If any one news story dominated Canmore for 2011, it was the bunnies.
Fresh out of a municipal election in the fall of 2010, politicians heard from residents loud and clear that the issue had been ignored long enough.
However, it took until June for the feral rabbit management plan to be unveiled to the public to deal with what officials have determined is a wildlife attractant, and therefore a liability issue.
The management plan proposed to hire a contractor to humanely capture the animals on public land and euthanize them at a separate location with the animals then going towards a beneficial end use like a birds of prey sanctuary.
The move gained attention of animal rescue advocates, who soon after made a successful appeal to the Town to consider a non-lethal approach to the problem.
Save Canmore Bunnies asked council to consider a spay/neuter and relocation to sanctuaries approach and the plan was amended before it was passed to consider all options during a request for proposal process.
While the process was underway, campaign organizers sounded the alarm that residents were taking things into their own hands and trapping and killing feral rabbits.
The chance of a cull also resulted in the threat of a legal challenge by the Humane Society of Canada. The organization put out a press release in September challenging the municipality legally if it chose a lethal means to deal with the issue.
By the end of October, however, council approved Animal Damage Control as a contractor to locate, trap and euthanize the animals.
While no other proposal to save the rabbits met the municipality’s criteria, council left the door open. If any group could put a plan together to find sanctuaries for the rabbits that met criteria, the contractor would then turn the animals over to them instead of euthanizing them.
While the Humane Society did not mount a legal challenge, Dan Onischuk, an Edmonton photographer and rabbit advocate, did. He argued in front of Justice Ged Hawco in November that Canmore’s feral rabbit management plan goes against the Wildlife Protection Act and its process for selecting a contractor was discriminatory.
The challenge was dismissed and Hawco found Onischuk had no grounds to file an injunction.
At about the same time, zealousness over the issue resulted in an investigation by RCMP into threatening language in letters to the mayor and council.
A last minute proposal in December from U.S.-based Animal Rescue Corps to deal with the entire issue in four to six weeks garnered headlines and optimism from advocates to save the animals, but no support from the municipality as the group’s plan as well did not meet criteria.
But by the last week of December there was news that efforts by Earthanimal Humane Education and Rescue Society (EARS) to provide sanctuary for some feral rabbits was close to being finalized.
It means the contract to begin trapping rabbits will not begin until that agreement is in place; the first ones caught will go to two sanctuaries north and west of Calgary.
Tourism as a major economic driver in Canmore seriously took a front seat in 2011 after construction and development tanked over the past few years.
Canmore’s destination marketing organization saw reorganization in January and then, after 13 years, director John Samms left the organization in April.
By May, CEO Andrew Nickerson, who was officially appointed director in June, was proposing a bus loop and dedicated drop off on 10th Street for tour buses.
In June, for the first time ever, the organization began directly targeting regional visitors through its 30 Days of Canmore campaign and building its social media network.
In July, Tourism Canmore-Kananaskis merged with Canmore Economic Development Authority for a trial period. However, the process resulted in council recommending economic development services be contracted out by the Town to TCK in November, with the expectation that CEDA staff would be hired by the organization.
The move recognized that tourism and economic development for the community of Canmore go hand-in-hand and many initiatives in either area often benefit the other.
The group also got permission from council to expand its offices at the visitor information centre across the plaza from the Civic Centre.
However, it was the organization’s AGM at the end of September that revealed the extent it had to redefine itself. Audited financials for 2010 and re-audited financials for 2009 revealed TCK had a $141,000 deficit. Nickerson said the deficit came as a result of a lack of financial planning.
He presented a financial plan to recover the funds and ensure it does not happen again – new bylaws were drawn up and a new board was elected.
With a new board, new bylaws and reorganization under its belt, TCK moved right into a significant project of rebranding Canmore. With that in mind, they brought Destination Development Inc’s Roger Brooks, an expert in the field, into Canmore to engage the community.
