Boissonnault appointed to lead federal government's effort to rebuild Jasper

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JASPER, Alta. — Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault has been tasked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead the federal government’s share of the work to rebuild Jasper, Alta.

In July, a wildfire destroyed one-third of the Rocky Mountain tourist town and displaced some 2,000 residents.

Boissonnault, an Edmonton member of Parliament, will be responsible for co-ordinating federal resources with the Alberta government, the municipality and Indigenous groups.

Trudeau also appointed a group of cabinet ministers, including Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Housing Minister Sean Fraser, to support Boissonnault.

“This role that the prime minister has asked me to play in terms of ministerial lead is important, but it’s a whole-of-government approach,” Boissonnault told reporters Wednesday.

He is expected to meet with officials in Jasper this week to get a better grasp of immediate needs, he said.

He added that one of the first tasks will be to see if the federal government can support Jasper in establishing temporary housing, which the province and municipality have been working on since August.

“My job tomorrow is to go do as much fact-finding as I can so that we can get moving on something very important, which is temporary housing,” he said.

Boissonnault, in his new role, is also being asked to appear before the federal government’s standing committee on environment and sustainable development later this month as it continues to look into “factors leading to the recent fires in Jasper National Park.”

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For the past two weeks, the committee of MPs has called various witnesses, including provincial politicians and forestry experts, to answer questions related to the fire.

Guilbeault has appeared before the committee, as has Alberta’s Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis and Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen.

In an email, Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said he’s happy with Boissonnault’s appointment and is looking forward to working closer with the minister.

“We enthusiastically welcome federal support that is committed to working collaboratively with provincial, municipal and Indigenous partners to accelerate the recovery process,” Ireland said.

“We all need to work together to help Jasper thrive again socially and economically.”