Editor: Actually, this missive is aimed towards the large number of Canmorites who feel disenfranchised by the whims of the current town council and their administrative advisors.
Eleven years ago when we decided to retire here from Ontario, we were seeking refuge from a government whose agenda was at odds with ours.
They purported to know better than we with what was good for us in the long run.
As a patient and diligent new member of my adopted province, I wanted to become accepted and to contribute to my new home.
It is now 2019 and I finally find it important that I speak up. I have found the evolution of this town to be paradoxical to say the least. On the one hand, we are a community with a rich history and attachment to our roots of peaceful coexistence with our wildlife cohabitants.
On the other, we have benefitted greatly from an influx of tourists, who are slower to accept our embracement of the outdoor ideology.
Now I find myself, as a newly minted senior citizen, living on the sunny side of the valley, being challenged by bureaucratic decisions that threaten my lifestyle and powerless to be a party to decisions affecting it.
Last year we experienced a macabre (almost humourous) experiment to calm traffic on Benchlands Trail. To us up here this was like administering Valium to people who didn’t need it. Not surprisingly the study agreed.
Further, I have been witness to the Town’s failure to enforce the simplest of parking infractions in my neighbourhood. We currently have a black Porsche Carrera parked (permanently) on Benchlands Trail for several weeks.
It is so annoyingly located that the sidewalk cannot be cleaned of snow, forcing pedestrians into the street to pass it. No small wonder we have a parking problem.
Now we have a ludicrous proposal to spend millions of our tax payer dollars to congest traffic over the Trans-Canada Highway at Benchlands, all in the name to improve life for cyclists, who don’t exist in any rate of travel compared to existing traffic patterns.
As a trained professional engineer of 40 years experience, I respectfully ask the town to clearly explain the cost benefit of this project.
What problem are we trying to solve and what are the alternatives?
David Austin,
Canmore
