Canmore’s political candidates are officially on the hustings this week.
With two out of four back-to-back candidate forums under their belts, the nine vying for councillor seats and three challenging to be mayor met full crowds at the CAUSE Canada forum on Monday (Oct. 7) and the Canmore Business and Tourism forum on Tuesday (Oct. 8).
Asked if tourism is the most realistic platform for economic growth in Canmore, all council candidates agreed, except Ed Russell.
“Is it currently the No. 1 economic driver, there’s no question, but is that good? – no,” Russell said at the CBT forum. “There is an awful lot of other businesses in Canmore.
“The CBT group has done miraculous things – but if we don’t diversify and get supports to other business we will see a collapse … and have no middle income people left.”
Russell said labour shortages in the service industry and a lack of higher paying jobs means Canmore should “hedge our bets” to stick it out and bring in another industry like a post-secondary institution. “While protecting what we’ve got, we have to go out into other avenues before we collapse.”
Colleen Critchley said as the community’s economic driver, tourism is something to continually invest in and the town should support CBT’s efforts as the best way to diversity.
“Council needs to stay the course with CBT,” she said. “We need to embrace our business community.”
With a background in urban planning, Critchley said to her it is about having a complete community.
“You have to accommodate all needs of all parts of the community,” she said, adding that includes services for locals and visitors.
Critchley went on to advocate strongly for “common sense” secondary suites throughout the community.
“We don’t need to regulate as much as we do and if we have a diverse and open system it will work out,” she said. “We have created so many illegal dwellings in this town and we are absolutely ashamed of it and never talk about it. Healthy, safe and affordable homes is the number one way to get people to live here and work here – not simply work here.”
Vi Sandford pointed to the finite land base Canmore has to work with and the importance of preserving the natural environment as a way to support tourism.
“I think tourism is a very significant part of our local economy,” she said. “What I think is important about that is we have a special environment, we have a beautiful place and if we can protect that place to your best capability, we will have something that will pay off for centuries.”
Sandford said one important way to diversify the economy is to look at workshift opportunities to attract people to live and work in the community and therefore contribute to the economy.
Larry Shellian pointed to the fact that in Alberta, 90,000 jobs are in tourism and that supported $5.5 billion in revenues in 2010 alone.
“I believe 70 per cent of jobs are directly or indirectly affected by tourism, so our responsibility is to advance it as a responsible economic driver for Canmore,” he said.
Shellian said promoting events and opportunities in the shoulder season is a specific way to attract visitors outside of the peak season.
“There is no two ways about it that tourism does run our economy in Canmore right now,” he said. “We have to work with tourism, but from September until June is our low time where we don’t make enough money.”
Rob Seeley said through tourism, Canmore can drive commercial growth and that is important for the community.
“It drives success and opportunities to create a healthy, vibrant lifestyle and we are lucky to have that opportunity,” he said.
According to the provincial model, overnight visitors contribute $165 million to the local economy. Asked if the municipality should fund marketing through CBT, Seeley said yes, if it is tied to results.
“If you can measure what it is bringing in by giving money and getting results, it makes sense,” he said.
Esmé Comfort said it is critical for Canmore and council to keep in mind that the community needs to keep its authentic character.
“How do I plan to support that? By trying to provide the governance that means we have tourism that doesn’t become stale and tired,” she said.
Comfort said a conference centre is a specific project she thinks Canmore needs to look at as a way to grow the tourism economy.
Joanna McCallum echoed the stand that Canmore should remain a community first, and one that provides authentic experiences to visitors, while continuing to support tourism and CBT’s efforts.
“We need to continue providing those authentic experiences and creating an atmosphere businesses can thrive in, but in a respectful and responsible way,” she said. “I think that we as a community are actually just seeing the cusp of our own potential as a tourist community and I think we have an opportunity to redefine the term tourist town by the kind of service we provide and by the kind of services we share and by the way we treat our guests and community.”
Sean Krausert said tourism is the most realistic platform for economic growth in the community.
“All businesses benefit through tourism doing well and I will continue to support its growth,” he said, adding growth in the shoulder season is one area to focus on.
Without saying the municipality should contribute direct funds to tourism marketing through CBT, Krausert said Canmore needs to find a mechanism by which we can have businesses that benefit indirectly from the tourism economy contribute.
“It can only get better if it is better funded,” he said.
Mayoral candidate Hans Helder said things like limitations on retail space along Bow Valley Trail, an overly complex Land Use Bylaw and outdated Municipal Development Plan hinder economic development in Canmore.
“Using creative new models such as private, public partnerships we can stimulate development,” he said, adding he is pleased with some of the new direction CBT has taken. “A private public partnership with a convention centre would really help round out our offering and enhance the tourism industry.”
