Category: Uncategorized

The City of Edmonton launched a challenge to Edmontonians yesterday through a nifty Zerofootprint calculator. The calculator and online community have been set up to challenge Edmontonians to set goals on how to decrease their environmental impact and be smarter in the ways they travel, maintain their yards, reduce waste, and save energy and water!

It’s fairly easy to sign up (it only took about 5 minutes to figure out how the site works) and allows you to make personal goals and track the goals and challenges of fellow Edmontonians in their quest to take more personal responsibility over the carbon footprint they are leaving in their daily lives.

The City of Edmonton also gets points for recognizing that realistically decreasing individual environmental impacts will take more than one simple act.

(Take the challenge!)

Here’s a link to my column in this week’s SEE Magazine.

Last Monday night, I attended the Town Hall on Democratic Renewal at Edmonton’s Glenora Community Hall. With almost 200 people in attendance, I was pleasantly surprised (considering it was a political event in the middle of July).

Hosts David Swann and Laurie Blakeman were joined by panelists Sarah Arthurs (who has organized similar meetings in Calgary), Calgary Herald writer Les Brost, political consultant Ken Chapman, and past Green candidate Joe Anglin. Also, in attendance were MLAs Kevin Taft, Harry Chase, and Bridget Pastoor, City Councillor Ben Henderson, a number of past MLAs, and past PC candidate Wendy Andrews (who gets special props being the only past Tory candidate at the event). Also there were Blake Robert (the artist formerly known as Alberta Tory), Troy Wason, and their merry band of Blackberry-toting PC staffers.

Though this wasn’t exactly the most Tory friendly crowd, the crowd of Liberals, NDs, Greens, and Independents contributed some good non-partisan discussion over the course of the evening — ranging from how to revitalize our ailing and antiquated electoral system to how to re-engage Albertans in their democratic process to how to improve change the overly confrontational style of our politics. With potentially less than 40% of Albertans having voted in the 2008 election, there was lots of interest in finding positive solutions to move forward.

Overall, I was most impressed with Joe Anglin. After leading central Alberta landowners in the fight against Bill 46, Anglin earned an impressive 22% while running for the Green Party in Lacombe-Ponoka in March 2008. Though some might not like his “agitate, agitate, agitate” kind of style, I found him to be impressive on his feet and would be a formidable candidate no matter which banner he was running under. With no shortage of talk about the creation of a new political movement in Alberta, I hope that people like Joe Anglin are there to take a lead role. As Les Brost put it that evening, “labels are important when it comes to marketing, but mean nothing when it comes to substance.”

Putting “feet on the ground” is how Anglin described his impressive results in Lacombe-Ponoka and how any new political movement needs to be founded — by cultivating the sincere grassroots support that none of Alberta’s current political parties can claim to have.

As Jason Morris at gauntlet.ca wrote in his very thorough rundown of the evening:

“In the end, I left the meeting no longer wondering if it was possible that a new political movement could be formed in Alberta, but wondering instead what form it will take.”

After Monday night, I tend to agree.

If you’re in need of some simultaneously good and intelligent listening, check out the recent podcast from WNYCs Radiolab – City X.

Produced by Jonathan Mitchell and commissioned by Hearing Voices, City X tells the history of the urbanism and the modern shopping mall through perspectives of people living in an unnamed Middle American city.

The good folks over at Pundits’ Guide have used recently released numbers from Statistics Canada’s 2006 Census to put together a fancy list of the Top 10 Canadian ridings where people cycle or walk to work. I’ve taken a look at the StatsCan data and have put together a list for Alberta’s two largest urban areas (but in a dramatic turn of events, I have included public transit, as well as walking or cycling):

Ridings having the highest percentages of walking, cycling, or using public transit to the person’s usual place of work:

Riding-Number-Percentage
Calgary Centre – 29,305 – 24.4%
Edmonton Centre – 20,490 – 16.5%
Calgary Centre-North – 20,715 – 16.2%
Calgary-Nose Hill – 12,595 – 12.7%
Edmonton-Strathcona – 16,430 – 12.5%
Calgary Northeast – 13,125 – 11.6%
Calgary West – 14,560 – 11.5%
Edmonton East – 12,930 – 11.3%
Calgary Southwest – 14,370 – 11.1%
Calgary East – 12,080 – 10.3%
Calgary Southeast – 11,180 – 9.5%
Edmonton-Sherwood Park – 7,670 – 6.1%
Edmonton-Leduc – 6,550 – 5.9%
Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont – 7,320 – 5.7%
Edmonton-St. Albert – 7,350 – 5.6%
Edmonton-Spruce Grove – 6,365 – 5.3%

It’s no surprise that people living in the urban cores are more likely to walk, cycle, or use public transit to travel to work, but keep in mind that the numbers are probably a little skewed because 1) five of Edmonton ridings include rural and surrounding communities (which suffer from a lack of regional transit service), and 2) Calgary gets points for having an arguably more effective transit and LRT system, but it’s an interesting look none-the-less.

As the heat over the expansion over nuclear power in Alberta seems to have cooled down a bit over the summer months, a piece in the New Scientist on the long-term consequences of nuclear left-overs caught my eye last week.

