The province is looking to add 250 temporary homes in Jasper

Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Community Services, talks to Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about investing in transitional housing for Jasper.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: If you could paint us a picture of what this temporary housing development will look like. Albertans may have a certain image in mind when they mention this term, modular homes.

Jason Nixon: Often when we have dealt with situations like this in the past, it was not the same challenge that we saw in Jasper because there were larger communities that were closer to the location that experienced the disaster.

Often, when you are dealing with temporary housing needs, there is a place nearby that has vacancies where you can help people stay, under their insurance programs, while their homes are being rebuilt. Jasper is remote and the only place close is Hinton, which creates some unique challenges.

We looked into the possibility of using traditional oilfield camps to try to solve this problem at an early stage. We realized that this would be extremely expensive in terms of food costs, because in such camps you then have to bring in food suppliers.

We realize that they have not been used well in these types of emergencies in the past, so we decided to go a different route. My department will invest $112 million in modular buildings that will be implemented immediately in Jasper.

It will remain the property of my department and we will then work to ensure that everyone can live there until the apartments are rebuilt. We will then either keep these units in Jasper long-term by selling them to the market in exchange for staff accommodation, as there was already high demand in Jasper, or we will look at moving them elsewhere to address some of the affordable housing challenges we face we stand in other parts of the province.

MH: Target level of 250 houses. How close do you think you will be able to meet this demand?

JN: We are confident that we will be able to get to 250. We have gone through the process with many manufacturers, so we can feel comfortable about the supply.

We also recognize that we may need to do more. We are ready to increase this if necessary. This was determined following an assessment with Jasper, the Borough of Jasper and the Department of Municipal Affairs. This is a number that has come back, very specific and will definitely be needed.

We will see people lining up to get into this apartment and if we see demand increasing, we will take appropriate action.

I will say there are about 300 buildings, just over 300 residential buildings or structures that have burned down, so 250 in that target location is quite reasonable, and we’ll see again how that plays out.

MH: Are there any restrictions on who can line up to use this apartment?

JN: This housing is for people who lived in Jasper who lost their homes. Essential workers working in Jasper are certainly a top priority.

Often when we say “essential,” people mean nurses and paramedics and key issues like that. These are certainly essential people, but what I mean is that people who contribute to the economy and/or recovery of Jasper are the priority right now.

Of course, over time, more people will be able to return to the community, but right now our focus is on that.

MH: Given the construction pressure across the province, are there any deals in place to meet the goals you’ve already set for January? I think you mentioned the number 75-100 during the press conference?

JN: That’s a great question and it’s one of the reasons we chose this route, because we need to find temporary solutions that wouldn’t require us to keep a lot of business in Jasper.

Of course, this is a challenge we are trying to meet, and every time we have pulled construction workers away from building our temporary homes, we have diverted them from helping people rebuild permanent homes and people who really don’t want to wait any longer than necessary.

So going through this manufacturing process gives us two really critical opportunities because we’ll be doing most of the manufacturing off-site and then we’ll be shipping it to Jasper. So we don’t have to face so many challenges related to trade and housing. Secondly, we can continue to work at a rapid pace during some of the colder months, which we wouldn’t be able to do if we were doing so much work on site.

MH: The Mayor of Ireland expressed his deep gratitude to you and the government for making funds available now and, in his words, for putting aside the guerrilla fighting we have seen in the past. Where does the federal government stand in terms of its involvement in the development of this element of temporary housing?

JN: Throughout this process, I have been in close contact with my federal counterparts. We would certainly like them to participate with us in all aspects of housing. Right now, the federal government has indicated that they think the best way they can do this is through long-term insurance programs for disaster programs, and we’ll take advantage of that and now we’ll move forward as Alberta comes up with the money.

I don’t see this as a partisan issue. I’m no stranger to partisanship, and honestly, I’m willing to do that when we have to defend our province, but I think we all just recognize that not only is Jasper the crown jewel of Alberta, it’s the crown jewel of Canada, and we all need to come together , to take care of some Albertans who are going through a very, very difficult time right now.

So my focus on this issue is not at all partisan, I just want to see people get homes, rebuild Jasper, and then we can all see and know that we care about our fellow Albertans.

MH: If the feds take up the case, are there any hard and fast numbers you’re keeping an eye on? Do you split the costs in half?

JN: I think we would certainly like to at least see the costs split equally between us and the feds. I think in the long run, in terms of disaster relief dollars, the Alberta government’s position is that the feds should actually collect more, given the fact that in this context they own all the land. It’s in a National Park on federal land, it’s part of them.

We’re going to have some conversations about what we think is fair. I know that the Minister of Public Safety, Deputy Premier Mike Ellis, is working on this process with his counterpart. I’ll say it again: while I support his work, it’s not my focus. I don’t want any of these conversations to delay me. They are important and should take place. I am focused on working with my team in the city of Jasper to get people into homes as quickly as possible.

MH: MLAs return to the Legislature next week (October 28) for the start of the fall session. What will make this a key session for your government in terms of priorities?

JN: I think you’ll see a lot of legislation about protecting Albertans, protecting the rights of Albertans, and beyond that we’ll just continue to implement the mandate that we received from Albertans a year ago.

We are committed once again to making life more affordable and focused on continuing to ensure that Alberta is the best place to live, play and retire in the future.

I can’t wait to go back there with all my colleagues. For me, this is my favorite time of year to address the legislature, so it should be fun. I look forward to seeing all the great work of all 87 MLAs in the chamber this year.