BANFF – The new mayor of Banff’s connections to the high-profile national park community run deep, going back to her grandparents’ arrival from Italy in the 1950s.
Corrie DiManno’s grandfather, Vittorio DiManno, arrived in Banff on a working visa in 1956 to work on the railroad with his brothers, with her grandmother Libera following two years later.
“My grandfather sent for my grandma and on her passport, when you look at the old photo, it says her occupation is fiancé on it,” she said. “Isn’t that just crazy?”
Almost 65 years on, the role of women in society has evolved and Libera’s granddaughter is now the third female mayor in Banff’s 32-year history, trouncing her competitors in the October election race.
Banff set the stage for the role of women in politics early on, electing Leslie Taylor as the first mayor in October 1989, just before the municipality’s incorporation, serving until October 1995. Karen Sorensen served three terms as mayor before her appointment to the Canadian Senate in July.
Despite great gains being made in Canada, women still rarely hold leadership roles in politics, yet the equal presence of women, their leadership and their perspective in decision-making is considered essential to ensure greater responsiveness to citizens’ needs.
While it feels like a big topic, 34-year-old DiManno said it’s pretty simple: women deserve a voice and a seat at the decision-making table.
“I think it’s heartening to see more women than men on council for only the second time in Banff’s history,” she said, referring to herself and councillors Chip Olver, Barb Pelham and Kaylee Ram outnumbering their male colleagues Hugh Pettigrew, Grant Canning and Ted Christensen.
“Certainly another female mayor, I think, is a strong message when it comes to supporting women in politics.”
The journalist-turned-local politician has felt strong support in Banff since first entering municipal politics in 2013, with the second highest number of votes – just six behind frontrunner Stavros Karlos – and the top number in the 2017 election.
“In Banff, the sense I always got was people were very excited that someone young was elected. I’m not sure if the female piece actually came into it,” said DiManno, who was 26 when first elected.
“But stepping out of Banff, people just couldn’t believe it. I remember one time someone thought I was Chip’s daughter and one time someone thought I was Grant’s niece.”
DiManno’s life in Banff started when she was just one month old.
Her parents Tony DiManno and Paige Hayden met in Banff, but were married in Texas in the United States, where Corrie was born in 1987. The couple moved back to Banff within weeks of Corrie’s birth and lived in the Clock Tower Mall.
“My parents split when I was about four or five and my sister and I grew up in Texas with my mom, but we always spent every summer with my dad here,” she said.
“I learned how to swim at the Sally B as a kid, kind of those early rights of passage in Banff.”
During those long-awaited summer holidays, DiManno picked up odd jobs like bussing tables at Earls when she was 17, worked at the former Banff Book & Art Den and helped with administrative duties at the Banff day-care.
While studying journalism at the University of North Texas, she landed an internship in 2009 at the Banff Crag & Canyon before getting a full-time job at the newspaper and moving permanently to Banff in September 2010.
DiManno recalls her then-editor Larissa Barlow asking her to cover Banff town council meetings while she was away on a two-week vacation.
“I remember being so nervous, not understanding a word that was being said, and I mean not a word. I did not understand that language at all,” she said with a laugh.
Banff’s municipal clerk at the time and now in Canmore filling that same role, Cheryl Hyde was a big help to the rookie reporter who was keen to learn the ropes.
“I remember emailing her, ‘can you help me make sure I’ve got his right?’ It was a whole new world,” said DiManno.
“But when my editor came back, she was getting ready to go to council on a Monday, and I said, ‘I don’t mind going’,” she added.
“She was happy to pass the torch and then I started covering council. I think sitting there at the reporter’s table, there was definitely a time or two where I thought, “this is cool, I can do this’.”
By the time the 2013 municipal election rolled around, DiManno was a political junkie.
With a push from Barlow, DiManno decided to enter the race, with strong backing and support from her dad Tony and uncle Marino DiManno – both well-known and long-term Banff residents.
She said she believes her first election victory in 2013 was a result of name recognition from the newspaper, heavy involvement in the community, and the appeal of someone in their 20s running for office.
“At the time, it’s all so overwhelming, you don’t dissect it too much, but it’s almost with time that you can go back and look at things,” she said.
“I was also looking at the numbers from 2013 and 2017, and I think the young adult demographic in town related to myself and Stavros, which is why you saw us ahead of everybody else, and the second time, they just really resonated with me.”