Brooks gave a presentation detailing how branding is about emotion, not selling a product and then embarked on a community survey. The result of the work is expected in the new year.
January
The year began on a tragic note for Canmore after three people lost their lives when an SUV lost control, ending up in Spray Lakes Reservoir on Dec. 30.
The accident resulted in a full safety review of Spray Lakes Road, which is not technically a provincial highway, but an access road in the improvement district that is maintained and operated by Alberta Transportation.
The review, completed later in the year, found the road did not have adequate signage or guardrails.
A string of daylight robberies ended in gunfire on a Canmore street on the afternoon of Jan. 10 when RCMP shot and killed a suspect on Railway Avenue.
Steve Boucher, 62, was shot twice after pulling a replica nine mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol after his vehicle was stopped by police.
An investigation by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team found the actions of officers justifiable in the circumstances.
February
Plans to overhaul the downtown garbage collection system were postponed after businesses and property owners expressed concern with timing, cost and design.
The project has been postponed indefinitely.
A suspect who attacked an RCMP officer in Banff with a needle and fled from police was apprehended in Harvie Heights on Feb. 11 after being Tasered and shot.
The Canmore Community Garden Society found a home at the Canmore Hospital. The group had seen a previously proposed location fail after neighbours expressed concern, but the hospital stepped up and provided space.
Construction began on the new Canadian Tire franchise location in Canmore four years after it was initially proposed. The store opened in October.
March
On March 8, the Town of Canmore opened tenders for the proposed $39 million Multiplex facility. Graham Construction was awarded the contract with construction beginning in spring.
The construction management contract for the Daycare and Preschool roundhouse at the Lawrence Grassi Middle School site was also awarded in March to ModCo Structures Ltd.
At the same time as the roundhouse construction got underway, the 878 Banff/Canmore Air Cadet squadron also got a new building, thanks in part to a $115,000 loan from the municipality.
The month also saw Canmore and Banff team up to back a bid to host the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.
A rewrite of Canmore’s Land Use Bylaw went to public hearing after being rolled out over 2010. By the end of 2011 the rewrite of the 1998 document had still not passed three readings.
By the end of March a federal election was called when the Conservative government was defeated for being in contempt of parliament.
Local teacher Jeff Horvath put his hat in the ring for the NDP while provincial court judge John Reilly officially retired and ran as the Liberal candidate.
Neither could unseat Conservative incumbent Blake Richards, who won with 61.5 per cent of the vote.
April
A provincial report into cost of living in Alberta distinguished Canmore as the most expensive municipality, slightly edging out Fort McMurray for top spot.
In an analysis of 34 communities, comparing prices for various goods and services, housing and transportation, Canmore ranks first followed by Fort Mac, Jasper, Grande Prairie, High Prairie, Rocky Mountain House and Calgary.
Canmore committed to one more year of providing ambulance services to Alberta Health Services, but remain concerned the move to a stand-alone fire department in 2012 would be costly.
The minister of municipal affairs gave official approval for the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission – the first of its kind in Alberta.
By the end of 2011, the commission had hired a director and each community received $900,000 funding from the provincial government to purchase buses.
May
Facing a third deficit school year in a row, Canadian Rockies Public School board approved $1.3 million in spending cuts to its budget for the upcoming school year on May 10.
The move meant 16 teaching positions would be lost and students would see increased class sizes, fees increasing by $10 per student and for the first time in a decade parents will have to pay $60 per child for bus services. It also resulted in cuts to janitorial staff, administrative assistants and libraries in all schools being closed each Friday.
By fall, with a new premier chosen, Alison Redford, the provincial government put some of the money it cut back into schools. CRPS received approximately $420,000, but due to a larger than expected decline in enrolments in September and English as a second language needs for students, those funds were already spent.
June
The neighbourhood of Eagle Terrace had recycling bins installed adjacent to every bear-proof garbage bin.
The pilot program is meant to measure the success of diversion before the municipality rolls out a town-wide program.
