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From the Rockies to the Prairies, the fate of two communities hangs in the balance as residents fight to protect the natural world around them.
One saga begins with mine closures, the other with a mine proposal. But the tales are somewhat similar: a company comes in with a project, some residents are opposed, and then it spirals into a political controversy.
In the Rockies, Canmore, Alta., is dealing with a $161-million lawsuit Three Sisters Mountain Village properties launched against the town and councillors for opposing a commercial and residential development project — one that could double the town’s population and eat into critical wildlife habitat.
Drew Anderson, one of The Narwhal’s Prairies reporters, has been following the story for a while. Last October, he drove to Canmore — which has grown into a tourism hub since the local coal mines closed in the ’70s — when the council was forced to vote in favour of the project because of the pending court case. Soon after the decades-long resistance ended, a source told him about a box of freedom of information requests that had been languishing in a garage somewhere.
“I reached out to get the box and, lo and behold, it had been snagged by one Jeremy Klaszus, editor-in-chief of The Sprawl,” Drew told me. And so, he and Jeremy began working together on a story — and a podcast episode! — in our first-ever collaboration with the Calgary publication.
The sprawling feature spans the tale of the former mining town — one nestled in mountains sacred to the Stoney Nakoda Nations — that could transform into a version of itself both residents and environmentalists had fought hard against. It looks at the impacts on wildlife like elk, deer and sheep, and a housing crisis that mires the region. It takes a walk down Canmore’s touristy main street and wonders out loud: would a miner from the ’60s know what to make of the tuna ceviche with passion fruit served at the town’s rustic-chic chalet?
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