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New mayor set to tackle local issues, improve communication with residents

Since being elected last month, new Canmore mayor John Borrowman has met with Premier Redford, presided over two town council meetings and insists hearing concerns from individual constituents will be a priority throughout his term.

Since being elected last month, new Canmore mayor John Borrowman has met with Premier Redford, presided over two town council meetings and insists hearing concerns from individual constituents will be a priority throughout his term.

In the June 19 byelection, Borrowman defeated candidates Pam Hilstad and Ed Russell with 1,461 of the 3,024 votes cast. With nearly 40 years of combined experience as a volunteer, local business owner and town councillor, the new mayor is prepared for the role he’s expected to fill.

“I’m looking forward to it. We really have a great team assembled,” Borrowman said regarding working with a town council that also boasts new members in Vi Sandford and Sean Krausert. “We had our first council meeting last week and the chemistry there was really good.

“I think we’ve got one of the best administrative teams that I’ve ever seen in Canmore,” he added. “The potential is really good to have an effective couple of years.”

Having now taken office, Borrowman is confident his two terms as a councillor have prepped him for what lies ahead and stressed he will do his utmost to continue to speak with the public.

“Everybody that lives in Canmore has thoughts or feelings about what’s happening in the town,” he said. “You stop in the store to buy a loaf of bread and people want to talk to you about what’s going on. Part of a councillors’ job is exactly that.

“It’s really important to have the time to do that, because once you’ve had that conversation, people understand how certain decisions have been made,” he continued. “That’s a big part of any councillors’ job and multiplied a bit for the mayor’s position.”

With the help of the town’s communications officer, the mayor said he is looking to not only continue to develop a strong relationship with the community built by former mayor Ron Casey, but also to find ways of opening up new lines of communication.

“The previous mayor had an open door policy and it will be the same with myself,” he explained. “Ron was always happy to talk to the people about any issue, as am I, so I will make myself as easy to access. One of the things I like doing with people is meeting one on one and hearing their perspective and trying to explain mine.”

Since moving to Canmore in the ‘70s, Borrowman has been actively involved in the community and recounts the first time then-mayor Bert Dyck asked him to sit on a town-appointed committee 20 years ago, which he did. After serving as a member on various committees such as the Tourism Task Force and Economic Planning Committee, the Quebec native started the first of his two terms with town council in 2004.

“It’s in my nature to be involved,” he said. “I like to be involved in what’s happening. I particularly like to be involved in helping shape change and shape the future of the community we love and live in.”

Borrowman was quick to outline what he intends to focus on as mayor, with helping the town rebound from the economic downturn in terms of tourism and the once booming construction industry a top priority.

“Everybody is looking forward to some kind of growth again in the construction industry,” he said. “A lot of people in town, particularly young families, depend on construction jobs. There are signs that the demand will pick up again regionally.

“Tourism has been an industry that has been growing for a couple of decades and has perhaps been overshadowed in some ways by the construction industry.”

One of the factors in improving the town’s economy is working with the tourism industry in Banff and Jasper to become more cooperative in promoting not just individual towns, but the Canadian Rockies region as a whole.

“I’ve already met with her to talk about regional cooperation in that industry and we’re both interested in getting Canmore business and tourism together with Banff and Lake Louise tourism,” he said about Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen.

“There’s a lot of potential and reason to be optimistic about what will be happening in the local tourism industry in the next year or two,” he added. “The real key for support for the town with that industry is in the form of creating and managing some sort of dependable and sustainable source of funding. Those discussions have been underway since last fall.”

Borrowman believes former mayor and now MLA Ron Casey will be a dedicated spokesperson for the town and keep the needs of the tourism industry on the table once the legislature resumes in Edmonton.


Rocky Mountain Outlook

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