Crowsnest Pass residents have the chance to create a better future

By Lethbridge Herald on March 25, 2022.

ditor:

I fell in love with greater Crowsnest Pass, my beloved home, the second I saw it. Still wearing the grit of its black years, the community, while wounded, lay cradled between spectacular mountain ranges and looked up to a sublime—one of a kind—quintessential power peak.

Rain washed away the grit and grime, and sunlight exposed a land of beauty and intrigue. I looked out at ten thousand years of captivating human history framed within a sea of thrust-faulted mountains. I was exposed to the wealth and worth of head-turning Rocky Mountain peaks, picturesque waterfalls, rising trout, and hidden springs.

I stepped into this scene wanting to walk into the lure of dark shadows and, in sunlight, be part of the community’s commitment to embrace — and profit from — the haunting allure of its tragic past. I wanted, too, to see Crowsnest Pass step up to redefine itself and, in the process, preserve its headwaters virtue while gaining long-range economic benefit.

My love affair with this land and its people, now decades old, has been laden with loss. I’ve watched the needless destruction of public lands, weathered wildfires and floods, and witnessed a litany of injustices. I’ve looked on as the community, stumbling, tried to find its future in its past.

Today, as the world, off-balance, spins in disarray, and discordant voices tend to shatter visions of hope and harmony, we, ironically, may have have our best chance to set things right.

Many communities face economic hardship. Precious few are blessed with the profound wealth of natural capital that makes Crowsnest Pass a winning—quality of life—treasure on the world stage. The people of Crowsnest Pass have an opportunity, perhaps now more than ever, to take a fresh look at their world-renowned, Crown of the Continent landscape, its troubled past and present, and set a course toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. 

The work leading to the realization of this lofty goal will be hard. 

It will be infuriating and heart-rending, but it will also be inspiring. It can also be profoundly rewarding, empowering, flavoured in fun, fortified with optimism and good cheer. 

If we do it right, we can come home to a place we’ve never been before.

David McIntyre

Crowsnest Pass