The United States Government Accountability Office has released a report raising “serious questions” about the long-term viability of the underground nuclear waste storage facility in Hanford, Washington. The Hanford Site, considered one of the most contaminated places on Earth is a decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River, built in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project contains 210 million litres of radioactive and chemical waste stored in 177 underground tanks. With most being over 50 years old, 67 of the tanks have failed, leaking almost 4 million litres of waste into the ground in the Columbia River Basin.

At a length of over two-thousand kilometers, a basin of over 668,217 square kilometers, and a water discharge of over 7,504 cubic meters per second, the Columbia the fourth largest river in the United States and the largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America. The Columbia River Basin spreads over Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and British Columbia.

Robert Alvarez, of the Institute for Policy Studies:

“The risk of catastrophic tank failure will sharply increase as each year goes by,” he says, “and one of the nation’s largest rivers, the Columbia, will be in jeopardy.”

A 2004 study conducted by Alvarez suggested that there “is a 50% chance of a major accident” while the United States attempts to clean up Hanford over the next thirty years.

Interestingly, in 2004, 69% of Washington voters approved Initiative 297 (PDF), which would halt the Federal Government’s transfer of nuclear waste to the Hanford Site until it cleaned up the present contamination there according to existing Federal and state environmental cleanup standards. Initiative 297 was overturned in 2006 by the U.S. District Court, stating that it was unconstitutional for a State to put demands on the Federal Government.

Though there is a growing need for a larger energy supply (which is increasingly unsustainable), we have a responsibility to ensure that the effects of our developments do not adversely affect the lives and well-being of the current population, as well as generations to come. As these three points frequently conflict, it is important that Albertans understand these consequences as our provincial government continues the charge towards nuclear power.

Nolan Crouse is very close to becoming my favorite Alberta Mayor.

Nolan Crouse is the mayor of St. Albert and the chairman of the Capital Region’s transportation planning committee. Right now, he says, his committee is still trying to figure out the region’s transportation priorities. While he’s pleased to see the province promising $2 billion for transit projects, he’s not sure commuter rail would work.

“Right now, we only have 1.1 million people in this region. It’s hard to imagine that some kind of GO-train system would be very cost-effective.”

Even if the province were to fund the construction of such a system, he says, municipalities could be stuck subsidizing it. He’d prefer to let the region set its own transit priorities.

Investing $2 billion into transit initiatives is a positive move, but allowing it to derail current public transit initiatives and plans of Alberta’s municipalities would be counter-productive.

Regular readers of this blog will know that public transit is one of my favorite urban growth topics. Investing in a regional transit service for the Capital Region would increase efficiency, cut down on duplication of services and cost created by the three existing transit services (Edmonton Transit Service, St. Albert Transit, and Strathcona Country Transit), and could serve as a key part of a larger transportation strategy to deal with increasing growth pressures in the region.

A is for many things, but in Alberta it seems like the biggest A these days is Apathy.

With quite possibly less than 40% of eligible Alberta voters showing up for the March 3 provincial election, there has been much speculation and armchair quarterbacking about why citizens of Alberta aren’t participating in the democratic process. How do we solve this? Come and share your ideas on July 14…

Town Hall: Democratic Renewal

Hosted by MLAs David Swann and Laurie Blakeman.

Guest Panelists
– Les Brost – political commentator
– Joe Anglin – environmental activist and past Green Party candidate
– Ken Chapman – political consultant & blogger

July 14, 2008
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Glenora Community Hall
10426 – 136th Street

For those of you interested in some good Alberta tunes, here’s an update on some shows I’ve checked out lately…

Saturday afternoon was filled with the musical stylings of Manraygun at the Black Dog. Last night at the Empress (arguably the best bar in Edmonton…) had the always fun The Secretaries and near-legendary Headband playing early into the morning. Good local bands and good tunes all around.

For those of you interested in having some fun tonight, Carolyn Mark (recently of Sled Island fame) will be playing at the Empress tonight!

Also, on Thursday evening, Latitude 53 will be holding their weekly patio party. I went to the first one a couple weeks ago and it was a great time. This week, Jay Hannley will be bringing his music and CJSR stars to the best roof top patio party in downtown Edmonton…

Really not amused.

UPDATE: Jim Prentice to the rescue?

I’ve updated the list of nominated federal elections candidates in Alberta – with some help from Alice at punditsguide.ca – I’m hoping that it’s an accurate list of voter seekers. Here are some of the updates:

– Devinder Shory is the Conservative candidate in Calgary-Northeast. Shory will more that likely be elected to replace Reform Party-era MP Art Hanger.

– Former NDP MLA Ray Martin is seeking the NDP nomination in Edmonton-East. Martin served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 1984 to 1993 and NDP leader from 1984 to 1994. He was elected MLA for Edmonton-Norwood from 1982 to 1993 and Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview from 2004 to 2008. In March 2008, he was defeated by Tory Tony Vandermeer. Martin has previously federally in Edmonton-North (1997) and Edmonton-Centre East (2000).

