Jason Stockfish, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
The Municipality of Jasper wants to begin negotiations with Parks Canada in hopes of gaining control over land-use planning and development and ceasing land rent payments to Ottawa.
In an interview with the 51暗网, Mayor Richard Ireland said the recent election helped solidify a mandate for council to pursue this matter and a plebiscite was not necessary.
鈥淲e were always a bit dissatisfied with the land rent provision and the lack of any involvement in land-use planning and development issues,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淏ut it has taken all of these years to bring the public to where it was at this election. And I think it鈥檚 fair to say that through the election process, and leading up to it, there was evidence of broad community support for our efforts.
鈥淎nd so, I think council, in the absence for the need for a plebiscite, is well positioned with the public to pursue negotiations right now.鈥�
Attaining autonomy for the municipal government has been up for discussion, privately and publicly in Jasper, since the summer of 2001, when Jasper officially became a specialized municipality and Ireland became its first and, so far, only mayor.
On Dec. 12, 1989, Banff attained the autonomy that Jasper is now seeking, with the creation of the Town of Banff Incorporation Agreement with the Government of Canada.
Ireland said the municipality would likely be looking for a similar agreement with the federal government in terms of jurisdictional issues.
鈥�(Banff) is a model that allows the municipality the right to manage development issues within a larger framework on parameters established by the federal government,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 deny, and we have never denied, the ability and the correctness of Parks Canada having the ability to set broad parameters for development within a national park, but within that, as does Banff, we think that the community would be better served if locally we had control over the administrative issues of development.鈥�
Ireland added how they would like to see the elimination of land rent, noting the 鈥渋nequity鈥� of this arrangement.
鈥淚rrespective of land-use planning and development, the fact that there are two communities (Jasper and Banff) in all of the country that have to pay land rent to the federal government, for the right to plow our streets and pave them and maintain the services underneath, that is just so inequitable, it has to change,鈥� he said.
鈥淧arks Canada has an interest in inviting Canadians and the world to our national parks. They should assist us in providing the services that those people require.鈥�
The municipality currently pays two amounts to Parks Canada鈥攁 land rent amount and an amount for land-use planning and development that the agency performs.
Ireland estimated that eliminating land rent would free up about $463,000.
鈥淚f we could get the transfer of jurisdiction over land-use planning and development, then logically that should lead to the elimination of that other payment, and that would then become a municipal cost,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e would have achieved savings to help defray that cost and then the rest of the savings we could reinvest in the community.鈥�
In a statement, Parks Canada clarified that no changes are being considered to the restrictions on development in Jasper.
鈥淧arks Canada is committed to addressing a long-standing housing shortage that has been identified by both the municipality and as well as in the Jasper National Park Management Plan and the Jasper Community Sustainability Plan,鈥� the statement read.
鈥淭he Town of Jasper Land Use Policy provides direction on how best to use the available land within the park community in a responsible, and sustainable, manner.鈥�
Parks Canada is now conducting public consultations on a new proposed way of managing land use and construction permits in Parks Canada.
This will replace four outdated regulations under the Canada National Parks Act, including the 1968 Town of Jasper Zoning Regulations.
The statement noted how Parks Canada provided many services to the Municipality of Jasper and pays Payment in Lieu of Taxes to the municipality.
While the federal government is exempt from municipal taxation, the Payment in Lieu of Taxes program has evolved to ensure the feds help share the costs of local government with other ratepayers.
Parks Canada has properties in this town, including residential and their main office, that benefit from the services that the municipality provides.
鈥淟and rent is not an issue that should be looked upon in isolation and it does not accurately reflect the depth of the financial and business relationship between the two levels of government,鈥� the statement added.
Ireland argued that Payments In Lieu of Taxes was not a justification for land rent.
鈥淭hey have tried to suggest now that because they pay those payments in lieu, it鈥檚 fair that we pay land rent, but every community (in Canada) with federal buildings receives payments in lieu,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a non-starter. But it is an argument that (Parks) continually raise. But it is invalid.鈥�
