B.C. village struggling to survive following economic impact of Jasper wildfire [Video]

It’s a 120-kilometre drive between Valemount, B.C., and Jasper, Alta. — but business owners in the B.C. village say the ripple effects of the wildfire that devastated the Alberta town last summer have many of them struggling to stay open.

A community of just over 1,000, Valemount welcomed nearly 20,000 Jasper evacuees last July.

Most left within a matter of days, but parts of Highway 16 and 93 that connect Valemount with Jasper stayed closed, cutting off the village’s economic activity for weeks. 

The remote community, which is about 300 kilometres from both Prince George and Kamloops, relies heavily on tourists travelling through northern B.C  to Jasper. 

“In the last few years, we’ve become very dependent on our tourism dollars coming in, and to lose a month-and-a-half worth of that financial income has been catastrophic for some of the businesses,” said Donna Hamilton, who owns Twin Peaks Resort, a collection …