Mountain Communities Conference 2005: Speakers

Richard G. Ireland

Richard Ireland was born and raised in Jasper. He left Jasper to pursue a law degree and career, returning with his family in the late 1980s.

Ireland was first elected to the Jasper Town Committee in 1989. The Jasper Town Committee was the elected body in place prior to the establishment of local government. Over the past 14 years, he has spearheaded efforts to establish local government in Jasper and has came to symbolize the community’s aspirations to achieve local self-determination.

The establishment of local government in Jasper is the single most significant local event in a generation, and no one individual has made a greater contribution to this great accomplishment than Ireland. During four terms as chairman of the Jasper Town Committee, Ireland was the chief community representative and spokesman in local government negotiations with the Government of Canada and the Province of Alberta. It was a slow and difficult process, fraught with delays, frustrations and setbacks. Ireland persevered with great determination, patience and confidence.

Richard Ireland was elected as Jasper’s first mayor in October 2001, and acclaimed for a second term in October 2004.