Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Eleven councillor candidates took turns answering questions on subjects ranging from Indigenous relations to street closures for pedestrians during a virtual forum on Oct. 5.
The Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce hosted the forum via Zoom, with past Chamber president Richard Cooper serving as moderator.
Due to the high number of candidates and the limited time, each question from the public was given to either one candidate or only a couple of them.
Candidates Stephanie Lettner, Ralph Melnyk and Jason Stockfish answered the question regarding how they would further reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.
Lettner said the municipality鈥檚 land acknowledgement policy, which was approved the day of the forum, was only the beginning and the municipality should consider forming a committee with Indigenous partners.
鈥淩econciliation is a day-to-day struggle, and we need to continuously work towards it.鈥�
Melnyk said there were a number of ways council could implement the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
鈥淐ouncil has taken an initial step, and I鈥檓 sure council will look at other municipal initiatives, specifically as it relates to what we as a municipality can do.鈥�
Stockfish described his experiences learning about residential schools and highlighted the recent screening of 鈥淩esilient: The Aseniwuche Winewak Story,鈥� about how the local Indigenous people had been pushed out of their homes in 1910 and relocated to Grande Cache.
鈥淚t is sad that they had to come down from Grande Cache to their homeland to inform us about their history here. It鈥檚 certainly just the beginning, and there is great work to be done.鈥�
Candidate Kathleen Waxer was asked if she was able to step away from her role with the municipality, specifically as director of Community and Family Services, and represent the community.
Waxer replied that she had always thought about the bigger picture and didn鈥檛 just see the world through her role with Community and Family Services.
鈥淭he health and wellbeing of the community is affected by all the elements that make up a municipality.鈥�
If elected, Waxer plans to retire immediately, and if not elected, she will rejoin Community and Family Services for a few months until her planned retirement date.
Candidate Elizabeth McLachlan spoke on how she would encourage physical health while closing amenities for fitness and health to those who are not vaccinated.
鈥淲e live in a community where everyone is active, but that doesn鈥檛 mean we all want to be in a gym.鈥�
She suggested more outdoor activities could be brought into the community, such as the volleyball games that she helped organize during the summers.
Candidates Thomas Arkinstall, Wendy Hall and Anita Robinson were asked if they would support closing off some streets to vehicles and allow pedestrian use only.
Arkinstall said he would not support creating vehicle-free streets, except perhaps during some seasonal holidays.
鈥淭here鈥檚 only so many roads in Jasper, so the second you start shutting down streets, we don鈥檛 know how that鈥檚 going to affect traffic, so it鈥檇 just be best to keep it how it is.鈥�
Hall said she loved the idea of a street closure, but council wouldn鈥檛 be able to approve it until the streets were more pedestrian friendly.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not as simple as just putting a barricade at the corner of Patricia and at the corner of the Super A (now TGP). We would have to put a lot of work and money and time into that street.鈥�
Robinson said it was a good idea, but the municipality should wait until more information came out regarding paid parking and how much money was generated from that, as well as how traffic flow would be impacted.
鈥淎s a local, it would be difficult to shop, perhaps, especially if you鈥檙e doing a large grocery buy, but it remains to be seen.鈥�
The three incumbent councillors who are running for re-election later answered why the municipality kept recreation and child care facilities closed due to COVID-19 during the summer of 2020 while the rest of Alberta was opening these services, and also if they would act differently in hindsight.
Candidate Helen Kelleher-Empey said council had given funds for daycare to open up, while the recreation centres were opened when it was feasible.
鈥淎 lot of regulations came down from the government, and for the pool, I remember at the time that you could only have lane swim, and at that time, it didn鈥檛 make sense to just open the pool for lane swim.鈥�
Candidate Scott Wilson explained that even if some councillors vote against a motion that ended up passing, council as a whole ultimately has to accept the decision, adding how this all occurred soon after the beginning of the pandemic.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have done anything different. I was for opening services at the same time as the province had suggested, although council was reserved, and we made the decision that we would hold off and not open services immediately.鈥�
Candidate Rico Damota admitted that jobs were affected but noted how they were affected everywhere and that restarting recreation facilities was difficult after a long closure.
鈥淣o matter what we did, it was going to be difficult, and we might have made the right decision or the wrong decision,鈥� Damota said, adding how they would do better to communicate with the public in the future.
A recording of the forum can be watched on
The election takes place on Oct. 18, with advance votes on the two Wednesdays prior.
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