The Municipality of Jasper is planning a gradual transition away from dedicated wildfire recovery operations over the next two years, with the final major organizational changes scheduled for fall 2028.
Jasper Municipal Council heard how this demobilization would occur during its Aug. 25 committee of the whole meeting. The following week, council authorized extending 11 recovery positions for various lengths and disbanding the Recovery Advisory Committee starting in September.
“This is not an imminent conclusion of recovery operations,” said Doug Olthof, director of recovery. “We expect recovery operations to continue through to the end of 2028. That date specifically relates to the conclusion of the interim housing program.”
Produced by the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre (JRCC), the Municipal Recovery Transition Framework details the orderly wind-down of recovery operations and transfer of responsibilities back to municipal and Parks Canada’s regular operational departments.
The JRCC was established shortly after the wildfire as a partnership between Parks Canada and the Municipality. Olthof said this provided centralized governance for recovery operations.
Provincial recovery funding covered 90 per cent of most municipal recovery positions, with some positions supported through other external funding sources.
Out of the 22 externally supported municipal recovery positions, two will end early, nine will end as originally scheduled and 11 will be extended. Olthof said the Alberta government will likely approve these extensions as long as they can be justified.
“If that funding were not to materialize, there would be no hard and fast commitment to extending the positions,” Olthof said.
The Municipality will retain specialized recovery capacity through 2027 and most of 2028. The final major organization transition will occur in fall 2028, with only the director of recovery and financial recovery co-ordinator carrying through to the end of 2028.
Olthof said the JRCC will remain in place until the transition is complete, recovery objectives that cannot or should not be transferred are complete and any remaining recovery work can be managed within regular organizational structures.
Mayor Richard Ireland asked how much co-ordination was occurring between the Municipality and Parks Canada when it came to the transition.
Olthof replied that they will amalgamate Parks Canada’s transition framework with the Municipality’s into a singular JRCC transition framework.
The Recovery Advisory Committee established recovery priorities and provided community and partner perspectives during the early days of recovery.
Olthof said while the committee will soon start winding down, members will have opportunities to provide input in other forms, such as existing working groups and an Economic Development Advisory Committee that is currently under development.
Coun. Wendy Hall said as the head of the Recovery Advisory Committee, she was comfortable with winding it down.
“I don’t think ending that means recovery is over,” she said. “I just think it means it’s changing.”
Peter Shokeir, Local Journalism Initiative // info@thejasperlocal.com
