CANMORE – Don’t expect traffic stops to stand guard at Canmore’s town entrances anytime soon.
Following direction of the Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC), the Town of Canmore is not implementing traffic checkstops or blockades at its highway entrances to deter visitors from entering during the COVID-19 crisis.
“That decision has been reviewed and considered very carefully, but there’s a number of reasons why we didn’t think it appropriate in Canmore,” Chief Administrative Officer Lisa de Soto said to councillors Tuesday (April 21) during an update on the municipality's pandemic response, which included an update on Canada Day festivities.
Among the reasons, de Soto said that regional visitors travel to Canmore for work or to use its essential services. Plus, the “complexity of our geography” is a factor and the number of resources needed to monitor eight checkstop locations into the community from entrances off Highway 1.
Coun. Joanna McCallum asked if Canmore administration was instructed by public health authorities to limit the number of people entering town, but de Soto said there hasn’t been any regulation of the sort.
“They have not made any formal direction regarding travel from one community to another,” she said.
- RELATED (Story from April 18): Town of Banff will turn away day-trippers during COVID-19 crisis
In her report, de Soto noted that traffic travelling to Canmore during the last weekend of March was only one-third what it was a year prior. Data for April’s traffic wasn’t available at the time.
Before the global pandemic hit, the lively mountain tourist town had its main street, restaurants, shops and trails flocked to by vacationing tourists, and daytrip visitors from Calgary.
The CAO said she’s aware of the community’s pleas to initiate traffic stops, such as what the Town of Banff has done the past two weekends with its visitors, and understated that public health and safety remains at the forefront for the ECC.
Canmore is still locked in a local state of emergency and has two active cases of COVID-19 in the community, with 13 patients having recovered.
Mayor John Borrowman acknowledged the "very high level of anxiety in our community" regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and said the Town will continue to follow procedures established by the ECC.
He noted that data collected for the region is showing the community is "continuing to manage the risk very well."
"There is a heightened worry about people who may be coming into town who are not residents, and there seems to be a growing tendency to think that anyone we don’t recognize is not from Canmore," wrote Borrowman, in an email.
"I want to remind people that there are 15,000 permanent residents here – and given the current situation a great many of us are at home seven days a week.
"Please be nice when you encounter someone that you don’t know. Smile, and say something positive. They are most likely to be one of the other 15,000 people here, also concerned about COVID-19, and perhaps also a little stressed out."
The Town has cancelled all events in Canmore parks and streets through June – right before Canada Day.
“There will be a formal decision later on,” said de Soto about July 1, which historically includes a celebratory downtown parade. “We have been working jointly and regionally with Banff and the City of Calgary on that ... There are other options on that we’re investigating through neighbourhood and virtual opportunities.”
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