” In March, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Parks Canada announced reduced service capacity and put a hold on new PHA applications, beginning April 30. Six months later, the service is still in limbo, and so too, argued councillor Wilson, are Jasper homeowners and potential homeowners whose financial security hinges on whether or not they’ll be able to operate a tourist suite to help pay their mortgage. “I would suggest Parks Canada operate business as usual,” Wilson said. While councillor Paul Butler, who chairs the Jasper Community Housing Corporation now that outgoing CAO Mark Fercho has stepped down, agreed the housing supply is affected by the preponderance of PHAs in the community, he said the questions from Parks Canada were too vague for
Existing single family house Single family house with garage/guest house in backyard Duplex unit 1 and 2 with duplex ADU unit 1 and 2 in backyard Single family house with attached ADU and detached ADU in backyard.
council to be able to deal with them adequately. “I would suggest Parks Canada provide more context,” Butler said. Parks Canada has said that Jasperites indicated, through the public consultations, that they were strongly in favour of implementing ADUs and restricting PHAs. But in February, at least one homeowner whose tourism suite suddenly did not comply with Parks Canada’s definition of a PHA was worried that families would be facing severe devaluations of their homes if they couldn’t operate their PHA as they have in the past. “So many families will be struggling,” said the home owner, whose identity The Jasper Local agreed to protect. All the unknowns make it ever more prudent to negotiate the authority to deal with such matters and ultimately, get the power into the hands of the people who live here, rather than in Ottawa, the mayor said. “I don’t see how the way PHAs are configured and dealt with in the community is integral to how a national park works,” Ireland said.BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 // ISSUE 176 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B2
LOCAL COMMUNITY
Outgoing CAO was a behind-the-scenes negotiator and relationship-builder “It does create stress on both sides,” he said. “There’s simply less time for council to apply to policy levels if they’re working on administrative level work.”
Mark Fercho doesn’t like the spotlight. Six years ago Jasper’s newly-appointed Chief Administrative Officer was horrified that The Jasper Local managed to capture a photo of him while journalists took part in a media tour of the soon-to-be-opened Library and Cultural Centre.
Fercho won’t have much time to reflect on his time here before he throws himself into the administrative work of his next post. Even before he had wrapped up his duties in Jasper, his new employers at the City of Cranbrook, B.C., were sending files to him, expecting him to hit the ground running in the place where he grew up five decades earlier. In some ways it’s a fresh start, in other ways it’s familiar territory—acting as the conduit between council and administration and balancing the needs of the municipality with what officials feel is politically expedient.
“I try so hard to stay out of pictures,” he complained when he saw himself, standing cross-armed in the background, of an image in our September 1, 2015 edition.
In his subsequent tenure as the municipality’s top administrator, through 300-plus regularly-scheduled council and committee-of-the-whole meetings, dozens of intergovernmental sessions with Jasper’s outgoing CAO, Mark Fercho, says the staff he worked with at the MOJ repeatedly Parks Canada officials, frequent sit-downs demonstrated their willingness to go above and beyond what was in their job description. His one hope is that he can be surrounded with CUPE representatives, contractors, After six years, Fercho has taken his services to Cranbrook. // BOB COVEY by the likes of the people he worked with members of the public, members of the in Jasper—and not just Mayor Richard alternate truck drivers. As soon as the “I take my hat off to the CUPE reps both business community, tourism officials Ireland, who Fercho considers “brilliant, piece was in Jasper, construction began. locally and nationally that helped us come and lawyers—not to mention thousands iconic and synonymous with Jasper.” The occupancy permit for the outdoor up with that,” he said. “That to me was of hours spent with his own directors and In this community, Fercho, said he found concert was issued at 8 a.m. on Friday, probably the most difficult lump to get staff—Fercho stayed true to those words, an unusually high commitment to the job October 18. Cuddy was scheduled to play through during the pandemic.” and that image. He tried hard to stay at hand. his opening chords just 10 hours later. out of pictures—shunning any type of There were lingering consequences “I don’t know if it’s the park’s influence, limelight that might have come his way in “I phoned [Tourism Jasper] and said ‘I of those disputes, however, and this or something to do with the service the course of ensuring the municipality’s don’t know what your crew’s so stressed newspaper has commented on the friction sector, but I found the staff here, irrespective policies, programs and projects were out about, we’ve got the occupancy permit, that, for some time after the 12 per cent of the collective agreement, their number implemented—and conducting his work they’re not even here yet,’” he laughed. reduction in the 2020 tax requisition was one goal was to get the work done first and stoically in the background, variously passed, seemed to permeate discourse Permits. In a community where local deflecting public accolades to the people between council and staff during regularly worry about job descriptions second. officials don’t have control over land he worked with and sheltering those held meetings. Fercho admitted the “That is something I hope to experience use and planning, and instead must get under him from the criticism of elected again in my life.” approval from Ottawa for everything from distinction between council’s legislative officials, of which there has been plenty function and staff’s administration holding a concert, to constructing a 82So long as the spotlight isn’t focused this year, particularly in the tumultuous function had blurred through the peak unit staff housing complex, to renovating on him. days of spring, when the pandemic saw days of the pandemic’s first wave. a bathroom, permits are most certainly BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com those involved in a thing. Fercho the 2020 municipal says not having M U N I C I PA L I T Y O F J A S P E R “I had great people around me budgeting land use within the and that’s ultimately what procedures MOJ’s bailiwick determines the success of retreating into is definitely an anyone in my position.” separate corners. impediment to “I had great people around me and that’s ultimately what determines the success of anyone in my position,” Fercho has said.
