Category: Edmonton Politics

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Edmonton Politics

the day after the city centre airport petition died.

Photo by Mack Male.

As I blogged yesterday, Edmonton’s City Clerk Alayne Sinclair has found the petition opposing the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands to be invalid. According to the City Clerk, the petition spearheaded by the Envision Edmonton lobby group did not have the required number of valid signatures required to trigger a plebiscite. Under the Municipal Government Act, the petition would have also needed to have been submitted within 60 days of the original decision to be considered valid. City Councillors voted in June 2009 for the phased closure of the City Centre Airport. Councillors re-affirmed their decision yesterday when they voted 10-3 not to include a ballot question in the October 18, 2010 elections.

Not enough valid signatures
According to the City Clerk’s office, the petition would need to have 78,244 valid signatures in order to force a plebiscite on the issue. After Envision Edmonton submitted their petition on August 27, the City Clerk ruled that only 73,657 of the signatures on the petition were valid.

Envision Edmonton’s reaction
Following the City Clerk’s announcement, Envision Edmonton Chairman Charles Allard accused the city of trying to “weasel” out of holding a plebiscite. Mr. Allard’s accusation is disappointing and reeks of the kind of entitlement that many of the City Centre Airport’s supporters do not deserve to be associated with.

Envision Edmonton should be commended for having collected the number of signatures that they did, as it is no easy task to collect that many. At the same time, they owed it to their supporters to have  fully understood and accepted the laws that outline the process when they began collecting signatures.

A large unanswered question is what Envision Edmonton will do with the money that they raised and advertising space they have purchased in the expectation that their petition would trigger a plebiscite? Will the lobby group accept that their petition was not valid under provincial law or will it shift its deep pockets and resources to support challengers to the Mayor and Councillors who support redeveloping the City Centre Airport lands? With nomination day approaching soon (Monday, September 20), the Mayor and many incumbent Councillors are facing minimal opposition and some less than credible candidates.

City Council

“You have to meet certain standards and those standards were not met” Mayor Stephen Mandel.

Following a long debate yesterday afternoon, Councillors voted 10-3 to not allow an exception to the rules and leave the City Centre Airport question off the ballot. This was the same number of Councillors who voted for and against the phased closure of the City Centre Airport in June 2009. Councillors like Don Iveson did not shy away from their decision to both support the phased closure in 2009 and oppose the ballot question in 2010.

I’ll stand for re-election on a record of decisions I’ve made, including and especially #ecca closure. #yegcc #yegvote – Councillor Don Iveson on Twitter

While I am continually confused why Councillors Tony Caterina and Ron Hayter are opposing the closure, I can respect the position that Councillor Linda Sloan has taken in support of continued medevac flights into the City’s core. While it may be a bit of a red herring, it is a legitimate concern. Councillor Kim Krushell told the Edmonton Journal that Alberta Health Services will not move their medevac services until a suitable establishment has been constructed at the Edmonton International Airport.

Mayoral effects
The lack of a City Centre Airport related plebiscite question on the ballot could spell a short end for some Mayoral challengers. Candidate David Dorward, who is suspected to have Envision Edmonton’s support, announced his campaign earlier this week. If Envision Edmonton is to pour their funds into a candidate’s war-chest, it will likely be Mr. Dorward’s.

Second-time Mayoral candidate Don Koziak based a large part of his campaign on opposing the redevelopment of the airport. Mr. Koziak is scheduled to hold a press conference today at 11:00am. It is obvious that he will discuss today’s news about the invalid petition and there are also rumours that he may drop out of the Mayoral race to seek a seat on City Council. Update: Mr. Koziak has dropped out the Mayoral race to challenge Councillor Krushell in Ward 2. This will be Mr. Koziak’s fifth attempt at running for City Council (he ran unsuccessfully for Council in 1995, 1998, and 2004, and for Mayor in 2007).

Provincial interference?
After meeting with Mr. Allard on September 7, Premier Ed Stelmach said that he supported the lobby group’s recommendation that the Health Quality Council should review the possible impact on medevac services before the Airport was closed. The Provincial Government may not have any official ability to prevent the closure and Premier Stelmach has been careful not to interfere too overtly in municipal affairs since entering the Office in 2006.

Only one PC MLA, Doug Elniski, whose Edmonton-Calder constituency includes the airport lands, has been vocal in support of Envision Edmonton’s petition. Edmonton-Gold Bar Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald and Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood NDP MLA Brian Mason have expressed support for the petition, as has the Wildrose Alliance caucus.

What’s next?
The drive to force a plebiscite opposing the City Centre Airport redevelopment was essentially the Envision Edmonton lobby group last ditch effort at using a democratic mechanism to stop the closure. While there will be not ballot question on October 18, the lobby group could very likely throw their support and endorsement behind some of the aforementioned candidates for Mayor and Council. Strategy wise, it really appears that the lobby group was unprepared for their petition to be ruled invalid. These time constraints will limit their choices of legitimate candidates if they decide to support and endorse candidates of their choosing.

