Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor announced a special gift for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her birthday Thursday (April 21) with the establishment of the Banff Commonwealth Walkway in her honour.
Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell proposed and is patron of the Banff Commonwealth Walkway project as a way to celebrate Alberta and Canada’s royal heritage and longstanding role as a member of the Commonwealth.
“I am delighted to announce that a Commonwealth Walkway will be created in the Town of Banff and Banff National Park,” said Mitchell. “This project, which honours the 90th birthday of our beloved Queen of Canada, also celebrates an important part of our heritage while encouraging current and future generations of Canadians to get outside and enjoy the benefits of walking.”
The walkway is not the first of its kind in the Commonwealth, with others having been established 71 nations and territories.
The project does not propose to create a new trail or walkway, but place bronze plaques along existing trails and at points of significant interest. The plaques will bear Her Majesty’s personal Royal Cypher – the cypher stands for Elizabeth II Regina in Latin.
Banff-Canmore Community Foundation board chair Bill Fisher is taking the same role for the steering committee established to decide where the plaques will be placed.
Fisher said the Commonwealth Walkway program was started by the Outdoor Trust in the U.K. and set out to connect and inspire people as well as help educate people about the commonwealth and celebrate the reign of the Queen.
“The steering committee will work on where we will put the trials and how we will mark them, but we will engage the community and students of Banff too,” he said, adding when the walkway is ready he hopes a member of the royal family will be present as there is a long history of royalty visiting Banff. “King George and the Queen mom walked up to the top of Tunnel Mountain, Prince Philip opened the Cave and Basin in 1985, Prince Edward was at the Kinnear Centre in 2012 and opened the Legacy Trail, so there is a rich history of the royals coming out here to visit.”
The committee includes representatives from the community foundation, Parks Canada, Town of Banff, Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff Centre and Banff Lake Louise Tourism.
With the Queen’s 90th birthday this week, Fairmont regional vice-president David Roberts said it was an honour to partner with the project and support Mitchell’s endeavor to bring a walkway to Banff.
“It is a special occasion, obviously her majesty is 90 today and that is a major celebration in the United Kindon and also across the Commonwealth, so for us to tie that in here with Banff and send a note to the Queen and wish her a happy birthday from us and tell her we are launching our program here,” Roberts said. “Parks Canada, the community and ourselves in this instance are all very keen to see this come to life.”
The Outdoor Trust has officially endorsed the Banff Commonwealth Walkway as well.
“It is brilliant of Canada to announce their Walkway on the occasion of Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday,” said Outdoor Trust Chairman Hugo Vickers. “This rightly recognizes Her Majesty’s 64-year reign as Queen of Canada, and honours the special place the country holds in Her Majesty’s heart.”