The best example, perhaps, of Fercho’s ability to work behind the scenes, occurred almost exactly one year ago, in October of 2019, when visitors and locals took in an electrifying live music performance by the Jim Cuddy Band to kick off Jasper’s Dark Sky Festival and mark the grand opening of the Jim Vena Stage at CN Place. Little did the well-lubricated audience know, weeks before, Fercho and project leaders were scrambling to get the stage completed. Construction bids for the project had come in too high and the process needed to be rejigged; MOJ had to bring in a new cement crew and seven days before Cuddy was due to blow the roof off the place, the literal roof of the place was still half way across the continent, having been fast-tracked to production but twoweeks away from delivery. “Tourism Jasper was going to hire a truck to use as their stage,” Fercho remembered. That wasn’t going to be good enough, so Fercho got on the phone, working the backchannels of the shipping industry and leveraging the good will and the resources of their biggest partner in the project, CN, arranging for the massive structure to be transported over 3,200 kilometres in twoand-a-half days—no easy feat considering the international border and need to
getting things done, but the biggest takeaway for him regarding Jasper’s unique regulatory structure is that the support out of Ottawa for JNP’s Realty and Municipal Services office is severely lacking.
Make a difference Join a municipal board or committee
“Locally, the people in the parks office are extremely hard working and doing everything they can with what they’ve got, but they are way under-resourced,” he said. “The workload that office processes is unbelievable, but it’s not sustainable. You literally see people in the planning department working themselves to sickness.” Segue to a different type of sickness and its effect on the workplace: COVID-19. When municipal council was faced with the realities of the tourism sector grinding to a halt in mid-March, their divided, but ultimately ratified, response was to shut down non-essential municipally-funded services and cut operating costs wherever possible. At the end of the disharmonious process, 60 per cent of municipal staff were laid off. Fercho said although there were some hard feelings around the negotiating table, in hindsight, things went relatively smoothly. Considering the unprecedented nature of the situation and the pressure and duress all parties were subjected to, the fact that there was no disruption in labour, and subsequent added costs to the taxpayer, says a lot about local union representatives.
We are seeking new members for the following boards : • Jasper Municipal Library Board • Culture and Recreation Board Apply online or find out more information on our website. Application forms are also available at the Jasper Activity Centre. Application deadline is Monday, November 23 at 2 pm.
QUESTIONS?
Contact the Legislative Services Coordinator at 780-852-6503 or kbyrne@town.jasper.ab.ca
www.jasper-alberta.com
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PAGE B3 + B4 //
The Jasper Local // ISSUE 176 // SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
FEATURE // LOCAL CONSERVATION // BANNER IMAGE COURTESY OF PARKS CANADA
RELEASE THE POWDER HOU
Caribou measures lifted Maligne Range BY BOB COVEY
After six years of seasonal caribou closures, Jasper National Park is lifting public access restrictions in parts of the Maligne Valley. On October 28, Parks Canada announced that based on the evidence that no caribou remain in the Maligne Range, boundaries of the winter caribou habitat closure will change to allow for winter recreational opportunities. As of November 1, winter access to terrain in the Bald Hills and the area between Big Shovel and Little Shovel Passes is no longer restricted.