On August 27, I wrote that I was looking forward to sharing why I support the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands and why I believe our City will benefit from this redevelopment. While yesterday’s decision will allow me to focus less on the specifics of the City Centre Airport lands, I am still looking forward to writing about the challenges and opportunities for redevelopment and new ideas in our City’s urban core. There are a broad range of issues that are going to play a defining role in shaping our City and communities in the next decades. Without a single ballot issue dominating the headlines, there will be a lot of room for Edmontonians to have a serious debate about how our City will grow – schools, public transit, infrastructure, crime, economy, and urban sprawl – let us have an election that focuses on these real quality of life issues.

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Edmonton Politics

david dorward joins the sleepy mayoral contest.

A fifth candidate has joined Edmonton’s sleepy Mayoral contest. David Dorward, a chartered accountant and driver behind the GO Community Centre in south Edmonton announced his candidacy yesterday. Mr. Dorward’s speaking notes were vacant of policy positions or what he actually wants to accomplish if elected Mayor. The only issue he appears to have a position on is his support of the Envision Edmonton petition to stop the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands.

Mr. Dorward’s supporters include Cal Nichols, the Chairman of the Alberta Enterprise Group and pro-airport advocate. His media release lists Paul Edwards-Shand as his media contact. Mr. Edwards-Shand is the former assistant to former Conservative Edmonton-Strathcona MP Rahim Jaffer.

In 2008, Mr. Dorward ran as the PC candidate in Edmonton-Gold Bar, placing over 1,000 votes behind Liberal MLA Hugh MacDonald.

Incumbent Mayor Stephen Mandel is also being challenged by declared candidates Daryl Bonar, Don Koziak, and Daniel Dromarsky.

Mr. Bonar was the first candidate to launch his Mayoral challenge and recently held a joint-media conference with Ward 6 Councillor candidate Cris Basualdo and Ward 8 candidate Lori Jeffery-Heaney announcing their intentions to “fight back” against City Hall. Mr. Koziak, a hotelier and second time Mayoral candidate, launched his campaign by taking a bizarre stand against LRT expansion and for more freeway construction. Both candidates also oppose the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands.

Six years ago, Mayor Mandel’s election was considered a breath of fresh air after nine stodgy years under cheerleader Mayor Bill Smith. For all his faults, I believe that Mayor Mandel has done a decent job over the past six years.

With only a month until Election Day, it is difficult to imagine any of these candidates mounting a serious challenge against Mayor Mandel. As the election period official begins on September 20, I hope that these candidates will at least take the time to expand on their vision for our City beyond the single-issue of the City Centre Airport.

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Edmonton Politics

my edmonton: reshaping the urban core.

The petitions have been delivered and it appears likely that there will be a plebiscite deciding the future of the City Centre Airport lands on October 18. After a two-month long petition drive, the Envision Edmonton lobby group claim that they have collected the signatures needed to support a vote on the issue.

If the signatures are successfully validated by officials from the City Clerk’s Office, City Council will likely begin the process of creating a question that Edmontonians can vote on in the October 18 election.

As a citizen who has been involved in this debate for the past two years, I am looking forward to sharing why I support the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands and why I believe our City will benefit from this redevelopment.

If a plebiscite is held, it will be a heated debate with passionate Edmontonians on both sides presenting their arguments for and against the closure. Envision Edmonton has talked about turning the Airport into a hub for aviation training and industrial development. Unfortunately, their proposal has largely been overshadowed by a public feud between Envision spokesman Charles Allard and Mayor Stephen Mandel. I disagree with Mr. Allard’s position, but I recognize and respect that the Edmontonians participating in this debate want what they believe is best for our City.

A few months ago, I outlined some of the challenges and positive opportunities facing our downtown and urban core. Over the next two months I will expand on these ideas and the opportunities presented by redeveloping the City Centre Airport lands. We have a unique chance to do something that most similar mid-sized North American cities would envy. The benefits of new smart communities filled with residential and commercial development could reshape our City’s urban core for the positive. The chance to break away from the traditional urban sprawl and reshape the urban core makes me excited to call Edmonton home.

I was glad to read that former City Councillors Michael Phair and Patricia Mackenzie have also shared their optimism for the redevelopment. As the October 18 election approaches, I hope that Edmontonians will look beyond the short-term spin and participate in an honest and positive debate about how we want our City to grow in the coming decades.

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Edmonton Politics

social media and municipal election 2010.

Last Friday afternoon Councillor Don Iveson and I sat down in the radio booth at CBC Edmonton to discuss social media, citizen engagement, and politics with Radio Active guest host Rod Kurtz. During the interview, we discussed the role that social media has played in municipal politics and could play in the October 2010 elections.

