We’re trying to solve both the short term and the long-term things. We put a bunch of money on the table. We’re just looking for permission to do all that good, said Ric McIver, Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs.
The message hasn’t changed since the province first declared it was at an impasse with the town of Jasper and federal government over interim housing plans.
Back in October, the province promised $112 million to build 250 housing units for the town, which lost a third of all buildings in a devastating wildfire last summer.
The province, however, has tied that money to building permanent single-family homes, which would need to follow rules for parking and setbacks.
“We still have available $112 million, which we hope to be able to build 250 homes with it if we are provided service land. We’d love to do that, but we have not been provided service, land and permission to build it on that land,” McIver said this week in an interview with Global News.
The town has prepared land to house the 600 residents who lost their homes when a wildfire blazed a path of destruction through the Alberta mountain town in July 2024. Site servicing for all parcels was completed by Dec. 6.
The province is on hold, McIver said, because he said the land is not enough space for the permanent homes the Alberta government says should be built.
Instead, Parks Canada announced on Jan. 17 it was procuring its own interim units and is now installing around 220 temporary homes.
McIver said the federal government should open up more land and money will flow.
“It’s an emergency. I think anything could be sped up if it’s important enough.”
Ifan Thomas, associate superintendent of Jasper National Park, said in an interview earlier this month that expanding the town’s boundary was not needed to accommodate interim housing since there was enough space, provided there was a sufficient level of density.
A spokesperson for federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbault said politics is driving the provincial position.
“If the provincial government’s first instinct was to collaborate instead of politicizing this disaster, as they have done at nearly every opportunity since the catastrophic fire last summer, we could move faster. Let’s put people before politics,” said a spokesperson in minister Guilbault’s office.
Jasper exists inside a national park and any expansion of the boundary would also require an act of Parliament, a process that would take time, and the parcels of land would still need to be serviced.
As well, the municipality wants to maintain the character and charm of the picturesque mountain town, which would include maintaining the town boundary.
“I think one thing that residents are really tired of hearing is that there is no land available,” said Brooklyn Rushton, one of hundreds of Jasperites who gathered last week to protest the interim housing impasse.
She said residents understand the unique constraints of the community: a town that exists in Alberta, but is federal jurisdiction.
“Jasper has always been a national park since its inception and the challenges around expanding the townsite aren’t any different post-fire than they were before.”
Jasper residents caught in the middle of the political bickering are fed up.
“It’s really disheartening to see our community situation being used as a political pawn.”
Rushton said she’s grateful Parks Canada is working to bring in interim housing and is calling on the Alberta government to also put politics aside.
“I think they’re continuing to to blame the federal government and Parks Canada for the lack of progress, which is not really grounds to stand on anymore now that Parks stood up.”
She’s happy to see some homes going up, but that still leaves half the displaced residents needing help — making recovery difficult.
“Without having, you know, a place to call home, you can’t really start recovering and rebuilding your life right now. It’s been six months of that,” said Rushton.
She noted the clock is ticking: people staying in hotels need to clear out in the coming months to make space for summer tourists, who help drive the town’s economy and are very much welcomed by the community.
Rushton said the community hopes for an end to the impasse. Ottawa and the province say they want a resolution too.
“We’ll stand by ready to help,” said McIver.
But it’s not clear who, if anyone, will make the next move.
“Jasperites are kind of the children of a messy divorce, it seems like, right now,” Rushton said.
— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News, and The Canadian Press
2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
