It will be a big task for the town of 5,000, which was safely evacuated last week
Jasper business owner Paul Hardy knows there’s plenty of hard work ahead for entrepreneurs seeking to rebuild after last week’s wildfires tore through the community.
The administrative office of SunDog Tour Co. was razed, along with two company-owned staff houses, as fire swept through Jasper, destroying about one-third of its structures.
His fleet of 30 vehicles based in Jasper and a maintenance building are intact. So is his resolve to keep operating.
Business operators in Jasper will require such resolve, but say they will also need governments at all levels to work together and streamline approval processes so the town can get temporary housing in place for residents left without a home, and for business activity to restart in the national park.
“I am hopeful. I mean, I’m trying to be optimistic about everything,” said Hardy, whose company has about 75 employees and offers trips and sightseeing tours throughout the region.
“I’m encouraged by how it looks like both the provincial and federal governments seem to be wanting to work together and, along with our municipal governments, they will hopefully remove as many hurdles as possible,” he added.
“Parks Canada is a big machine. And I think it’s not a secret that sometimes it’s not a fast-moving machine. But I do feel that there is certainly a recognition and an understanding this time that things have to be streamlined.”
Parks Canada regulates land use and development in Jasper National Park, including the town. The province and Municipality of Jasper will also be on the front lines, getting the community cleaned up, services restored and helping residents return home once it’s deemed safe.
It will be a big task for the town of 5,000, which was safely evacuated last week.
No timeline for a staged re-entry has been announced.
During a news conference Monday, Parks Canada CEO Ron Hallman vowed that the federal agency would sit down with town officials for planning discussions, including how to streamline local development review processes.
“What we need to do is make sure that we’re using all of the tools we have to help get any rebuilding and temporary structures in place, just as soon as humanly possible, so people can get back to the community,” he told reporters.
However, details will matter.
And there must be a sense of urgency to make it happen.
“When I’ve spoken with the prime minister (and federal ministers) . . . we said we want to be involved all the way through recovery, because we don’t want to be three or four years in and still waiting for development and permit approvals,” she said.
“We’ll be really pushing Parks Canada and Jasper to streamline those processes.”
While talk of simplifying permitting is encouraging, all governments need to collaborate and include residents and business operators to find a “sweet spot to get stuff done immediately,” said Pattie Pavlov, executive director of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce.
“There were many, many roadblocks, and many, many requirements to get anything developed in Jasper prior to this. So that is probably one of the biggest fears of most businesses and residents,” she said.
“How are you going to streamline that?”
Karyn Decore, who co-owns the Maligne Lodge, the Wicked Cup coffee shop and a house for staff, which were all destroyed by the fire in Jasper, is planning to rebuild.
She’s also pleased to hear the head of Parks Canada say the agency will simplify the processes.
“Governments can often slow things down,” she said Tuesday.
“Hotels either partially damaged or totally destroyed . . . will need a lot of resources to help with all of these redevelopment processes. This is going to be key. They need to hire more people and make their development processes easier.”
Governments will need to be able to respond quickly to questions when homeowners or businesses are dealing with architects, engineers and builders, Decore noted.
The federal government also needs to ensure Parks Canada has enough resources in place to respond quickly, so redevelopment isn’t delayed.
“We want the process to be quick and flexible and reasonable, and not get bogged down in red tape.”
Stuart Back, chief operating officer for Banff Jasper Collection by Pursuit, said getting temporary housing in place will be “absolutely critical” to building back Jasper. The company owns several hotels, restaurants and attractions in the area, employing about 750 people.
“There are various different government agencies which have a hand in this,” Back said.
“Jasper had a shortage of housing before this happened and now it has less houses. So how can we make sure, when we come out of this, that we haven’t just regained what we had, but we can hopefully build a stronger housing foundation for Jasper in the future.”
Hardy said he’s more optimistic now than late last week, knowing everyone got out safely, the town’s infrastructure is intact and much of the community has been saved.
“Hopefully we can get back to Jasper as soon as possible,” he said.
“The first news out of the town was really not good. And I think it is quickly moving to a story of optimism, and resilience.”
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.