Editor:
Over the past week or so I have been in communication with Banff's mayor and council regarding the $9.5 million dollars that will be spent on the Bear Street Refresh Project.
I voiced my opinion that the project should be cancelled at this time. This is based on my belief that as a tourism dependant community, we may well be more heavily impacted by current and projected future world conditions.
I received responses from Mayor Karen Sorensen, and Councillors Ted Christensen, Corrie DiManno, and Grant Canning. Thank you.
As I anticipated, it came down to cost of borrowing and disruption to business. I don’t disagree with their arguments. Don’t get me wrong, I am not opposed to the project. Just not now.
Following is my response to their replies.
I’d like to thank you, mayor and council for your replies to my previous letter.
I’ll preface my response by stating that I am not a pessimist, but rather, an "optimist with experience."
I believe that we, at this time, have absolutely no idea what the repercussions of the pandemic will be, neither in the short nor long term. My opinion is that this will not end soon, and that it will take substantial time before we really have any answers.
None of us have a clue. We are all "flying by the seat of our pants" and we know that does not always go as planned.
I repeat my belief that given the current world-wide crisis, there are more responsible and humane projects, that will become imperative in the very near future.
It is time to use whatever resources we have available in a responsible, moral and humane way. Most leaders are preparing us for a long and unknown economic recovery.
So, back to my initial concern.
Where is the money coming from? Do you have it "in the bank?" No. You want to borrow it.
Just how do you propose that it be repaid? Increase taxes? That is the model of government. Need money? Spend and get it back in future tax revenue.
But you are making a whole bunch of positive assumptions about how the people of the world, and the economy, will respond. I’m not going to say you are wrong. But you are wrong to assume (presume?) that you are correct.
Pretty much every economic expert has and continues to state that we all carry too much debt. I’ll take that to include individuals, companies and governments. Yet here you are on the verge of borrowing for something "nice" that is not a necessity.
I see that the City of Calgary is now realizing the need to re-assess their budget and spending plans in light of an unknown future. Premier Jason Kenney made similar comments.
It is time for the Town of Banff to do the same, and seriously reconsider this particular project. Now is not the time. We will need all of our resources for things much more important than beautification and pedestrianization of a street scape.
So, here we are. I guess we will continue to disagree.
I truly hope that you, as responsible elected officials, will remember that your duty is to "the people," not business.
We trust you to make the most intelligent, rational, moral, and humanitarian uses of the funds, and borrowing power, available. That’s available, not hoped for from some undetermined and possibly unreliable future source.
Don Reilly,
Banff
