Alberta government pays more than $300K to B.C. village that helped Jasper evacuees

The province and the municipality of Jasper has reimbursed the village of Valemount, B.C., more than $300,000 for money lost hosting Jasper evacuees in July 2024.

Valemount  — a village of around 1,000 people — welcomed thousands of evacuees while a massive wildfire threatened and later destroyed a third of the buildings in the townsite.

“If there was a nook, we found it. If there was a cranny, we put people in it,” said Valemount Mayor Owen Torgerson.

It took some evacuees more than six hours to drive 120 kilometres across the Alberta-B.C. border to the village.

Some evacuees stayed in Valemount for a few days before rerouting to Grande Prairie, Edmonton and Calgary to access support from the Alberta government.

Torgerson said the reimbursement of $302,585 shows a willingness to help in times of need. 

“[It] really opens up a vast potential of relationship building between both our kin community and Jasper as well as the governing body of Alberta,” he said.

Valemount’s location across the provincial border prevented the village from accessing the same money that Edmonton, Calgary and Grand Prairie were able to, said Michael Fark, director of recovery for the Jasper Recovery Coordination Centre.

The municipality of Jasper requested funds on behalf of Valemount through the Hazard Assistance and Resilience Program, designed to provide financial assistance for uninsurable loss and damage caused by natural hazards. 

It’s a provincial program that is also backed by federal funds.

Just over $300,000 from the fund was sent to Valemount in late August.

Arthur Green, a spokesperson with the public safety and emergency services ministry, said in an email the province committed $149 million in Disaster Recovery Program funding for Jasper to support evacuees.

“The funds can cover volunteer firefighter wages, staff overtime, food, transportation, and infrastructure repair. Costs are submitted directly to Jasper for reimbursement, which can be included in their submission,” the statement reads, in part. 

Fark said the coordination centre needed some time to determine if the costs were eligible for reimbursement and to get provincial approval to give Valemount the money.

“We were very happy to be able to work with them and provide that assistance back to their community,” he said.

The province paid 90 per cent of the money through the HARP grant. The municipality of Jasper covered the remaining ten per cent.

The village kept about $5,000 to cover overtime expenses and physical assets, while the rest was dispersed to nine businesses that submitted invoices to the provincial government for reimbursement.

Torgerson recalls the Legion cooking pancakes for 36 hours straight, and dozens of people camping on the lawns of peoples’ homes. 

Hair salon Cut Above gave people free haircuts, and New Life Centre church cooked meals for six days back to back. 

Belmont Pines Golf Club welcomed 600 evacuees at their campground, taking on additional costs for water, chlorine and power

“All those wonderful things that during a time of need, you can still feel human,” said Torgerson. 

“It’s amazing what a shower can do.”

While the amount reimburses Valemount for the influx of people, it does not address the issues caused by the decrease in visitors once the evacuees left town.

Highway 16 and Highway 93 were closed for weeks after the blaze.

“It was devastating for the small businesses in this town,” said Donna Hamilton, who owns Twin Peaks Resort, a collection of five cabins and a vacation home on the outskirts of Valemount.

The village, described as a resort community, relies heavily on summer tourism to support business throughout the winter months.

The B.C government did give Valemount money to create an economic strategy, and they hired a consulting company to help.

Based on year-over-year comparisons and a survey of 67 businesses, the company conservatively assessed the funds required to offset the economic loss from lack of visitors at $1.5 million. 

While reimbursement for hosting Jasperites was approved, Valemount CAO Anne Yanciw wrote in an email to CBC that the village heard a firm “no” from the B.C. government for funds to keep them afloat until tourist season this summer.

Instead of money, Hamilton said she was offered free courses for marketing and sustainability, but remarked that it, “doesn’t pay your hydro bill in December.”

While Hamilton made it through the winter, some of her neighbours didn’t.

“We’ve lost a couple of businesses in town and, and that’s devastating for a small village like ours … The strain over the winter and trying to get to the next tourist season was just too much.”