Banff now has a new record for voter turnout.
The Banff Ave. pedestrian zone vote led to the largest turnout for eligible voters with 2,523 heading to the polls, surpassing previous participation in municipal elections dating back to 1989.
“I’m absolutely floored by the voter turnout,” said Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno. “I’s just incredible to see this many people coming out and getting engaged in this process.
“I think the pedestrian zone was part of all of our lives in such a small community and I think so many folks have their own personal experiences with it or adjacent to it and they felt empowered to vote. That’s a good thing. That’s a really great thing.”
Recent municipal elections saw 2,090 residents cast ballots in 2021 and 2,215 residents voted in the 2017 municipal election.
The total number of eligible Banff voters is difficult to get an exact number.
In the 2021 municipal election, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs estimated there were 7,055 eligible voters. The 2021 federal census had 4,450 Canadian citizens 18 and over in Banff, meaning 56.7 per cent of eligible voters took part.
The three advance polls had 1,246 residents cast ballots.
Banff council voted earlier this year to lobby the provincial government to allow permanent residents to participate in municipal elections.
A resolution will go to the annual Alberta Municipalities conference this year to potentially have the advocacy group push the province to allow people with permanent resident status to vote under the Local Authorities Election Act.
However, Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver has previously stated there’s no desire for the province to amend legislation to permit that.
In Banff, businesses rely on its international workforce throughout the year, leading to several non-Canadians living in the mountain town both short- and long-term. An estimated 24 per cent of the community’s population is not Canadian.
Lori Williams, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, said voter turnout is typically higher when people are more likely to be impacted by an issue or issues if they feel their vote will make a difference.
“In tightly contested elections, there will be more motivation. As we saw in this particular case, there were a lot of people that were actually reaching out to prospective voters and trying to persuade them that it was important and they wanted them to vote,” she said. “There’s been a lot of public attention, a lot of campaigning that’s been done and a sense that people’s votes could make a difference.
“I’m struck, in this case, by the fact that at least some of the people who voted to keep the pedestrian zone actually see this as a possible foundation for building something that is better than the problematic policy that generated controversy in the first place. That’s a remarkably hopeful potential to come out of this. I think it increases pressure on the potential partners that Banff needs to work with on dealing with what they’re facing.”
Though it drew record number of residents out, Williams noted plebiscites can have inherent issues.
She said it can turn complex issues that are multi-faceted into simple yes or no when greater discussion is needed.
“That’s the huge issue is it forces a binary choice on something that’s really quite complex and nuanced,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily promote solutions.”
Banff Coun. Grant Canning, who brought forward the motion to lobby the province to allow people with permanent resident status to vote, echoed Williams’ thoughts with his concerns that a plebiscite simplifies complicated topics such as the pedestrian zone and associated issues.
“The people have spoken and it’s important to respect that decision. It was great to see the largest voter turnout for any election in [Banff’s] history, and it was a close vote which means this remains a divisive issue among residents,” he said. “I’ve always had concerns around the over-simplification of a simple yes or no question on such a complicated topic, but that’s the way our system works. I respect the decision and move forward.”
Allan Buckingham, a representative for Friends of a Better Banff Ave. – the advocacy group to keep the pedestrian zone – said despite the outcome he was “glad so many people felt they could get out and vote and did get out and vote and make their opinion known.”
Leslie Taylor, a representative for Banffites for a Comfortable Living Community who was against the pedestrian zone, said the percentage of people who participated was still lower than she’d ideally like to see.
“It’s a question that surely everyone had an opinion. I would’ve loved to see 100 per cent turnout. Unlike a council election where you may feel you don’t know the candidates well, this was something that had a fair question everyone had an opinion on and it was reflected in the turnout. … A lot of the campaign was getting out the vote. Our campaign was ‘we believe we know what the voters want and if we believe that we should encourage everyone to vote and not just those who believe in us’. If we really believe we represent the majority, we should have faith in the process and we did.”
Banff council could give second and third readings as early as Aug. 26 to the bylaw to rescind its previous decision to move ahead with the pedestrian zone, but have up to 30 days from the Aug. 12 vote to do so. The Town has told businesses in the pedestrian zone area to remove all seating and displays by Aug. 27.
Williams said with the vote garnering significant attention not only locally, but across the province and with the federal government, the hope would be for continued collaboration to address residents’ concerns.
“In this case, it was citizens who were genuinely frustrated with the lack of adequate solutions. The majority has said that they want to get rid of [the pedestrian zone], but even those who voted the other way are looking at this as an opportunity to get other levels of government to engage in problem-solving, something that is really quite beyond the capacity of Banff municipal council to deal with on its own.”
