The_Cat
Senior Member
I think another quick win would be funding some of the affordable housing projects, and reinstating the grants-in-kind municipal taxes.
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It's worth mentioning a lot of the industrial base is located in or around Edmonton too. Investment in Edmonton is broadly good for the whole region, and there are projects here like the YEG Cargo expansion that I would give genuine praise if they commit to (Feds dropped 100 million in). It's cutting off a really large section of the province for (bluntly) vote buying.Edmonton residents pay a lot of provincial taxes too.
This post could not emulate the dynamic of Edmonton and Calgary anymore clearly.Smith gave a speech to Calgary Chamber of Commerce today and highlighted funding model for Calgary mega projects (arena, Deerfoot, train).
'This is a great city': Premier Smith pledges support for Calgary mega-projects
In a speech to the Calgary Chamber, Smith promised upgrades to Deerfoot Trail and new funding models to help the city build major projectscalgaryherald.com
It wasn't mentioned in the Herald story but Global News in Edmonton played a clip when Smith was asked about YEG and she 'jokingly' said we need to elect more UCP MLAs.
Sohi was then questioned about the comment and he was extremely diplomatic saying this is not an issue for the city to weigh into.
I wonder if any NDP MLAs representing us will call this out. Notley has been very quiet on these Calgary funding statements from Smith and chooses instead to focus on health and the sovereignty files.
Politics! Politics! Politics!
On the other hand, you have the mayor of Edmonton, the chief branding officer given the opportunity to rebuttal and speak up in favour of Edmonton and he chooses to take the higher road, head down, humble approach.
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I am not saying Edmonton needs to be as obnoxious as Calgary is, but it is ok to be much much louder. We do need people and leaders to speak up in favour of Edmonton because we do not have that nearly enough. Unfortunately Sohi is not that man.
Smith and the UCP right now seem to be the most publicly obvious government as far as I can remember when it comes to favoritism for Calgary and inequality for Edmonton and we have had a lot of conservative governments roll through and premiers from Calgary that have favoured Calgary. And shes not even discrete about it, she has actively publicly supported spending money in the billions for Deerfoot upgrades, C-train line to the airport, an Olympic bid, train to Banff, and an arena, and shes only been around for a couple of weeks.I think there needs to be a large, very public fight over the funding disparity. The cities are about the same population, it's not like Calgary actually needs more than we do.
If Sohi can't do it for whatever political reason or out of fear of pissing the province off even more and getting nothing come writ drop, then the councillors 100% need to step up. Notley can't do it without looking like she's taking things away from Calgary voters she desperately needs to win.
Seriously that is low on my list of priorities.Smith could do a cheap win by funding all of Edmonton's bike plans for what she wants to spend on the Deerfoot
Danielle does not expect to win many if any seat in Edmonton, so regardless of what our mayor says or doesn't say, it won't make a difference. She is going to focus on spending money where she thinks she might get votes.This post could not emulate the dynamic of Edmonton and Calgary anymore clearly.
On the one hand, you have Calgary and Calgary media (The Herald in this case) trumpeting how great Calgary is in the headline, which is a very much in line with how Calgary likes to routinely brag to the world about itself, its successes, its importance.
On the other hand, you have the mayor of Edmonton, the chief branding officer given the opportunity to rebuttal and speak up in favour of Edmonton and he chooses to take the higher road, head down, humble approach.
As much as I hate Calgary for it, one of the reasons they are as successful as they are (or as they claim to be) is because they constantly shout their brand. One of the reasons Edmonton does not get the recognition is deserves in a lot of cases, is because it doesnt shout itself or brand nearly enough.
I am not saying Edmonton needs to be as obnoxious as Calgary is, but it is ok to be much much louder. We do need people and leaders to speak up in favour of Edmonton because we do not have that nearly enough. Unfortunately Sohi is not that man.