SUNDRE- The town's mayor and Mountain View County’s reeve recently co-signed a letter urging visitors and outdoor enthusiasts to, for the time being, refrain from making any travel plans to the region.
“It was a request from both directors of emergency management of the Town of Sundre as well as Mountain View County,” said Mayor Terry Leslie.
“It was their response from emergency management across the province where these were issues of concern for communities like ours, with limited health-care facilities to deal with an influx of patients,” said Leslie, adding the intent is to avoid such a scenario.
“We got out early on that…we wanted to make sure that we signed that in support of all of the work that the directors of emergency management are doing.”
The mayor said he believes people have largely been adhering to the municipalities’ request.
“Folks are complying,” he said, adding cooperation from the public to date “has been great. People want to be part of the solution, not the problem.”
Reeve Bruce Beattie said communicating a consistent message through a coordinated effort between the municipalities is important because the communities are intimately intertwined on so many levels.
“I think there’s been a good response,” said Beattie.
“I’ve been contacted by people who have sites at some of the seasonal campgrounds and they seem quite willing to accept that for time being, this is a good idea.”
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Of course whenever such a statement is issued, Leslie said people naturally have questions, such as in the case of returning snowbirds who own a lot at a private campground, but no primary residence elsewhere.
The province has deemed private RV parks essential for that reason.
“That makes complete sense. We certainly don’t have an issue with that. This is their permanent residence during the summer, assuming we have a summer,” Beattie said with a chuckle.
“We’ve seen some solid response from owners of campgrounds, like Tall Timber,” said Leslie, adding proprietors have been providing detailed explanations of their plans to address the situation.
“(They’re) doing their part to limit the number of people who come, recognizing no one wants to overwhelm a health-care system. I’m very pleased about the response that we had,” he said.
Although some health officials last week expressed cautious optimism that Canadian hospitals have not yet experienced overwhelming and paralyzing surges as seen in China, Italy, Spain, France, the U.K. and the U.S., any easing of restrictions should be measured, the mayor said.
“We’re all concerned about a second wave and wanting to balance easing restrictions so the industrial and commercial side can get back on track and businesses can re-open, without having a second wave that ends up overwhelming our health-care system,” he said, praising the interventions and actions of both the provincial and federal governments.
Recognizing the important role such amenities play in the regional economy, the mayor hopes travellers continue to comply with official advice for the time being.
“Tourism is such a large part of the economy that we enjoy in this part of the province. We love our tourists, and we want them to come back,” said Leslie.
“Just not yet.”
The extent of the mitigation measures’ success will essentially hinge on people's cooperation, the reeve said.
“We just have to, at this point, rely on people’s willingness to support their fellow Albertans,” he said, adding there are case examples of the chaos that can unfold when the potential spread of the virus is not taken seriously.
“We can look and see what’s happening in some countries where that’s not taking place — certainly the United States and in Italy, where they didn’t (initially) realize the severity of it,” said Beattie.
“People just have to realize it’s a short-term pain for long-term gain.”