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that statement. Carolyn Campbell, conservation specialist with AWA, says that by not closing the Maligne Lake Road in the winter, Parks Canada is shirking its duties of providing safe habitat for caribou. “The management decisions we’re seeking are to support reoccupation by caribou and not by wolves,” Campbell said. “We acknowledge these new reopenings are limited but we’re still concerned and disappointed that they allow wolf access.” The areas in question represent just four per cent of the MaligneBrazeau seasonal closure, according to Parks Canada. But that relatively small amount of terrain offers generous skiing opportunities.
Klettl was one of many winter backcountry users in Jasper who, seven years ago, showed up for public information sessions to learn about proposed habitat closures in Jasper’s most popular backcountry destinations, including the Maligne, Tonquin and Whistler valleys, as well as sections of the south and north boundaries of the park. At those sessions, scientists said that ski-packed trails enable wolves to prey on caribou and reminded participants that even though the Maligne herd at the time numbered only six individuals, the Species At Risk Act mandated wildlife specialists to make every attempt at EMILIE ST. PIERRE ILLUSTRATION // recovery.
lot at the end of Ma are where some of t tracks would have b Jasper National Par Klettl. There’s a reas ago, Jasper’s ski pion Maligne Valley as th she said.
“This was the birthp and skiing and expl said. “It’s the bowls,
EARLY SKIERS IN THE MALIGNE VALLEY // JYMA
ORIGINAL RENDERING PARKS CANADA
“We’re not giving up on them, nor should we,” said JNP’s acting resource conservation manager at the time. Today, the Alberta Wilderness Association might take umbrage with
The Jeffery Creek Trail, accessed by crossing the Maligne River at Rosemary’s Rock, as well as the Bald Hills Trail, accessed from the parking
the slopes and the c beauty that make it
Moreover, the Malig accessible. Because
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UNDS:
d in
aligne Lake Road, the very first ski been laid down in rk, according to son that, 100 years neers chose the heir home base,
above 1,600 metres, access to alpine and sub-alpine terrain is achievable for skiers or snowshoers of varying degrees of fitness. The slopes there retain good quality snow and bear relatively few avalanche hazards.
place of touring loring,” Klettl , the gentleness of
In 1935, those ski fathers built the Maligne Lake Ski Club Cabin, known as Shangrila to those who have been lucky enough to ski out of it and up into the bountiful slopes between Little Shovel and Big Shovel passes. Jeff Weir, MLSC club president, was
calm but delicious so sublime.”
gne Range is most trails start at
“There’s a reason why our ski fathers picked these areas,” Klettl said.
bold move and the right move,” Weir said. The club will run this season— with COVID-19 protocols—and Shangrila’s first guests will ski in January 15. The lifted closures mean the club will have more than 30 twoday booking periods, an increase of 150 per cent over the last few years. “It’s important for people to understand the cabin is for membership use,” he added. With backcountry skiing’s popularity skyrocketing in the last five years— not to mention the predicted uptick in outdoor activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic— winter recreation in Jasper’s backcountry could very well undergo a renaissance, Klettl figured. “It’s going to be super interesting to see the different kinds of new users going to Maligne in the winter,” she said.
