A strong tourism economy, affordable housing and transportation and traffic troubles seem to be the most pressing issues for Banff residents heading into the Oct. 21 municipal election.
Other issues raised at an all-candidates forum Tuesday (Oct. 15) included special resort status from the province to help fund Banff’s aging infrastructure, as well as concern over large-scale special events.
Mayoral candidate Cynthia Anderson, who has a background in the tourism industry, said she supports tourism and improving visitor experience, but large-scale events are not the way to do it.
“I do not believe the special events we have in the summer are a benefit to the community,” she said at the forum, which was hosted by Banff Lake Louise Hotel Motel Association.
“I believe they’re a deterrent. I believe people will stop coming here if there’s event after event after event. It’s not fair to people who aren’t participating.”
Council incumbent Grant Canning, who owns a local coffee shop, said he supports special events.
“The purpose is to bring visitors to town. They literally bring thousands of people to the community, who stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants,” he said.
“I commend Banff Lake Louise Tourism, who do try to mitigate.”
Jeff Mitchell, who works for Banff Lake Louise Tourism, said he understands the frustration some residents may have with traffic congestion associated with special events.
“I think it’s more of a parking problem than a special events problem,” he said.
Housing was a common theme throughout the forum, with some candidates saying appropriate and affordable housing is directly linked to a healthy labour force, particularly for the lower paying service industry.
Mayoral incumbent Karen Sorensen, who has a long career in the hospitality industry, public relations and sales, said she is committed to putting housing back on council’s strategic priority list.
“An example is a new category for employee housing to encourage investment in staff housing, and exploring opportunities for regional housing,” she said.
Mayoral candidate Jim Abelseth, a local appraiser and veteran of the fire department, said there’s a clear need for more affordable homes, noting there are “slums” in town that should be redeveloped.
He said consideration should be given to bumping up height allowances in certain areas, as well as rezoning the industrial compound to allow for housing.
“I agree there are some slums… owners should be encouraged to redevelop, maybe intensify density a little bit,” he said.
Incumbent Brian Standish, a born and raised Banffite, says the housing problem must be addressed.
“We need to create affordable, liveable accommodations for the new workers coming to town,” he said.
Corrie DiManno, a local journalist whose platform includes increasing voter turnout and youth engagement, said making the young workforce feel welcome is an important first step.
“If they feel welcome and part of the community they will settle down here,” she said. “Taking care of them will hopefully take care of the labour situation.”
DiManno also said there’s a need for a youth committee, which could include Grade 11 and 12 students, as well as those residents 18 to 30 years old.
“It would give better insight into what it’s like for them, to better understand their needs and what we can do to enrich their lives,” she said.
Steven Fournier, a manager at Melissa’s, said the biggest issue in town affecting labour is housing.
“They don’t have affordable housing,” he said. “If we can make them feel like family and want to live here, they will work harder for you and treat your business like gold.”
A strong tourism economy was also a hot topic.
Ken McMurdo, a local retailer, said he supports Banff’s social, environmental and economic health.
“I would like to balance them, with an economic perspective,” he said. “Our economic engine is tourism and we need to make sure we have strong tourism. We need to focus on visitor experience.”
Anderson said she too supports tourism and improving visitor experience, but wants to see more transparency with Banff Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT).
She said she would like to see the contract to market the town publicly tendered.
Anderson said the Town of Banff contributes about $4 million to the tourism bureau through business licence fees, while BLLT also collects a two per cent accommodation charge.
“They are working with a huge budget, yet board meetings are closed. There’s not a lot of fiscal transparency as to what goes on,” she said. “The benefits are maybe not shared by everyone who pays fees.”
Incumbent Ted Christensen, a local building contractor, said there’s a need to create unique tourism experiences in Banff.
“There are wonderful initiatives already established, but we also have to look after staff, look after housing and partner with Lake Louise and Canmore,” he said. “We are the first national park, we are a unique tourism destination and we have to promote that.”
The Town of Banff’s ongoing quest to get special recognition as a resort municipality from the province, which ultimately aims to lead to more funding, was also a topic.
Incumbent Stavros Karlos, an owner of local restaurants, said there’s a need for progressive infrastructure that will allow Banff to remain competitive as a tourist destination around the world.
He said the Alberta government gives massive subsidies to the oil and gas industry, yet tourism, which is the province’s number three industry, gets very little comparatively.
“We flush toilets for 25,000 people on a tax base of 8,200,” he said.
“We generate extensive amounts of tax dollars for the province… yet our efforts have fallen on deaf ears over at the Province.”
Incumbent Chip Olver agreed.
“I think we have to present our arguments in a way that resonates with them, that money for us means money for them,” she said.
Sorensen said she believes the Town started to make headway with the province, but widespread flooding in the province in June may have pushed that back.
“We may need to start looking at this a little differently,” she said. “For example, housing keeps coming so maybe we have to look at it as a special funding for housing.”
Banff’s parking shortage and congestion troubles were also on the discussion table.
McMurdo said he does not support paid parking, adding the Town needs to build a parkade.
“We could put affordable rental housing on the top floor. They’d have the best view going,” he said.
Mitchell believes there’s great opportunity to increase use of Roam, saying there’s a need to explore a more efficient and frequent transit in busy summer months.
“Potentially, with more stops, perhaps parking areas to keep cars out of downtown,” he said.
Olver said the recent transportation master plan indicated 30 per cent of vehicles in the downtown core are circling looking for parking.
“We need to encourage people to leave their vehicles in hotels, hop on a trail, hop on a bike, take the bus… that will help with parking,” she said.
Council hopeful Hardi Soukup praised the Town for its environmental initiatives, such as solar panels on municipal infrastructure and the recycling program.
But, she said, more needs to be done, including increasing ridership on Roam.
“Coming from Europe we are far behind from what’s going on there,” she said. “I encourage even more solar installation on town buildings and I hope residents get initiated by that to do the same.”
