Category: Ed Gibbons

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2010 Municipal Election Ben Henderson Ed Gibbons Jane Batty Tony Caterina

12 wards for edmonton in 2010.

Edmontonians won’t notice a difference until next fall, but if City Councillors approve Bylaw 15142: Ward Boundaries and Council Composition Bylaw on June 22, our city will shed the 6-Ward/2-Councillor system in favour of a more modern 12-Ward/1-Councillor system.

The original motion to move to the 12-Ward system was introduced by Councillors Don Iveson and Dave Theile on February 17, 2009 and was approved in first reading by Councillors on April 15, 2009 (Councillors Jane Batty, Amarjeet Sohi, Tony Caterina, and Ron Hayter voted against the motion). I attended the April 15 meeting, and while watching the debate on Ward boundary changes was as exciting as you can imagine, the meeting reached a climax when former Councillor Sheila Mckay yelled her opposition from the Chamber seating area (Mckay was calmed down by Mayor Stephen Mandel).

Why are Councillors voting for this change? A new 12-Ward system will allow Councillors to more easily manage constituent requests (smaller population to represent) and will theoretically create more equitable representation for Edmotonians (in many cases, the more high profile of the two Councillors in the current large 6-Ward system receive the lions share of the constituents requests). Overall, I think the proposed 12-Ward system would be a positive move for our City.

The proposed new boundaries largely respect natural and community league boundaries, and in most cases are simple divisions of the current 6-Ward map. It’s unfortunate that City Councillors are drawing their own electoral boundaries, which is something that should change in the future, but Edmontonians should be proud that their Councillors avoided the kind of gong show debate that recently engulfed Calgary’s City Council.

Here is the map of the proposed new boundaries:


From a political perspective, Council will be taking a risk in accepting the new boundaries. Looking to the 2010 election, the new boundaries will likely play a factor in determining who runs for Mayor in 2010 and if any incumbents decide to run against each in the next campaign (I’m putting early odds on an Ed Gibbons versus Tony Caterina fight in the new Ward 4, and a Ben Henderson versus Jane Batty showdown in the new Ward 6).

Related Links:

Better Edmonton: 12 Councillors, 12 Wards: More Than A Dozen Reasons Why…
Don Iveson: 12 Wards
SEE Magazine: Councillors stake out their territory

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Dave Theile Don Iveson Ed Gibbons Jane Batty Mayor David Miller Smart Growth Toronto

toronto mayor david miller talks tower renewal in edmonton.

This afternoon, I was lucky to attend a presentation by Toronto Mayor David Miller as part of the Sustainable Buildings Consortium’s Summit on Tower Renewal. Mayor Miller’s presentation focused on Toronto’s Mayor’s Tower Renewal program currently being implemented in the City of Toronto.

Introduced by Deputy Mayor and Councillor Don Iveson, and attended by Councillors Jane Batty, Ed Gibbons, and Dave Thiele, Miller’s presentation focused on the challenges facing many of Toronto’s large apartment neighborhoods.

One of the most interesting points that Miller talked about during his presentation was the poor energy efficiency of many of the large concrete apartment blocks in Toronto. This lack of energy efficiency has contributed to an urgency to re-skin the apartment towers to prevent any further energy loss. I was also interested to learn about the community rejuvenation strategies that are being used to green the apartment neighbourhoods (including better use of green space and zoning commercial business space in dense residential communities). Other interesting points that Miller touched on included:

– Agenda for Prosperity – Toronto’s economic development strategy.
– Deep Lake Water Cooling – Reducing energy usage by piping water from Lake Ontario to cool downtown towers in the summer.
– Live Green Toronto – Innovative ways that Torontonians can individually contribute to the sustainability of their City.
– TTC Transit City Light Rail Plan – The construction of 120km of Light Rail Transit to link Toronto’s apartment neighbourhoods to the mass transit system (part of the Ontario Government’s recently announced $9 Billion investment in Public Transit).

While Toronto is facing different urban density challenges than Edmonton (Toronto currently has 2,047 concrete residential apartment tower blocks, whereas the majority of Edmonton’s towers are commercial buildings), Miller’s presentation provided a number of interesting strategies that other cities can learn from. Overall, Miller gave a very interesting presentation, and it was refreshing to learn that Canada’s municipalities are leading the way when it comes to innovative growth and finding solutions for sustainability communities.

