Born and raised in Alberta, I believed I knew our province reasonably well. But, I must admit, I didn’t know where Grande Cache was or really anything about it. Yes, I knew it was in Alberta, but would not have been able to find it on the map. This may be related to my limited geographic acumen – I paid scant attention to Alberta geography while in grade school. As I had absolutely no preconceived notions about Grande Cache, I was blown away by what I found. The poetic side of me would describe it as being framed in a majestic mountain vista. Academic accountants are not, by and large, known for their prose.
My day was largely in Jasper. This included meetings with the Mayor and chief administration officer, the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, and the executive director of the Jasper Adult Learning Council. So what did I learn? The conversations all affirmed the importance of tourism to their community – it is core both to their economy and identity. COVID hit the tourism industry, and Jasper, particularly hard. There were fewer people in Jasper than I had ever before seen.
Questions were raised about how we could best support the broad post-secondary needs of Jasper, but much of the focus centered on programming around tourism. This included questions about the potential to launch a culinary arts program – this had been discussed with GPRC in the past.
Over the last three days I have found myself repeatedly explaining our stewardship role. How do I describe it? From my perspective, this role centres on GPRC ensuring that – wherever possible – the communities we serve have access to post-secondary education aligned with their learner and community needs. To do so, we need to help assess the post-secondary needs of these communities. But not necessarily meet these needs ourselves. Sometimes a community will be best served if we deliver this education. Sometimes not. As stewards, I believe we have an obligation to ensure the needs of communities are met even where it is not us delivering the education. That is, where other institutions can better meet specific programing needs we should invite them to do so – in fact, we should facilitate this and celebrate their success. Learners, and the communities we serve, must always come first.
So, late in the afternoon we left Jasper for Grande Cache. We turned onto highway 40 – a virtual rollercoaster. The highway was both great, and horrible. Some sections were flat and newly paved. And then we were dodging potholes that threatened to swallow our RV whole. The good sections lulled one into a false sense of security.
Along the way it was sunny, and rainy, and haily (is this a word?). But it was also a magical drive. We saw a bald eagle, a golden eagle, bighorn sheep, elk, several deer, and two black bears. The black bears were frolicking (do bear frolic?). I think they were likely a few years old and brothers.
I should close with a brief “get to know” segment on Grande Cache. With a population of a little over 3600, Grande Cache recently reverted to hamlet status (from being a town). Coal mining
was historically the central industry. To assist in diversifying the economy, Grande Cache attracted a federal prison and is increasingly focused on wilderness tourism.
We continue to learn and have fun.
Your friend,
Glenn
