AMPPE's Membership Update. News you won't find elsewhere .
December 16, 2021
AMPPE welcomes Jean-Marc Stelter to the Board!
Jean-Marc is honoured to have been appointed to his second term on the ID9 Municipal council. A life-long Albertan, Jean-Marc has been playing in the Rockies since he was a toddler and some of his earliest memories are of family getaways in Banff and Jasper. He’s lived in Lake Louise since 2013, where he is actively involved in the community as a volunteer firefighter and a member of the Lake Louise Advisory Board. An events industry veteran, JM is the Director of Technology with Encore Event Technologies at the Fairmont Banff Springs and Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. In his free time, JM can be found skiing, hiking kayaking or just curled up with a good book.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister released new ministerial mandate letters to guide the Federal Cabinet’s current mandate. The long-awaited letters specifically outline the government’s future outlook, plans, priorities and expectations for the coming months, including specific direction for each portfolio and Minister.
As a collective, the mandate letters reiterate the government’s Throne Speech focus on tackling climate change, creating new jobs and growing the middle class, addressing home ownership, delivering on $10‑a‑day child care, and walking the shared path of reconciliation.

Highlights:
  • Establish 10 new national parks and 10 new national marine conservation areas (NMCAs) in the next five years, working with Indigenous communities on co-management agreements for these national parks and NMCAs.
  • To ensure all Canadians have access to green space, establish at least one new national urban park in every province and territory, with a target of 15 new urban parks by 2030. You will also invest in existing national parks, with more Canadians than ever before visiting these sites.
  • Support the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance in developing a national trails tourism strategy.

  • Develop a national trails tourism strategy that also leverages the creation of new urban parks in order to enhance local opportunities for economic development and youth employment. You will be supported in this work by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Ministers responsible for Regional Development Agencies.
  • Building on the success of such programs as the Canadian Experiences Fund, continue to examine ways to finance projects and support communities, both rural and urban, across Canada as they develop destinations and create and enhance tourism products, facilities and experiences.
  • Contribute to the design of the new Futures Fund for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador to ensure that it supports local and regional economic diversification and place-based strategies.
In other news....
  • Good news for e-biking in Banff: Parks Canada has revised an restricted activity order to allow pedal-assist e-bike use on an expanded number of trails in Banff National Park. Previous to this amendment, pedal-assist bikes were only allowed on paved or hard urban surfaces. Read more HERE

  • Recreational Advisory Committee: In the new year, AMPPE will be putting together a recreational advisory group to inform AMPPE's advocacy direction on management decisions related to recreation in the Mountain Parks. The group will ideally be made up of members from locations across the Mountain Parks and from a variety of recreational backgrounds. Please contact me at director@amppe.org if you have interest in being a part of this group.

  • Park Planning: Parks is currently working to incorporate the input they received during consultations this summer into draft plans. In the meantime, the Banff Field Unit is going ahead and continuing to work on the many sub-plans that were identified in the draft plan for Banff National Park. AMPPE has met and is now compiling a document with some of our ideas on what could be included in the Minnewanka area plan for Parks' consideration. Got a great idea for the Minnewanka area? Email your ideas to me at director@amppe.org

  • The Jasper Field unit has issued an update on the planning process saying, they are behind where they'd hoped to be but they are still working on it.
“No one will protect what they don’t care about;
and no one will care about what they have never experienced.”

~ Sir David Attenborough
CONTACT- Debbie Harksen, Director of Communications
director@amppe.org
Phone-587-335-0829