It’s 4 hours to Jasper/Marmot Basin from Edmonton while you can get to Canmore/Nakiska from Calgary in barely more than an hour and Banff in 1.5 hours.
True. But Canmore is ass. And Banff is cool slightly off season, but even more overrun by tourists and chain restaurants and other bogus stuff. Usually more expensive too.
Also...1.5 hours is a nice estimate. There isn't a solid nonstop traffic jam lined up from Edmonton to Jasper every Friday afternoon. Edmonton to Jasper can be..."trimmed" outside the park quite a bit most of the time tbh.
But it's still not a great "brag" for Edmonton.