Just got back from tonight’s interVivos young candidates forum at Ching’s Asian Kitchen & Dim Bar in downtown Edmonton. The crowd of around 40 (who weren’t watching the Obama-McCain debate) gathered to listen to and question candidates Stephanie Laskoski, Aden Murphy, Della Drury, and Brent Rathgeber (Rathgeber admittedly isn’t really a young candidate, but I get the feeling that most of his Edmonton Conservative counterparts are off campaigning in Ontario).
Though most of the evening’s questions revolved around the deepening economic crisis spreading north from the United States and east from Ontario, an array of other topics were also covered. Ward 5 City Councillor Don Iveson was in attendance and posed an articulate question to the candidates about federal funding of municipalities. Iveson raised the important point that while Edmonton is currently facing the possibility of a double-digit tax increase and even though municipalities are responsible for providing essential public services and infrastructure, cities like Edmonton only collect 5 cents for every tax dollar paid by Edmontonians (with the rest going to the provincial and federal governments).
