Questions from Bow Valley Climate Action
What are your priorities from the town of Canmore's Climate Emergency Action Plan? Why did you choose those?
My priority is the circular economy, which is mentioned in the Town of Canmore's Climate Emergency Action Plan under waste management.
My passion for circular economy efforts goes back to my childhood. I believed in the messaging around reducing, reusing, and recycling we heard as kids in the 1990s.
Now, I see how our tourism economy and high cost of living are realities of our daily lives as locals. When I think of ways these two realities can be leveraged to create economic diversification possibilities and lower the cost of living, all while diverting materials from the landfill, I get excited.
While my big, audacious goal is a reuse-it centre, I know it is not a short—or medium-term possibility. However, we are hiring a zero-waste coordinator to develop a zero-waste strategy for the Town of Canmore, which is an important start to this work.
Regenerative Tourism aligns perfectly with circular economy efforts. We can also use our community grants to support the fantastic work that local organizations like the Biosphere, Library, and Homelessness Society are already doing.
Because we manage our household garbage differently as a WildSmart community, we must find ways to divert all materials from the landfill. That includes recyclables, organics, and all the items that go into our bear bins that can be fixed, repurposed, or reused.
Do you think the Town is doing too little, enough, or too much with regards to climate action? Why?
The Town is doing more than enough regarding climate action. We have limited resources, and there are many priorities. Climate action can be tackled concurrently with other issues we face as a community, and those solutions are my priority. We are a leader in climate action in Alberta, and we should be proud of ourselves.
The expectation of what the council can do is sometimes out of sync with what I think is our actual sphere of influence.
The Serenity Prayer is an essential guide in this work because we need to distinguish between what we can do and what we cannot.
What is the Town of Canmore's greatest challenge when it comes to reducing our emissions?
Vehicle emissions are our greatest challenge. We cannot change the fact that millions of visitors come to Canmore every year, but we can invest in infrastructure that supports reduced vehicle use in our community as much as possible.
This is also an important part of Regenerative Tourism. That approach to tourism supports the great climate work we are already doing as a community.
This is a layered issue. First is the local layer, and our community has struggled with the traffic growth we see through our major intersections each year. Our Integrated Transportation Master Plan sets out goals to reduce the number of vehicles travelling to 60 per cent of the mode share, with pedestrians, cyclists and transit making up the rest.
Then we have regional day-trippers and overnight travellers, who make up the majority of our visitors and have their own vehicles. Finally, international or long-haul travellers can arrive in RVs, by bus from the airport, or by rental.
We also have a possibility of a rail line between Banff and the Calgary airport, with stops along the line, including Canmore.
I am proud of the four years I have spent on the Bow Valley Transit Services Commission, helping deliver Roam Public Transit services. Roam is key to our future success in reducing emissions, and the next four years will require a significant investment in its infrastructure to continue growing.
I would also like to highlight the fact that our e-bike subsidy is applied to the affordable services program. This was important to me because sometimes, there is an equity piece lacking in climate solutions.