During the election forum for the 2021 mayoral race, DiManno elaborated on this sentiment.
“I understand those livability challenges. I am a renter, I choose not to own a car, I’ve had two or three jobs on the go, so what I hear is they like that representation on council,” she said.
“My experience now is probably very different from an 18-year-old who is coming in, but that’s why I think it’s great we have Kaylee there as well.”
Since leaving the Banff Crag & Canyon and taking on the part-time role as a councillor, DiManno has worked a host of other jobs, including communication for Roam Transit and the Banff-Canmore Community Foundation, editor of Highline Magazine and an organizer of Banff Pride.
As a key organizer with founder Joe Bembridge, the growth of Banff Pride from a one-night party into a weeklong celebration of diversity and inclusion is one of her proudest accomplishments.
“When I was starting out helping Joe, it was a crazy gayest night of the year at the cowboy bar. It was a big party and that was it,” she said.
“We started hearing from the community who wanted more than this and now seeing what it has become – it’s amazing.”
Easy going, approachable, friendly, quick-witted and even-keeled, DiManno will bring her own leadership style to the council table. Above all, she will command inclusivity and respectful discussions.
“I want to make sure everyone’s voices are heard, and everyone has a chance to speak,” she said.
“I want to welcome diverse opinions. I want us to work through things together. I don’t want anyone to feel like it’s not a safe space to say what they need to.”
Senator Sorensen said she thoroughly enjoyed working with DiManno while they served together for eight years on council, adding “I am proud of her.”
“Over that period and today, Corrie continues to be a progressive thinker with strong values,” said Sorensen.
“She will serve this community with an educated lens with integrity and from a forward-thinking perspective.”
The senator said the new mayor brings a solid knowledge of governance, procedures and a full understanding of the Town of Banff’s relationship with Parks Canada and other levels of government.
“During the election, Corrie ran a very strong campaign and worked hard to engage with a diverse electorate,” said Sorensen, who was with DiManno at her victory party on election night. “I feel very good about her stepping into the role of mayor.”
Outside of her high-profile role as mayor, DiManno has developed a love of running to help wind down and stay fit and healthy, often clocking more than 60 kilometres a week if she is in training mode.
With three marathons under her belt, she went for a 52-km ultra marathon from Sunshine Village in Banff National Park to Mount Shark in the Spray Valley of Kananaskis Country last summer.
“I love running. I love hiking. I’ve become a road biker. I like camping. I like to get out into the mountains,” she said.
“I also just like sitting at home and reading,” she added, though noted she hasn’t finished a book in two months due to the busy election campaign against Brian Standish and Karen Thomas.
That pace of life isn’t about to slow down anytime soon for DiManno. First up on council’s plate is the annual review of services and programs offered by the municipality ahead of tough decisions on the 2022-25 operating and 10-year capital budgets.
DiManno said supporting economic recovery coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is a top issue.
“For me, I think how can the municipality support that and right away one thought I go to is housing,” she said.
“We know we need to attract folks back to live here, so how can the municipality help with housing? For me, that’s a commitment to Cave Avenue or putting potential policies in place to help private developers want to develop.”
Banff’s local tourism economy is not expected to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024 or 2025, but DiManno doesn’t want Banff to go back to exactly the same place as 2019.
“When I think back to 2019, people had feelings associated with anxiety and stress. We were talking about over-tourism, we were talking about folks being so worked out from working multiple jobs,” she said.
“For me, it’s how do we build back sustainably and intentionally, and with this in mind so that 2024, 2025, isn’t where we were in 2019, which to me, I think, was a stressful place for the community,” she added.
“I want to be in a spot where it’s a healthy community, a protected environment and a strong economy – and then the environment is another massive piece that we just can’t take our focus off of.”
On that front, DiManno said the municipality can show environmental leadership in transit and building back ridership to pre-pandemic levels and beyond.
“In 2024, 2025, we want our visitors to know they can go anywhere on the bus, and to me, that’s building back better,” she said.
“If we’re focused on some of those things with housing and transit, and I think that’s the municipality’s piece in helping with recovery.”
DiManno knows that path won’t be easy, but she is more than ready, and feeling honoured to be given the task of tackling the issues at hand in this four-year term.
“It feels in some ways very surreal, but in other ways when you look at the path I’ve been on, it also just feels really right,” she said.
“I am really grateful to be here and I am excited to be here and I am ready to hit the ground running.”
