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

OTTAWA – 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.

“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 will be in Jasper this week meeting with local officials 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.

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

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.”