As we spring into a new season AMPPE is welcoming change in the form of new members to our Board of Directors as elected at our recent AGM. I am pleased to announce that Alison Brewster of Shadow Lake Lodge, Chad Gulevich of the Mount Robson Inn and Michael Code of The Banff Centre have been inducted to the governance of our organization. I would also like to extend my appreciation for those Members that have recently fulfilled their placement on the AMPPE Board; thank you to Norbert Meier, Ralph Sliger, Luke Sunderland, Tony Bielec and Ghada Wirth. I am also pleased to announce that Yannis Karlos of the Banff Hospitality Collective has been appointed as the 2017 Chairman of the Board with support from Mark Howe of Jasper Rafting Co. as our Vice-Chairman. If you were not able to attend the AMPPE AGM held on March 14th but wish to receive the minutes of that meeting, please contact our office at [email protected]

As always please be in touch with any events, concerns or questions where AMPPE might be of support.

Sincerely,

Casey Peirce

You may recall that in late 2016 AMPPE was invited  to present to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Comprised of several Government Officials and Environmental Consultants, the Committee was tasked with gathering information across the country in order to report back to the Federal Minister of the Environment on recommendations for future management of the national parks. Last week the resulting parliamentary report was released by the Chair of the Committee Deborah Schulte and can be found in it’s entirety here. 

Having reviewed the entire report, AMPPE has posted the segments that specifically pertain to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper. Overall we felt that the report provided a mostly fair and balanced perspective of the mountain parks including good discussion on the role of visitor attractions including ski resorts and gondolas. My sincere thanks go out to MLA Jim Eglinski of Jasper for engaging AMPPE in this important conversation. Thanks also to Member of Parliament Blake Richards for his support as indicated in this quote as it relates to the report. “As residents and business owners in the National Park, you know as well as anyone how important it is to protect the ecological integrity of the area. However, we have to balance that protection with ensuring that we continue to offer world class facilities and top-notch visitor experiences for our guests from all over the world.”

For the abridged Rocky mountain version of the Parliamentary Report please click here.