More listening and strategizing essential to Crowsnest tourism success, NDP says

Crowsnest Mountain dominates the horizon on a winter's day. (George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter)

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass deserves a better shot at becoming a significant tourism hub than the UCP government is giving it, an NDP shadow minister said as the southeastern Alberta community gears up for a coal mining plebiscite.

Done properly, tourism development is a better long-term approach to economic revitalization than an anticipated boost from mining nearby Grassy Mountain, said Sarah Elmeligi, environment and protected areas critic.

The municipality in the southwestern corner of Alberta is within one of 10 nodes the province has identified for tourism growth. Although Alberta has a “very ambitious” strategy in place to double its annual tourism spend to $20 billion by 2030, the UCP is not doing enough, Elmeligi said. 

“They really want to focus on the growth of rural tourism. But it’s as if tourism is a side gig, right?” said the member for Banff-Kananaskis.

In emailed statements to The Gazette, two provincial ministries outlined government spending and policies that benefit the economy of Crowsnest Pass and other southern Alberta locales.

“Alberta’s government is focused on continuing to diversify the province’s economy with strong, business‑friendly policies that attract job-creating investment,” said a statement from the office of the tourism and sport minister.

The government “also invests in a variety of tourism experiences across the province, which drive economic growth, create jobs and support businesses.”

The province’s tourist destination management organization, Travel Alberta, provides annual operational dollars to the Southern Rockies Tourism Association through the Rural Development and Promotion Fund.

Travel Alberta’s destination development manager for the southern Rockies, an area that includes the Crowsnest, works with communities and businesses to support tourism growth. The provincial organization also invests in area businesses “to build and enhance year-round tourism experiences and accommodation,” the statement said.

Supported projects identified by the tourism ministry include glamping accommodations in nearby Castle Provincial Park, along with guided e-bike tours out of Blairmore and the construction of fairytale-inspired cottages there.

Blairmore is among a string of communities along Highway 3 to the B.C. border that make up the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass. Created through the amalgamation of an improvement district with several pre-existing municipalities in 1979, the Pass is home to about 5,700 people.

Meanwhile, a statement from the ministry of jobs, economy and trade said: “Crowsnest Pass is a vital community and Alberta’s government looks forward to helping support their economic development for years to come.”

The statement said that recent support in the region “represents $6.7 billion in overall economic investments, stimulating our local economies.”

Since 2022, projects in and around Crowsnest Pass include Highway 3 twinning, an electricity transmission and substation development, a solar energy project, water and wastewater projects, and construction of a seniors’ lodge.

“Crowsnest Pass is a vital community and Alberta’s government looks forward to helping support their economic development for years to come.”

Matt Jones, the minister of jobs, economy and trade, added in the statement: “Supporting our local municipalities and townships and further diversifying local economies is a priority for Alberta’s government.” 

Northback Holdings Corporation, a subsidiary of Australia’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd, faces renewed regulatory scrutiny and a legal challenge in its quest to mine the abandoned and unreclaimed Grassy Mountain site about seven kilometres north of Blairmore. The company has filed applications with the Alberta Energy Regulator to explore for coal, as well as divert water and drill in the process.

A Nov. 25 plebiscite will ask voters in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass: “Do you support the development and operations of the metallurgical coal mine at Grassy Mountain?” A local government news release quotes a municipal councillor, in proposing the non-binding vote, saying that it’s time for Pass citizenry to float an official position in the debate.

The Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains within Alberta is an area long considered ecologically sensitive and critical to water management and wildlife habitat and movement. But Northback and its supporters say modern regulations and technologies would minimize the mine’s environmental impact at a site in need of reclamation.

Two members of Citizens Supportive of Crowsnest Coal say their home municipality has plenty to offer those who love the outdoors, and their own lifestyles reflect that. But spouses Carmen and Troy Linderman said tourism will never result in the kind spinoff business and nearby jobs that the Northback proposal would generate.

Troy Linderman said that the geography, geology and weather of Crowsnest aren’t conducive to typical mountain tourism and development, calling his home municipality “a very unique community.”

He continued: “We're 30 kilometres long and one kilometre wide, with a big pile of rock in the middle.” 

The couple and their children grew up in the Crowsnest, enjoying what the outdoors has to offer. “However, we've been waiting 50-something years for tourism to take off, and we're still waiting,” Troy said.

Added his wife, Carmen Linderman: ““The tourism industry isn't going to get us where we need to be for lowering our taxes, improving housing affordability and creating mortgage-paying jobs.”

But Elmeligi of the NDP said the province needs to properly tap ideas from locals and make sure they benefit from tourism development.

Crowsnest residents “have tons of great ideas that the provincial government could be helping them to implement,” she said.

“It starts with creating a tourism strategy for the community and really allowing the community an opportunity to define what tourism looks like to them,” she continued.

Outdoor recreation is a big part of the Albertan identity, and there’s plenty of it happening in and around the Pass. “It's just that Crowsnest businesses aren't really making money off of it, but they definitely could be.”

Statistics compiled by Travel Alberta peg the economic impact of tourism at $9.9 billion in provincial gross domestic product in 2023, up from $8.4 billion in 2022 and $7.3 billion back in 2017. In May 2024, Alberta saw a 2.6 per cent, year-over-year increase in the number of active tourism businesses, marking the second-highest growth among Canadian provinces.

Total taxes earned from tourism in Alberta amounted to $1.7 billion in 2023. Of that, $846 million went to the feds and $632 million to the provincial government. Municipal taxes made up $256 million.