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Alberta Liberals Darshan Kang Dave Taylor David Swann Ed Gibbons Karen Leibovici Kent Hehr Kevin Taft Linda Sloan Mo Elsalhy Nancy MacBeth Rick Miller

what’s eating the alberta liberals?

The first sentence of a recent letter sent out by Liberal Leader David Swann sums up the state of Alberta’s Official Opposition Party:

“We need your help to keep the ALP office operating at a reasonable level, and ready to serve Albertans.”

Over a year after the last election, the Alberta Liberals are struggling to pay their bills. It’s hard to understand why a political organization that earned 251,158 votes in the last election would have such a hard time paying off their 8-year debt, now sitting at around $400,000. The once $1 million debt-load was largely the product of the 2001 election campaign under former leader Nancy MacBeth. The Liberals went from 16 to 7 seats in that election, including a loss by MacBeth in Edmonton-McClung.

Two leaders and four years later, Edmonton-Riverview MLA Kevin Taft led the Liberals to reclaim a majority of seats in Edmonton and gain a three-seat beachhead in Calgary. While PC leader Ralph Klein was unceremoniously shown the door in 2006, the Liberals had high hopes. Ed Stelmach was selected as PC leader, and the Liberals raised $1 million in 2007 and won the by-election in Klein’s abandoned Calgary-Elbow constituency. As the 2008 election approached, most people predicted the PCs would be re-elected, but with a reduced majority government.

On March 3, 2008, the PCs got their vote out, and everyone else stayed home. Well, that’s not really what happened, but it’s almost true. The PCs surged from 63 to 72 seats, unseating Liberals, New Democrats, and Wildrosers across Alberta, but voter turnout dropped to record low levels. With only around 90% of Albertans registered to vote, the pathetic turnout likely sat under 40% of eligible voters (including 22 out of 83 ridings which had less than 40% turnout).

While the Liberals dropped to 9 MLAs in 2008 by losing seats in Edmonton and facing decreasing support in rural Alberta, they did manage to increase their seat and vote total in Calgary by electing two new MLAs. The election of Kent Hehr in Calgary-Buffalo and Darshan Kang in Calgary-McCall shifted the power base in the Liberal caucus to southern Alberta for the first time in recent memory (five MLAs from Calgary, three from Edmonton, and one from Lethbridge). In the contest to replace Taft, two Calgary MLAs quickly became frontrunners.

In December 2008, Calgary-Mountain View MLA David Swann won a first-ballot victory against fellow Calgary MLA Dave Taylor and former Edmonton MLA Mo Elsalhy to become the first Liberal leader from Calgary since Nick Taylor campaigned in that city during the 1970s (Nick Taylor was eventually elected MLA in the Westlock-Sturgeon and Redwater ridings north of Edmonton from 1986 to 1996).

Following his victory, Swann appointed Elsalhy to lead a committee tasked with proposing recommendations to renew the Liberal Party. Joining Elsalhy on the committee are Norma Block of Drayton Valley, Barry Cavanaugh and Stephanie Laskoski of Edmonton, Jade Boldt and Peter Willott of Calgary, and Zack Moline of Lethbridge. The committee has launched a website to jump start some discussion, and in a recent email, Elsalhy announced the launch of a survey for ALP members and non-members asking what Alberta’s Liberal Party can do to renew itself. At the Legislature, Swann has brought in former MLA Rick Miller as Chief of Staff, and Calgary Federal Liberal organizer Neil Mackie as Communications Director.

Can the Alberta Liberals renew by creating momentum, attracting new members, and paying down their financial debt? What will it take for the Swann Liberals to attract new strong candidates, as well as re-attracting the many former Liberal MLAs who have moved on to other levels of government (Edmonton City Councillors Linda Sloan, Karen Leibovici, and Ed Gibbons come to mind).

The Alberta Liberals are in a rough spot, financially and organizationally, and though it may be easy to criticize Swann’s choice to focus on open consultations rather than implement a pre-made strategy, consultation and dialogue are his style. At this point in the game, the Liberals have very little to lose, so my recommendations to them are to be bold, challenge their status quo, and turn things on their head, because if the current fundraising trends continue, the Alberta Liberal Party may not be in the position to do so after the next election.

Coming Wednesday: Tiny Perfect Alberta NDP
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