– Hana Razga has been nominated in Edmonton-Leduc. Most recently, Razga was a provincial candidate in Edmonton-Whitemud and a municipal candidate in the 2007 Ward 4 elections.

And on the topic of a federal election… Stéphane Dion is in Edmonton this week to talk about his Green Shift tax plan. He’ll be in town Monday, July 7 at the Polish Hall 10960 – 104 Street from 6pm to 8pm.

Vue Weekly‘s Bestest of Edmonton 2008 is out and I apparently racked up points in one category…

Bestest Political Joke

Blogger Dave Cournoyer linking his appropriated Ed Stelmach website to the wikipedia page for Harry Strom. Zing! DB

I’m also glad to see that someone good rack up the points in the saving democracy category…

Bestest reason to have some hope for electoral democracy

It goes without saying that for people with left of centre (hell, for centre of right) political views, participation in elections at any level of government are typically an exercise in frustration and dismay. So Don Iveson’s Ward 5 victory over incumbent Mike Nickel in the October municipal election brought elation to many who had all but given up the process. A young, articulate guy with smart, forward-thinking ideas, a hard-working election team and the energy to knock on practically every door in the ward beats a conservative incumbent with whackloads of cash who ran an I’m-taking-victory-for-granted campaign? Who would’ve thunk it? SH

As you can tell from the title of this post, last weekend’s trip to Sled Island in Calgary surpassed all my expectations.

Not only was the weather amazing, but with acts ranging from Broken Social Scene, Drive-By Truckers, The Cops, The Dodos, Carolyn Mark, Wire, Still Flyin’, Jose Gonzalez, The Secret Machines, the Gutter Twins, Jonathan Richman, Of Montreal, The Fellas, Mogwai, Heat Ray, The Ostrich, Fucked Up, Enablers, The Absent Sound, Spiral Stairs, Hot Little Rocket, Portastatic, and Katie Stelmans to name a few, Sled Island 2008 is in serious contention for one of the best music festivals I’ve been to!

Kudos to the organizers, volunteers, bands, artists, and sponsors for putting together this awesome festival. It will definitely be on my list of weeks not to miss in 2009!

And not content with complacency or afraid of controversy, Sled Island Festival Director Zak Pashak wasn’t afraid of controversy as he used his message to festival goers to start some debate on the state of Calgary and Alberta’s cultural scene (and also raised some interesting questions around the very subtle societal differences between being ‘rich‘ and being ‘wealthy‘). The following are exerts from Pashak’s letter in the festival guide:

Calgarians are searching. The city is gradually learning that pretending to be what you think another city is, is an empty path. Visit one of our various new $10-a-beer-resto-lounges to get a first hand experience of emptiness. I don’t think we really want pathetic interpretations of New York, what we want is that thing that New Yorkers have – we want real pride in where we live.

Calgarians want something vibrant, meaningful, and homegrown that holds up to anything in the world. Celebrating our creativity while hosting the best and most interesting music and visual art adds to civic pride. That is why Sled Island is successful.

Alberta could be so many things. We could be an unrivaled center of education. We could have free, high quality education for every citizen of this province. Money is there by the bucket load – but where is it going? How different would Calgary look if we focused on educating ourselves and attracting bright minds to our city? Would the epicenter of our greatest civic celebration still consist of drunk millionaires renting cocaine dusted barbie dolls at an outhouse smelling parking lot behind a downtown theme-bar? Is that really how we want to represent ourselves to the world? Is that at all real?

I’m headed off to Sled Island and will be enjoying the long weekend in Calgary.

Until I get back, have a great weekend and Happy Canada Day!

With Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft announcing that he will be stepping down by January 2009, a number of high profile contenders are stepping up for the challenge. Among the rumoured contenders are MLAs Laurie Blakeman, Dave Taylor, and MLA Bill Toycen.

Though not as well known as Blakeman or Taylor, Bill Toycen and his supporters have been at the forefront of a revitalization movement in the Alberta Liberals since the March 2008 election.

First elected in 2004, Toycen was narrowly re-elected as the MLA for Calgary-Gophercrotch in the March 3 election. Since his re-election, Toycen’s supporters have launched a vigorous online campaign under the promiscuous moniker “Old Liberal.” Having the support of many traditional Calgary-based Old Liberal supporters and a growing group of younger Old Liberals, Toycen’s platform for change calls for Alberta Liberals to put “our necks on the line” as part of a new third way political movement: “The Old Liberal Giraffe Party.“

“With our necks extended high above the trees, we can walk our own path. To be ready to appeal to the largest neck-section of Albertans, we must prepare to extend our necks so that when the spotlight shines on us we have policies rooted in our Old Liberal philosophy, but tailor-made for the long collars of our Alberta.“

– Bill Toycen, MLA Calgary-Gophercrotch

Citing the success of Tony Blair’s New Labour movement in the United Kingdom during the 1990s and the historical significance of this noble and populist animal in Alberta’s 100 year history, Toycen’s supporters feel that this move is a positive one that will allow the Old Liberal-Giraffe Party brand to develop a true connection with voters in Alberta.