CANMORE – A peaceful protest by roughly 140 people highlighted some of the community’s dissatisfaction with the Court of Appeal upholding the Land and Property Rights Tribunal’s decisions on the Three Sisters Mountain Village Properties Limited area structure plans moving forward.
The protest was organized to coincide with Premier Danielle Smith’s scheduled appearance at the Bow Valley Builders and Developers Association (BOWDA) monthly luncheon.
The premier and over 200 attendees there for the luncheon drove by protesters lining Silvertip Trail and the roundabout leading to Silvertip Golf Course.
Karsten Heuer, a longtime wildlife biologist in the Bow Valley and organizer with Bow Valley Engage, said the Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the LPRT’s ruling on the Smith Creek and Three Sisters Village ASPs raises several issues for its potential impact on the region.
“The core issue is the scale of development in doubling the size of our community in a wildlife corridor that’s continentally significant. … I’ve seen the slow degradation of wildlife corridors in my time in Canmore, so we’re in the realm of the last of the best,” he said, adding it also gives concern to a provincially appointed tribunal and courts overruling a decision by a municipal council.
“The judicial system and democratic system has let us down. It’s a question of what’s the state of democracy in Alberta.”
When opening her speech at the BOWDA luncheon, Smith briefly referenced the protest outside but there was no other acknowledgement of either it or the recent Court of Appeal decision.
In her talk and question and answer portion, she emphasized the importance of improving development permit timelines across the province, improving the speed at which land titles are processed, and addressing affordability concerns and labour shortages.
Scott Johnston, the press secretary for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, said in an email the “Court of Appeal, which is the highest court in Alberta, ruled that the tribunal followed legislated processes appropriately in this case.
“The decision was made by the independent Land and Property Rights Tribunal, which is committed to supporting decisions that are fair, unbiased, well–reasoned, and thoughtful,” he said. “In deciding these matters, the tribunal followed the legislated process set out in section 619 of the Municipal Government Act, which included a public hearing where parties had the opportunity to put forward their concerns and arguments.”
Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert, when introducing Smith, said he didn’t agree with the protesters “characterization of the decision."
"As for the claim about growth, the Town has been projecting and planning for this type of growth since the early '90s. I appreciate the clarity of the decision and now we move forward," he said.
Town council will receive a verbal update from its legal counsel at the Oct. 17 committee of the whole meeting. A special meeting of council has been scheduled Oct. 24 to adopt the two TSMVPL ASPs since the Town has 30 days from the court decision to do so.
Banff-Kananaskis MLA Sarah Elmeligi highlighted how the years of potential development have been contentious in the community, but has also seen significant public engagement with citizens voicing their opinions on the matter.
“It’s clear that there are significant numbers of people in our community who are upset about the decision around Three Sisters Mountain Village. We live in a democracy, so it is everybody’s right to express their dismay when decisions are made,” she said.
“I know there’s a sentiment of displeasure in this decision and it is unfortunate the decision has been made by the courts and it’s time to move forward … At the same time, this is a decision that was pushed on the community by the UCP over the last several years and that’s unfortunate and very frustrating for people in Canmore.”
Elmeligi, a longtime conservation biologist in the Bow Valley, said with the development set to move forward given the court decision, it’s important for the province to help with funding for necessary funding improvements locally to continue with the growth of the community.
“We are a small town and we welcome millions of people, so if this development must happen it must serve our community. The province must follow up with support for improved infrastructure. It could be water and sewage, roads or anything, but also increased support for our healthcare system, which is a rural healthcare system that serves more of an urban population,” she said. “There’s a lot of factors to consider and I hope we can see some of those provincial supports and that’s what I’ll be asking for in the legislature.”
As a longtime local who’s been heavily involved in the issue of development on the TSMVPL-owned lands, Lisa Downing said the number of people who turned out was impressive and showed the passion of community members.
“People care deeply, not only about the town and wildlife but also democracy. … I think as we saw at the (2021) public hearings people truly care and love this place,” she said. “They’re not against development, they just want the right development for this town. We really need to see TSMV work with the community because I don’t think lawsuits are working with the community and suing councillors and the Town isn’t working with people.”
Chris Ollenberger, director of strategy and development for TSMVPL, said it’s important to both respect and hear different viewpoints.
He pointed to the lengthy process of developing the ASPs between 2018-21 – which began following a council approved terms of reference in 2018 – numerous studies being completed, independently reviewed and reviewed by Town staff as well as being determined by the LPRT after a lengthy multi-week hearing process to move forward and later being upheld by the Court of Appeal.
“I think we’ve done anything a project could be asked of to balance the best of environment, financial capacity of the Town and affordable and providing housing for market bases. We’re quite proud of our project and we’re looking forward to moving on,” he said.
Ollenberger said the application for the first phase of the Three Sisters Village ASP has been filed with the Town and a pre-application meeting will be in the coming weeks. He added the application for the first phase of the Smith Creek ASP will soon be submitted and both will be moving forward in a “timely manner," with anticipation of development beginning in 2025.
He emphasized the Town has been planning for the potential growth in the two ASPs since the early 1990s, which coincided with the 1992 Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) decision that development would be permitted on the lands.
Since that decision, which included a several weeks long public hearing, the initial steps for a wildlife corridor and environmental protection were started and continually updated since, he said.
“We’ve done the work over and over again and we are now the longest, widest wildlife corridor in the valley bar none. We’re very proud of the wildlife corridor system we’ve put in. We know the mitigations will work,” Ollenberger said. “We’ve had independent biologists with the province review the work and they believe it will work for animal movement.
“The No. 1 issue is keeping the humans out. People walking dogs and cycling, so part of the mitigation strategy will be identifying the trail and recreation opportunities that are appropriate and not appropriate and we’ll implement those with the province and the Town and I think it’ll operate a lot better than it has for decades.”
For Heuer, there remain significant concerns for the impact it will have on wildlife movement through the region that serves as a valuable corridor for wildlife along the western part of North America.
“This is how extinction ultimately happens. … We’ve done restoration on corridors in Banff and when you open it up, like the Cascade wildlife corridor in the 1990s and wolf use dramatically increased. … If you start shutting them, start compromising them, squeezing wildlife, you create too small of an island where a larger island existed. It would be like not being able to connect to your bathroom from your bedroom using the hallway. You can’t meet all your life needs by not connecting for your needs. It just doesn’t work to be isolated.”
