Damage is seen after a wildfire in Jasper, Alberta, July 26.Amber Bracken/The Associated Press
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has vowed that she’ll do everything she can to expedite the rebuild of those parts of Jasper, Alta., destroyed by wildfire last month.
Something tells me Ms. Smith will tap into the province’s can-do spirit and get the rehabilitation of the popular resort community moving quickly. She noted development permits, in particular, can often take time to process and get approved. That won’t be tolerated, she insisted.
“We don’t want to be three or four years in and still waiting for development and permit approvals,” she told reporters.
In other words, she doesn’t want Jasper to become another Lytton, B.C.
Poor old Lytton. You will recall that the tiny village that sits at the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers, about 260 kilometres north of Vancouver, burned to the ground three years ago. In fact, it was the day after the town set a national record for the hottest temperature ever recorded – 49.6 C. It was amid a heat dome that enshrouded much of the province, contributing to the deaths of 619 people.
Most of the 250 full-time residents of Lytton lost their homes. Businesses were burned to the ground. At the time, provincial and federal politicians promised that reconstruction would be swift. That the people of the town would not be forgotten. But, of course, they were.
Three years on, Lytton sits pretty much as it did after the fire. Much of what remains is a carcass; a town dotted with the cement foundations that used to hold up homes and families. Many of those same families are now scattered everywhere. Many will never return.
The story of Lytton and what happened after the fire isn’t entirely about money, or the lack of it. There has been $239-million in provincial and federal funding committed to the rebuild. As of the beginning of July, however, only five homes were close to being habitable. Roughly 15 building permits had been approved.
According to the CBC, more than $120-million of Lytton’s restoration funding has been distributed to the Lytton First Nation to support recovery. Another $1.3-million was dispensed to fast-track 20 houses and help build another 175 homes using the federal Housing Accelerator Fund. Another $1-million was offered by the Canadian Pacific Kansas City railway company to help with the rebuild. In total, a whole whack of money.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada, meantime, estimated that the Lytton fire caused more than $100-million in insured damage. However, less than half of residents were covered by insurance, and there has been no money made available to help the uninsured.
Per the CBC, B.C.’s Auditor-General Michael Pickup is investigating what became of the more than $41-million of provincial funding that has been spent so far. What was it used for? Not constructing new homes, apparently. That report isn’t expected until next year.
Lytton’s Mayor Denise O’Connor has also expressed frustration around the money issue – specifically where it’s gone. She’s said the town spent millions for excavation and debris removal. There has also been money spent on archeological work, which has been another sore point. It was discovered that many of the town’s buildings had been built over ancient burial grounds. Potential dig locations can’t be touched until they have been assessed by archaeological professionals. Some residents have received invoices for thousands of dollars for this work. They believe the province should be covering the costs. (Although, it seems to me, there is more than enough funds available to pay for the assessments mandated by provincial law.)
Arguably, the biggest problem with the Lytton recovery is that there was no one with the expertise to oversee and lead such an endeavour involved. It’s a complicated, multifaceted project that would have benefited from the provincial government appointing someone to make sure money was flowing and being spent properly, that timelines were being met.
In many ways, it’s like Ottawa and Victoria decided their job was done once the money had been committed. It doesn’t work that way.
Almost certainly, it won’t work that way in Jasper. The town is, to put it bluntly, more iconic, more important in the national consciousness, to be left to its own devices to rebuild. And Ms. Smith seems like a Premier determined to see the community spring back to life as soon as possible. (Jasper evacuees were told Monday they would be allowed to return home on Friday.)
With the way things are going with global temperatures, towns levelled by raging forest fires won’t be uncommon. We will have to learn how to help those displaced in a much more timely and sensitive fashion.