Editor:
We are heavily reliant on tourism and many are suffering financially from COVID-19 restrictions.
However, a recent study from the MIT Sloan School of Management found that during the 1918 pandemic, U.S. cities that implemented social distancing and economic closures earlier, longer, and more aggressively, experienced stronger economic bounce back the year after the pandemic.
Pandemic economics is different from normal economics. The best thing for the economy during a pandemic, is to combat the root cause of the recession and flatten-the-curve.
Despite this, Canmore administration recently suggested hitting pause on the paid parking and residential permit system. Residential permits would help flatten-the-curve by reducing the number of Calgarians driving here because they think it is safer in our grocery stores.
Also, the COVID-19 emergency does not change the fact that we are also in a climate emergency. Many scholars say pandemics are partly a result of our climate emergency and the degrading human living conditions caused by it.
Paid parking with residential permits not only brings in funding for the various measures our municipality needs to take, but also helps flatten the COVID-19 curve, and the climate change curve.
Council will make a final decision on this in May.
Naia Noyes-West,
Canmore
