Here Are the Real Reasons Smith Flip-Flopped on Rebuilding Jasper

It sure looks as if Alberta’s United Conservative Party government is prepared to let more than 600 families whose homes were destroyed by last July’s wildfire go homeless if that’s what it takes to pursue its political vendetta against the Liberal federal government in Ottawa.

According to the Globe and Mail, this was the view of the 200 or so Jasperites, who marked the six-month anniversary of the devastating forest fire with a protest march through the town last Friday.

The government of Danielle Smith says otherwise, of course. In a news release the same day, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon and Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver argued tendentiously it’s all Ottawa’s fault that the UCP has broken the promise made by Nixon last fall to provide $112 million to build modular housing for residents who lost their homes in the July fire.

The emergency housing was supposed to be ready by the end of this month.

But, the two ministers claimed, since the federal government won’t allow construction of new single-family houses outside the boundaries of the town, which is located inside Jasper National Park and subject to a mixed federal-provincial jurisdiction, there just isn’t enough land to rebuild the town.

Nixon told Canadian Press reporter Jack Farrell earlier in the week that the province is pulling its promised funding if the town won’t agree to build single-family residences. Town officials say that would mean only 60 residences could be built while 250 are needed immediately. The Alberta ministers say that means Ottawa has to expand the boundaries of the town.

“Alberta’s government remains ready to build homes for displaced Jasperites, but we can’t do that without land,” the news release’s author insisted. “If the federal government decides to step up and make land available, the province is ready to build the homes.”

In other words: Expand the boundaries of the town, or we’ll abandon the folks who live there and say it’s your fault!

This may seem odd to you, since all of the buildings that were destroyed in July are within the town boundaries, but bear with me.

The inevitable temptation is to treat this as merely another he-said/she-said story about a federal-provincial turf war with Jasper residents caught in the crossfire. No slur on Farrell’s excellent coverage, but the traditions of Canadian journalism strongly encourage reports of such situations to be “balanced,” as if each side’s arguments have equal merit.

Obviously, though, the “ecological imperative” set out in Section 2 of the Canada National Parks Act requires Parks Canada, if possible, to maintain the current boundaries of the townsite.

“Ecological integrity means,” in the words of the act, “with respect to a park, a condition that is determined to be characteristic of its natural region and likely to persist, including abiotic components and the composition and abundance of native species and biological communities, rates of change and supporting processes.”

So the prudent way to rebuild from the catastrophic fire last summer would obviously be to maintain the current boundaries of the town while adding density to address present and future housing needs. From that perspective, the province’s position as articulated by Nixon and McIver, seems incomprehensible to a sensible person.

Of course, readers will be starting to get the gist of the real problem when they look at the situation with the UCP’s perspective in mind. Not growing the town and shrinking the park is anathema to the UCP for at least these six reasons:

• Everyone understands that one reason the Jasper fire was as bad as it was is the reality of global climate change. However, like Smith’s hero, U.S. President Donald Trump, the UCP is in deep denial about climate change and extremely hostile to any environmental initiative, especially anything that gets in the way of making money. They do not believe climate change is taking place in spite of the evidence of their lying eyes. Their minds cannot be changed on this, at least not by credible evidence.
• They hate Justin Trudeau with an irrational and consuming passion, and Trudeau advocated a more environmentally conscious approach to resource management — although, in truth, federal Liberal concern about the environment is more vibe than genuine commitment, as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project clearly illustrates.

  Nevertheless, this makes the UCP leadership want to pick any fight they possibly can with Ottawa, no matter how irrational, and to oppose environmental policies, even mere gestures, as a matter of principle, as with their crippling restrictions on renewable energy projects.

• Under Smith the UCP has adopted the Steve Bannon strategy of “flooding the zone with shit,” and this is more of that stuff with which to flood the zone. This makes it very hard to keep up with what Alberta’s government is getting up to on any given day, which clearly works strategically for the Smith government. Readers will note that Friday was the day the government released its “task force” report advocating COVID quackery and supporting pandemic conspiracy theories, and this statement may also have been timed to provide cover for that.
• The Smith government is deeply committed to MAGA-style culture war, and MAGA has decreed that increased urban density anywhere — “15-minute cities,” and all that — is a World Economic Forum/United Nations/deep state plot to control the movement of free people. This is of course utter nonsense, but even if the UCP’s leaders don’t believe it, their base eats it up, and their base is surly and aggressive. This puts them in opposition to any kind of urban planning — in Edmonton, Calgary or Jasper — that would increase housing density for any reason. The UCP will stick with this until the moment the U.S. right drops it.
• The UCP is fundamentally opposed to the Canadian National Parks model that controls and limits commercial development inside parks. Consider their plans for the province’s own provincial parks. As professional biologist Lorne Fitch put it, the UCP wants to pave paradise and put up a parking lot. Have no doubt that part of the UCP’s ongoing sovereignty scheme is to gain control of national parks and open them up to uncontrolled development and hunting.
• The Alberta government is openly using public funds and the bully pulpit provided by the levers of power to campaign for the federal Conservatives in the next federal election, whenever that takes place. Fighting with Ottawa over the people left homeless in Jasper, even when the problem is caused by the province’s refusal to keep its own promises, is just grist for the mill. This is likely to get worse if any more national voter-intention polls like the one published recently by EKOS show the Liberals recovering support now that Trudeau has stepped aside and Trump is in the White House.

Looked at this way, the provincial policy, while cruel, unfair and foolish, makes sense from the perspective of the Smith government.