So I have now lived in Jasper for a little over a week, and have had many conversations with Jasperites. I am impressed by a common thread.

I am from Calgary, and just this last year we started a “Blue Cart Recycling” program. If you ask me it’s about time; however, I would like to see Calgarians have the sustainable outlook that I see in Jasper.

Jasper National Park is Canada’s largest Rocky Mountain Park. It makes sense that everything is bigger and larger: More lakes, more mountains, more forest, more wildlife.

But also bigger stretches of highway and railways. More wildlife deaths. The math adds up.

But being the largest park is not an excuse. In the recent Parks Canada report, Black Bear mortalities in the Mountain National Parks: 1990-2009, the numbers show that JNP leads the mountain parks with 209 black bear deaths.

Jasper in January has come and gone for another year. The town was full, the restaurants were packed and for the most part the events were well attended. The organizers did an admirable job.

Yet there was one incident which left a bad taste in my mouth.

The chili cook-off – and no, not because of my veggie leanings.

One of the booths included a Tiger Woods parody, encouraging chili lovers to putt for chili. No problem there.

But the man dressed as Tiger Woods was in blackface. This is wrong.