If those users have large hooves and eat lichen, of course, Parks Canada will reinstate the closures. In the meantime, “I think it’s a bold move based on the fact that caribou and the right move.” have not been observed since -Jeff Weir, president, 2018, based on patterns of wolf use in the area and taking into Maligne Lake Ski Club consideration feedback from environmental organizations and park users, on November 1, the delighted by the news that rope preventing access to Jasper’s some closures have been prime backcountry winter terrain, lifted and members of the will be dropped. club will be able to access the cabin in the winter Of course for organizations such months. as the AWA, it’s prime caribou habitat that is being compromised. “I think it’s good news for Regardless of whether the animals the club and great news have been seen there or not, the move for backcountry users in to allow skier access represents a Jasper,” he said. dereliction of duty on Parks Canada’s Weir, however, couldn’t part, Campbell said. find the rationale in “We know caribou need big opening up such small landscapes,” Campbell says. “They’re areas of the Maligne affected by not just where they’re Range. He would have preferred to see connecting standing, but also by predator-prey dynamics.” access between Maligne Lake and Little Shovel Klettl doesn’t want to be pitted Pass as well as in the against environmentalists. Skiers Watchtower Basin. have shown they support the science. They’ve shown, by and large, they “I don’t see what the conservation logic is there, respect the closures. if the caribou are not there, users will “We’re not against conservation not affect caribou. measures,” she said. “But when we’re allowed to go, we joyfully go.” “On the other hand, I’m encouraged there’s something and I think it’s a BOB COVEY // thejasperlocal@gmail.com POWDER PLAY ON SUNSET PEAK, IN THE JEFFERY CREEK DRAINAGE. // BC
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PAGE B5 //
The Jasper Local // ISSUE 176 // SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020
LOCAL BUSINESS
Sale of Cavell apartments to Toronto-based landlord triggers more concerns than just residential eligibility The sale of Jasper’s largest early on Wednesday, October 21, apartment dwelling to the Cavell tenants discovered letters largest landlord in Canada that had been placed under their doors. The letter requested proof has triggered Parks that tenants are eligible to reside Canada to ask tenants of in Jasper National Park by no that property to prove later than Friday, October 23. their eligible residency. “Parks Canada has demanded However, the agency is assuring that Northview collect from Jasperites that anyone laid off due each of the residents on the to COVID-19 or experiencing lease…written confirmation seasonal unemployment will not of their residency eligibility,” be removed from the building. reads the letter from Northview Apartment REIT, current owners “Parks Canada acknowledges of the buildings (as of this that the COVID-19 pandemic writing). has and will impact the employment status of many in A REIT (Real Estate Investment the tourism sector and associated Trust) is a vehicle for financial industries in Jasper National investment in real estate, and it Park,” public relations and communications officer, Steve Young, “There is no intention to told The Jasper Local remove residents from the October 28. “There community who are temporarily is no intention to unemployed or laid-off due remove residents from the community to COVID-19, or as a result of who are temporarily seasonal layoffs.” unemployed or laid-off due to COVID-19, or as a result of seasonal layoffs.” gives investors a chance to profit from real estate without having But some residents are to own or manage it directly. worried that despite Parks Canada’s promise, it will be the But Northview REIT won’t be apartment’s management doing the owners of Cavell for long. the dirty work. The distribution of the letters was tied into the sale of the “Parks will keep their hands buildings, according to property lily white by having Northview manager Barry Gilbert, and as the bailiff and boot out the an online press release from undesirables,” one Cavell tenant Cision, a public relations firm suggested. based in Toronto, announced On the night of October 20 and the takeover of Northview
REIT by Galaxy Value Add Properties. Galaxy is an affiliate of Starlight Investments, an asset management firm with a portfolio of more than 36,000 multi-residential units across Canada and the United States. The acquisition of the 26,723-suite portfolio which makes up the Northview REIT transaction, of which the Cavell sale falls into, will make Starlight the largest landlord in Canada, according to Keep Your Rent Toronto, a tenant-advocacy group tracking unfair rent increases and evictions during the COVID pandemic. Starlight is a “pandemic profiteer,” whose Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Drimmer, is known for buying his own companies through his other companies, according to the advocacy group. For residents of Cavell Court, the fact that the ownership of the buildings is due to change hands in early November might not matter in the short term, but as Starlight plans to float the Northview REIT companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange, at least one resident is suspicious of the sale. “Do the new owners have plans? Knock the buildings down and build hotels? Knock the buildings down and put up condominiums?” Neither Drimmer nor other representatives of Starlight responded to The Jasper Local’s requests for comment.
Cavell Apartments have been sold to Canada’s largest landlord.// B COVEY
A letter sent to tenants of Cavell Apartments says Northview REIT, owners of the building, are being required to confirm tenants’ eligible residency. Parks Canada has said the agency will not evict anyone.
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LOCAL WILDLIFE
Winter has blanketed the Maligne Valley and the animals which call the area home. Unless local predators have something else to say about it, elk and moose will stick around for the snowy season but bears, like the adjacent member of Ursus americanus, will soon be laying down for a long nap. BTW, if you were on the Maligne Road recently you may have noticed a Parks Canada sign flashing a season-specific warning to motorists. We shouldn’t have to reiterate the message here, but for goodness sake Do Not Let Moose Lick Your Car. // SIMONE HEINRICH
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 // ISSUE 176 // The Jasper Local // PAGE B6
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