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Town hall discusses tourism-based flights

“If this is cutback anymore, it affects my livelihood. And not just myself, but all the people who work at Alpine. The tourism crew support anywhere up to 30 people and by cutting down that, you do affect the ability for us to afford to live in the valley.”
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Canmore Municipal Heliport on Thursday (Jan. 14). EVAN BUHLER RMO PHOTO

CANMORE – A town hall meeting for the upcoming lease between the Town of Canmore and Alpine Helicopters gave residents a chance to voice their opinions.

Over more than two-hours, 31 people presented during the virtual meeting to give a voice both against and in favour of the potential contract, which is up for renewal this year.

As one of several contentious issues in the community being discussed at the moment, Canmore Mayor John Borrowman said it was “constructive to hear the variety of opinions and perspectives,” on the issue.

While many residents were vocal on other issues, the intent of the meeting was to hear locals thoughts on Schedule C – of the proposed contract – which replaces the previous Schedule D.

Under the existing contract, the maximum allowed tourism-based flights are 60, but are proposed to be cutback to no more than 45 if approved.

The Bow Valley Helicopter Noise Alliance, a local grassroots organization formed in 2018, has voiced a need to drastically reduce tourism-based helicopter flights to help reduce noise in the residential area adjacent to the facility that were developed after the heliport was built in the 1980s.

The group has emphasized it is not anti-helicopter and stressed the importance of having helicopter services to help with rescues. The main concern comes from the flight-seeing operations, which the group argues are happening far too much on a daily basis and lowering the quality of life for many residents near the heliport.

They asked for no more than 15 flight-seeing tours a day and 750 a year with all being 25 minutes or more and a reduction of four to two tourist helicopters operating out of the heliport.

“You have to factor quality of life for those who have to live with the flight-seeing noise,” Frank Liszczak, a group member, told council. "Can you imagine a Canmore where heli-tourist flights don’t dominate the sky; where sunny days can be enjoyed in our own yards or in the backcountry? Is that too costly to imagine, or will that actually be positive for the Canmore brand?”

The group also proposed its own version of Schedule C to possibly amend what may be brought forward to council for a final decision.

While more than half of the speakers raised concerns, there was a strong contingent who spoke in favour of the potential deal.

Chris Beers, a pilot with Alpine Helicopters who was born and raised in Canmore, said the discussion directly affects his career.

“If this is cutback anymore, it affects my livelihood," he said. "And not just myself, but all the people who work at Alpine. The tourism crew support anywhere up to 30 people and by cutting down that, you do affect the ability for us to afford to live in the valley.”

He added in talking with tourists who use the flights, they often stay in the region to spend additional time and money locally.

Other advocates for the flight-seeing tours noted the tourism-based flights are often the best way to get into a career of piloting search and rescues.

“We cannot have the rescue program without the tourism program. It is not one or the other,” said Bailey Spraggs, a tourism-based pilot with Alpine. "Three out of the four of our really talented rescue pilots actually got their start with Alpine as part of the tourism program. … All the tourism pilots would one day love to follow in their footsteps and that’s not a possibility without the tourism program.”

The discussion for a new contract began in early 2020 when staff were directed by council to meet with stakeholder groups to gain perspectives. A survey was sent to 22 area groups and feedback was received from 12 in a 58-day span. Town staff also had further discussions with four of the groups.

Council received an update on the negotiations and community feedback at its April 20 committee of the whole meeting, leading to the town hall being held.

The Heliport Monitoring Committee met April 28 to receive the 2020 annual report from Alpine, which discussed new technology being installed to reduce some noise. Any new technology or equipment first needs to be approved by Transport Canada and the helicopter’s manufacturer, leading to longer install times.

The committee also discussed previous ideas to reduce noise, such as planting trees and a transparent barrier, but both had flaws and were unable to be implemented.

Residents against the proposed deal have argued a lack of flight data, fuel use and the economic impact need to be made available. The 2011 contract, however, stipulates proprietary information of Alpine doesn’t need to be released.

The proposed deal would have data be released to the Town and Heliport Monitoring Committee when requested, but the majority of the normally privately held information would remain confidential to the public.

Some residents also raised concerns over the greenhouse gas emissions from the helicopters, the proposed length of the contract, length of flights, possibly moving the heliport to another location, or moving more flight-seeing tours to the nearby Stoney Nakoda casino where flights also occur.

Staff will return with the proposed lease for the June 2 council meeting.

Visit www.canmore.ca/heliport for more information.

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