Questions and answers from Canmore Hotel and Lodging Association and Tourism Canmore Kananaskis

What does tourism in Canmore mean to you?

To me, tourism means the ebb and flow of people moving around the world, the country, and this province. It means the good, the bad and the ugly that comes along with all of that.

It means an industry of industries and billions of gross domestic product each year. It means very little revenue for the municipal government and increased burden on our local taxpayers for services.

It means we must all adapt to a road network for a town of 15,000 that sees millions of additional vehicles on its roads each year. It means paid parking and transit.

It means cash registers ringing, busy cafés and restaurants, and heads in beds. It means jobs and it means a higher cost of living and housing challenges.

But more than anything, it means an opportunity for leadership and innovation. It means a chance to plan now for the tourism-based economy we want to be as a community.

We have always tended to value the triple bottom line approach to decision making in Canmore. With tourism, that is no different. That means we benefit socially; we maintain or enhance ecological integrity; and support a thriving economy.

The Town of Canmore’s tourism task force report calls it regenerative tourism and the framework for this work will be presented to council this week. The report is now publicly available.

Truth and reconciliation and climate change are at the heart of this new framework. I am excited to take on this important work, should I be elected, and forming a tourism round table.

The tourism industry was and will be a thriving industry and hotels will continue to be built. How should the Town of Canmore balance the future hotel development with the at times negative tourism sentiment of residents?

One way the Town of Canmore can show leadership and balance future hotel development with public perception around tourism is to require all new commercial development to provide staff accommodation.

With housing and affordability key issues affecting our economy, including the ability to attract and retain employees, providing housing is a solution.

Our residential/commercial assessment ratio is currently 80/20 and our goal has been to reach 60/40. We expect additional commercial development, yes, including hotels. But if we don’t also ensure we are increasing our housing supply as development continues, we will suffer the consequences.

Rentals for employees or staff housing are difficult to find and expensive. These have been exasperated by the illegal vacation rentals in residential areas and areas not zoned for short term vacation rentals. What steps will you take to ensure illegal vacation rentals are found, shut down and fined according to the Town of Canmore's Bylaws?

A few years ago, when Airbnb was first starting to take off, there was a surge in illegal rentals in our community. Council at the time hired an additional position in the planning department to undertake proactive enforcement.

This is a priority and staffing issue. If there are enough illegal vacation rentals happening that we need to step up enforcement, council would be able to discuss it at the finance committee level.

Until the time that additional resources are a discussion, it would be helpful to better understand the issue better. How many complaints are being received each year? How many illegal vacation rentals are operating in the community?

How would you support and work with employers to ensure staff accommodations are being developed in a timely manner?

Wherever possible, we should have clear requirements and standards for staff accommodation. That includes considering policy changes that ensures new development includes this form of housing.

But what about existing employers?

To support and work with employers to develop staff accommodation, I would like to understand what hurdles exist for providing this form of housing in the community. Additional research would be helpful, especially understanding what has been successful and what has not.

I would be looking to work with leaders in the business community that would like to leverage their resources to seek collective solutions to providing staff accommodations. There are several units at Northview already.

If council updates the comprehensive housing action plan, which I propose we should do, it should also include finding ways to support this kind of housing specifically.

Furthermore, I believe that staff accommodation, to be successful, must have standards that maintain privacy and quality of life. We should be ensuring we are setting expectations around this kind of development.

What should the town's role be in funding a destination management organization?

The municipality has a role to play in funding a destination management organization. How to better define that role is a discussion around the business registry and some key principles of accountability and transparency.

It is also important that the DMO has representation on its board from a cross section of the tourism economy. Tourism is an industry of industries, as Travel Alberta top execs have said before.

When council uses the funds at its discretion to support third party organizations, like Tourism Canmore Kananaskis, it is important that this kind of financial relationship include reporting back on objectives and transparency around how funds are spent.