Listen to the CBC radio interview

There is little doubt that Councillor Iveson is the most social media savvy politician in Edmonton. Since his election in 2007, he has done a pretty good job at using social media as both an engagement and accountability tool by using his blog to provide the kind of long-form discussion and explanations about the positions and decisions he has made as a Councillor. His list of posts on the proposed downtown arena and the phased closure of the City Centre Airport are two examples of transparency that his Councillor colleagues should strive towards.

Social media tools are great to engage and connect with people and will play a larger role in the October elections, but candidates standing in the October municipal elections should be aware of some of the downsides. Obama Campaign Manager David Plouffe shared some common sense advice during an online strategy session with Organizing for America:

“there is no substitute, even in the digital age, to talking to a human being.”

Twitter does not replace door-knocking.

Candidates standing for election this fall should remember this advice. However many “Likes” your Facebook Page has or “followers” you have on Twitter, it does not replace door-knocking and pressing the flesh. Social media is an important additional tool to complement traditional campaigning, but it does not replace actually connecting citizens in-person.

Do not get trapped in the “echo chamber.”

It is my experience that while I have met a lot of passionate and engaged citizens though social media like Twitter, there is also the danger of being caught in what is most easily described as an “echo chamber.” For example, following the hashtag #ecca might easily lead someone to believe that the phased closure of the City Centre Airport is the only issue that Edmontonians will base their votes on in the next election. In reality, when you hit the doors you will be quickly reminded that the vast majority of Edmontonians are not single-issue voters and that they will base their vote on a wide-variety of issues. Twitter attracts many different types of people, including people who are focused (or obsessed) on broadcasting their single-issue campaigns across the internet.

Like relationship building, it takes time.

I have become aware of a number of “consultants” that, like the snake oil salesmen of the old West, are peddling their knowledge of social media for large sums of money. If you are a candidate standing for office in the October elections, my social media advice to you is to avoid the high-cost seminars and learn it yourself (or find someone you know who uses it). Social media is best learned by individuals first hand and, like relationship building, it takes time and effort.

Ask for help.

If you are a candidate trying your hand at Twitter and would like some help or need to ask a question, do not hire a consultant, post a tweet and ask people who already use Twitter how it works. You will more than likely discover a online crowd of people who are eager to engage with you (include the hashtag #yegvote or #yegcc in your tweet to get the attention of people who are already following the 2010 municipal election in Edmonton). Also make sure to check out the list of Council and School Board candidates on Twitter care of @YEGpolitics.

For more coverage of how citizens and candidates are using social media to engage and spark debates, visit EdmontonPolitics.com. Myself and the good citizen contributors of that website are going to be kicking things into high gear over the next few months to provide some on the ground coverage of the October municipal elections.

(cross-posted at EdmontonPolitics.com)

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when i envision edmonton…

Edmonton's inner city and City Centre Airport (top left)

A group branding themselves as Envision Edmonton are calling for a plebiscite to keep the downtown airport open. I believe that this is a tired issue in the minds of many Edmontonians, but judging by the slick television advertisements showcased on their website, this group might be in the position to spend as much money as it takes to make the airport an election issue in October. Mack Male has done an excellent job researching who is behind this group.

In June 2009, after a year of consultations and three months of public hearings, City Council voted to close the City Centre Airport over a phased period of time. That year saw some incredible public debate and citizen-driven advocacy that is not always a common sight in our city. Supporters of the airport were obviously dismayed when they could not convince Councillors to keep the airport on life-support, but many of them who I spoke with accepted the decision and moved on. I genuinely feel that a many Edmontonians on either side of this debate are simply tired of this issue, which has been debated to death over the past 30 years.

With most Councillors seeking re-election (and most likely to get re-elected) and a court challenge defeated injunction denied, a plebisite seems like the last logical step in the political process. If they are successful in collecting 80,000 signatures to force a plebiscite, one could be held in the October 2010 election.

I have lived in the Capital Region my entire life and have only used the City Centre Airport once. I will be stepping foot on the City Centre Airport lands for the second time in my life to enjoy the Honda Indy Edmonton in July. I am damn excited for the races, but I could care less if it were held on the City Centre Airport runways.

I am proud of the decision that City Councillors made in June 2009. By voting for a phased closure of the airport, Council demonstrated responsibility and made a courageous decision. They have taken up the challenge of implementing some (literally) ground-shifting positive change to how urban Edmonton will develop in the next decades. It is extremely rare for any major urban area to be given the challenge of developing such a large piece of land so close to the city core.

As a proud Edmontonian, I am very excited about the unparalleled opportunity that developing this land will give our city.

In May 2010, I wrote a two-part series describing some of the opportunities and challenges facing Edmonton’s downtown core.

It has to be Downtown
 Challenges facing the Core

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