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LETTER: Time to challenge our growth mindset

Editor: A Feb. 11 article CBC article "Canmore among top 10 fastest growing small urban centres in Canada" noted “the most growth Canmore can sustainably handle is around six per cent annually – a figure from the town’s 1998 municipal development plan.”

Editor:

A Feb. 11 article CBC article "Canmore among top 10 fastest growing small urban centres in Canada" noted “the most growth Canmore can sustainably handle is around six per cent annually – a figure from the town’s 1998 municipal development plan.”

I did the math on this. In 1998, according to the town’s figures, 9,711 people lived in Canmore. At a 6 per cent annual growth rate, the town’s population would double every 12 years. Therefore six per cent annual growth would have meant 19,422 people in 2010 and 38,844 people in 2022, on our way to 77,688 people in 2034 and 155,376 people in 2046 – a gargantuan 16-fold increase in the span of just two generations.

Yowza. Fortunately, Canmore is not growing quite that fast. Still, at our current 3 per cent growth rate, our community would double in size every 23 years or so. And in the long term, perpetual growth – even at slower rates – leads to some pretty crazy numbers.

Yet our society remains obsessed with perpetual community growth and perpetual economic growth. In the past, in fact, it has been something akin to heresy to question this traditional growth paradigm, or to advocate for less – even though with a bit of rational reflection, we all know that infinite growth is impossible on a finite planet.

Lately, however, more people are asking hard questions about growth. And Canmore is in a perfect position to join these conversations – or at least listen in. There are some excellent resources out there that our residents and decision-makers can consult. Here are a few:

A thought-provoking article called “Why Growth Can’t be Green”, ran in Foreign Policy magazine in 2018. It does the math on green growth. A 2020 article in The New Yorker, “Can we have prosperity without growth?”, examines critiques of economic growth in the face of the climate crisis. A 2011 film, GrowthBusters, looks at cultural barriers to change and suggests how growth may undermine our core values, such as care for the environment, our health, and education.

The Wellbeing Economy Alliance, a global network that recognizes our current economic paradigm exacerbates inequality and destroys the environment. The alliance seeks to “transform the system into one that delivers social justice on a healthy planet.” The concept of “planetary boundaries”, which humans must respect in order to thrive for generations (https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html).

It’s a great time to broaden our perspective.

Cheryl Hojnowski,

Canmore

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