After getting behind the bid for the Alberta Winter Games, Canmore put its money where its mouth is with a motion to contribute $150,000.
By the end of June, Canmore RCMP were sounding the alarm over a significant rise in break-and-enters over the previous six months.
Council at its last meeting before summer recess approved the terms of reference for a budget committee. The committee met throughout the fall and made several recommendations including that the financial burden for a $1 million deficit in offsite levies in the utility rate model be funded from utilities.
Council was split later that year on the issue and voted against the committee’s recommendation.
July
Whyte Horse Café on Main Street surprised the community by shutting down and disappearing overnight.
Surrounding businesses thought the eatery was under renovations until the property’s owner discovered the place had been cleared out, down to the bathroom fixtures.
August
Humanitarian Amanda Lindhout, who has called Canmore home since returning from being held hostage in Somalia for 15 months, was honoured as the local Rotary Club’s citizen of the year.
While Lindhout’s organization, Global Enirichment Fund, is meant to educate Somali women, a major drought in the region has seen her take four convoys of hope into the country this year to deliver food aid to 25,000.
The Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation announced it would look for a new executive director, meaning long-time locals Ron and Paula Remple would step down by Oct. 31.
Bellstar opened the Solara Resort and Spa, signifying a slight recovery in the development industry. Solara had been in receivership until Bellstar stepped in a year before. However, throughout 2011, Three Sisters Mountain Village remained in receivership with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Construction began on the replica Canmore Opera House in Spring Creek Mountain Village, including a log from the original structure, which is now at Heritage Park.
September
Residents of Canmore using smartphones were irked by a lack of service throughout the summer and into the shoulder season. The poor or complete lack of service was a combination of increased phones in the area during the busy tourist season and a need to upgrade infrastructure for the data heavy devices to function.
Banff-Cochrane MLA Janis Tarchuk and a number of other officials were on hand at Lawrence Grassi Middle School to announce that Canmore and Banff were awarded the 2014 Alberta Winter Games.
Council voted to include $100,000 for restoration of the Canmore Miners’ Union Hall in its upcoming 2012 budget.
Canmore’s downtown business association membership voted to increase its budget and hire an executive director to run the organization.
Results of Canmore’s annual census showed the number of children in the community has been surpassed by the number of four-legged friends. Enumerators counted 1,913 dogs in the community, compared to 1,774 children.
The Subdivision and Development Appeal Board upheld an appeal against a decision not to allow a change of use to financial institution in Aspen Park. The move paved the way for TD Canada Trust to open a location in Canmore.
A $1.5 million budget surplus from 2010 was directed by council to reduce the amount of debenture needed for the Multiplex project.
October
A proposed 25-year-lease with Alpine Helicopters to operate the municipal heliport did not sit well with council.
By fall, numerous complaints had arisen over noise from the tourism operator and council sent the lease as for a 10-year-term, which was approved in December. The new lease includes establishing a heliport monitoring committee.
November
Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, bingo nights at the Canmore Legion returned. The weekly community activity has been a staple in the community since the ’50s but stopped due to a lack of volunteers to run the event.
Canadian Rockies Public Schools superintendent Brian Callaghan announced after 22 years with the school district he would retire at the end of the school year.
The announcement sparked a process to create a job description for a new superintendent with recruitment expected in the spring.
CRPS board member Esmé Comfort also made headlines when she put forward a successful motion to direct administration to establish a sexual orientation and gender identity policy to protect sexual minorities.
Canmore’s Chief Administrative Officer for the last five years, Don Kochan, also resigned from his position after spending 15 years working for the Town.
Deputy CAO Lisa de Soto was named interim CAO and a number of other administrative positions shuffled until a recruitment process could be developed to find a new CAO.
December
Council passed its 2012 capital budget quickly, approving spending $10.9 million on various utility, solid waste and town operation projects.
It also approved a $39.6 million operating budget resulting in an estimated 4.9 per cent increase on residents’ municipal property tax bills next year.
