Rob: A lot of disappointing pictures popping up on social media, especially referring to Quarry Lake. I think a lot of people have seen the photo of the garbage bin with garbage strewn about alongside it. People talking about finding garbage in the lake, people not social distancing. I mean, once upon a time, Quarry Lake was a great little locals hangout but the secret’s out. I don’t think we can control that, but what can we do to control how people are using that area and other areas where they should be respecting the landscape?

Tanya: Cuts that Town Council made to their budget in order to get through COVID-19 included reduced staffing and services within the parks department

Rob:  Really? In the year that we could probably have used that sort of thing?

Tanya: There’s reduced service levels, but also, do you want your taxes to go up? They cut the tax increase to zero, but that has a downward effect on the budget. That cost savings has to be found somewhere.

Now, parks staff are still out there, just the level of service is different. I think, though, when that decision was made, would we have been able to anticipate that the use of the parks would explode? I don’t think so. The use requires perhaps a revisit to those service levels, but that might mean something else gets cut.

Rob: When it comes to the public health orders – we’re seeing a very busy Quarry Lake. Can Canmore Bylaw enforce social distancing and public health orders? Bylaw doesn’t actually have the authority to do that Canmore I don’t believe, do they?

Tanya: No. In Alberta, there are two levels of peace officer. There’s an Alberta Peace Officer and a Community Peace Officer, and they have different abilities to enforce rules. So a public health order can be enforced by an Alberta Peace Officer, but not by a Community Peace Officer. If something that the community would like to see, that’s an increase in service and that would be an increased budget as well for council to consider at its next budget deliberations.

What really stuck out for me on Tuesday when Dr. Hinshaw gave her update is that she talked about Alberta Health Services working directly within municipalities in Sylvan Lake and in other jurisdictions that had lakes and beaches that were inundated by people using them. Why isn’t that happening with Quarry Lake? Maybe that’s the next step that we need to take in order to address the concerns around the use there.

Rob: I think you’re on to something there. I’m just a little disappointed in general. I mean, I hear a lot of calls like “Can’t the Town of Canmore, do more? Can Alberta Parks do more?”  Or Bylaw or the RCMP to enforce all of these rules. At the end of the day though, human beings are taught not to throw garbage on the ground when they’re what, like, five years old? We’re learning a lot about respecting physical distancing and that sort of thing. I think it’s up to the individual to actually behave like a responsible human being. You can only enforce that so much before it’s really up to the person to just make better choices, isn’t it?

 

 

Rob: Following up on our last conversation about garbage on trails and just being a responsible human in general in public spaces, you’ve have a  story.

Tanya: I’ve been generally, during COVID-19, trying to stick to the trails around where I live. There are some trails along Palliser where some people have set up a bit of an informal disc golf course. When I was out there two days ago my dog discovered that a number of the users have been going to the bathroom on the sides of the trail and leaving behind things that they should really be burying or doing in real flushable toilets. That’s right. People are pooping on trails in our community, and it is a concern for me. I have seen some anecdotal story sharing from other people who have encountered these deposits being left elsewhere. It’s really unfortunate and disrespectful and it’s completely unnecessary. If you’re going to be going out, you’re going to be using trails and there’s no washrooms available – do your research. Be prepared. Bring Ziploc bags, toilet paper, hand, sanitizer. Dig a hole, bury it.

Rob: Why do we need to be having this conversation? Why do we need to be telling people to throw your garbage in a garbage can to go to the bathroom in appropriate places? I mean, why do we need to be reminding people about basic human decency, Tanya?

Tanya: I don’t know if it’s just a callous disregard for social convention or if it’s just a whole bunch of people who don’t spend a lot of time outdoors in the woods or on trails, finding themselves in these places and not knowing how to manage these issues when they come up. Or when they come out, I suppose.

Filed under: Canmore, covid-19, Mountain Insider, Quarry Lake