Editor: I am writing as a six-year resident of Canmore. My wife, two young children and I relocated here because it was close to my work in the remote territory of Alberta.
Additionally, we were attracted to the schools, community and environmentally conscious atmosphere of Canmore. Sadly, over these past six years, I have seen an erosion of community and environmentally sound thinking.
It appears to me that Canmore is increasingly becoming a playground of the wealthy elite. With this comes the housing crisis for the low-income class.
This past week, in the bank, I overheard two local businessmen discussing the “acquisition” of foreign workers for the period of two years through a government initiative. They were excited that their investment of only “a thousand per month” would yield a much higher return (one speculated that to be $10,000 per month). And even more sweet for the business owners, this particular initiative wouldn’t require flying the workers home for a visit.
Also particularly disturbing is the rampant development so clearly obvious to Canmore residents and visitors. New hotels, new condos (complete with perpetually affordable housing units), new shopping centres and recreational facilities.
It seems unfathomable that any sane person would miss the severe problems with this explosion of growth in the Bow Valley. Primary of these problems is the conflict with wildlife here.
This summer alone, many of the valley’s prime recreational areas are closed because of bear activity. At least one bear has been relocated. With current and proposed increases in tourism and housing development, this situation will only get worse.
One proposed solution I read was to remove the buffalo berry bushes in the area. I suggest we remove the incentives for opportunistic developers and money hungry entrepreneurs to exploit the Bow Valley.
And where the new housing developments are proposed, we instead plant more buffalo berries.
John Meyer,
Canmore
