The Alberta government is urging Ottawa to put in place certain measures to help Jasper residents and businesses recover from last month’s devastating wildfire.
Premier Danielle Smith says she is asking the federal government to explore an emergency wage subsidy “given the town’s reliance on tourism and its inherent challenges with hiring.”
Smith is also calling on Ottawa to suspend lease payments “for a few months” to help businesses avoid layoffs.
“This will allow businesses to reopen faster, so that tourists can return as soon as possible, and Jasper can start recovering economically,” Smith told reporters.
The Alberta premier and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Hinton, east of Jasper National Park, on Monday to be briefed on the Jasper wildfire situation. It was Trudeau’s first visit to Alberta since the massive wildfire tore through Jasper two weeks ago, destroying one-third of the popular tourist town.
The leaders met with wildfire officials and military personnel at the Jasper unified command centre in Hinton, but did not tour the town of Jasper itself. They participated in a moment of silence to honour the Calgary firefighter who died over the weekend.
Smith said she is also asking Ottawa to consider additional federal funding under the Housing Accelerator Fund. The Alberta premier believes that would help Jasper take on additional land planning responsibilities.
“Increased local control and resourcing will be crucial to speed up the redevelopment process,” she said.
Smith says the proposed measures could also help some businesses whose insurance does not cover them “because even though their business is disrupted, they haven’t completely lost their building, and so it does not qualify for wildfire coverage.” The premier called it a “unique situation.”
“There may just be some need for the federal government to step in and provide some bridge gaps if they find that there are some holes in the insurance coverage, but I would ask that they would be flexible on that,” Smith added.
Bus tours to Jasper
Business owners are being escorted into Jasper, alongside insurance adjusters, to assess the damage to their businesses.
That is separate from the organized tour buses taking Jasper wildfire evacuees into town. The first three bus tours — two from Hinton and one from Edmonton — departed Monday, with a total 62 people on board. The next tour is leaving Valemount, B.C., on Wednesday.
Residents taking part in the tours cannot leave the bus for safety reasons, the province explains. “People are not wandering around the town, walking around,” Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis said.
There is a law-enforcement presence on the tours, as well as mental health and crisis support personnel.
“We understand these tours are a critical component of the healing and recovery process, and we’re going to make sure that all Jasper residents affected by the fires have a chance to tour the community prior to re-entry,” said Ellis.
The Alberta minister of public safety said progress is being made in Jasper. He says emergency services like 911 and dispatch have been restored, as well as power to the downtown hospital and water treatment plant.
One of the more “time-consuming” issues, Ellis says, is regarding natural gas.
“We still have ATCO that literally has to go home to home, business to business to check to make sure that it’s safe, regarding the natural gas,” he said. “So it’s still ongoing… there’s still a risk, we still have to make that scene safe.
“But as you can see, we are we are progressing.”
Current wildfire situation in Alberta
Of the 119 active wildfires in Alberta, 15 are deemed to be out of control.
Recent cooler temperatures and significant rainfall in some areas provided relief to the firefighting efforts. Alberta Wildfire says there was no significant growth to fires overnight.
“There are still some dry parts of the province that haven’t received as much, but we’re hopeful over the next few days that much of the rain that’s been coming through will continue particularly in the south and through the central parts of the province,” said Alberta Wildfire’s Christie Tucker.
“And certainly firefighters will be able to take advantage of that and make good progress on those fires they’re working on, even if they haven’t received a lot of direct rain.”