Mandel (Edmonton Mayor) takes aim at the province UPDATE: Nenshi too

[SebC]

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sport...549/story.html

I couldn't find anything worth quoting in the article, but the link contains a speech by Mandel addressing the fiscal inequalities that the province imposes on Edmonton (and Calgary is in a similar situation). This is an issue that needs more awareness, so I hope you read it. Calgary and Edmonton aren't getting their fair share from the province, but we have two-thirds of the votes. We have the power to make the province listen to us, so let's join Mandel in making this an issue for them!

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by SebC

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sport...549/story.html

I couldn't find anything worth quoting in the article, but the link contains a speech by Mandel addressing the fiscal inequalities that the province imposes on Edmonton (and Calgary is in a similar situation). This is an issue that needs more awareness, so I hope you read it. Calgary and Edmonton aren't getting their fair share from the province, but we have two-thirds of the votes. We have the power to make the province listen to us, so let's join Mandel in making this an issue for them!

Read the article and appreciate you posting it, but its hard to take any politician that signed that arena deal seriously. Also they rank their education facilities as their largest growth sector? Has he seen a report that deals with Canadian GDP growth and its correlation with the oil sands?

I'm still in disbelief how Edmonton can piss away so many guaranteed city building advantages. The U of A predates U of C by decades, they had the first major oil discovery at Leduc #1, they have the capital for Alberta and all the ancillary services, they have the refineries, they retained their military base when Calgary's was shut down, etc, etc...hard to believe given that kind of head start that Calgary was able to out pace them. I see it as a testament of the quality of politicians and what the citizens demand from them.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Read the article and appreciate you posting it, but its hard to take any politician that signed that arena deal seriously. Also they rank their education facilities as their largest growth sector? Has he seen a report that deals with Canadian GDP growth and its correlation with the oil sands?

Agreed on the arena, but a bad decision there doesn't make him wrong here.

Also, Edmonton's university may well be Edmonton's largest growth sector, which would explain why he said that it is.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Read the article and appreciate you posting it, but its hard to take any politician that signed that arena deal seriously. Also they rank their education facilities as their largest growth sector? Has he seen a report that deals with Canadian GDP growth and its correlation with the oil sands?

I'm still in disbelief how Edmonton can piss away so many guaranteed city building advantages. The U of A predates U of C by decades, they had the first major oil discovery at Leduc #1, they have the capital for Alberta and all the ancillary services, they have the refineries, they retained their military base when Calgary's was shut down, etc, etc...hard to believe given that kind of head start that Calgary was able to out pace them. I see it as a testament of the quality of politicians and what the citizens demand from them.

It's the nature of the employment alternatives that Edmonton has vs. Calgary that are responsible for the difference. Calgary outpaced Edmonton in the last oil bust in the period of 1986-2000 and has since not looked back. Due to Calgary's larger head office presence it tended to have a higher educated workforce of professionals. These types of people are better able to adpat to differing economic realities, and actually played a large role in the growth of small businesses in the city during that time period. If you look back in time Calgary's economy was still the fastest growing in Canada in the late 90s despite oil prices that were around $10-20 per barrel.


Edmonton however was in a period of decline due to the double whammy of Klein's civil service cutbacks and languishing oil and gas prices. Edmonton's economy on the margin rides the boom and bust of the oil economy more heavily because field workers are only suited to work, when there actually is demand for their work and the province only hires civil servants when it has money, which also correlates to the performance of Oil and gas prices.

Look at the population histories of the two cities, Calgary continued to grow during the last bust, Edmonton didn't.

[SebC]

Naheed Nenshi has jumped into the fray...

News story:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Braid+M...924/story.html

The letter he wrote to MRU:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion...355/story.html

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by SebC

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sport...549/story.html

I couldn't find anything worth quoting in the article, but the link contains a speech by Mandel addressing the fiscal inequalities that the province imposes on Edmonton (and Calgary is in a similar situation). This is an issue that needs more awareness, so I hope you read it. Calgary and Edmonton aren't getting their fair share from the province, but we have two-thirds of the votes. We have the power to make the province listen to us, so let's join Mandel in making this an issue for them!

Is that true? I may very well be mistaken, but I thought that Calgary and Edmonton ridings had fewer seats in the provincial legislature than our populations would warrant, thus Alberta's two largest cities are actually under-represented.

[crazy_eoj]

Hooray for Alison Redford! All this and a deficit to boot!

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Is that true? I may very well be mistaken, but I thought that Calgary and Edmonton ridings had fewer seats in the provincial legislature than our populations would warrant, thus Alberta's two largest cities are actually under-represented.

This was my understanding as well, and thoroughly explains why there is such an old boys club in the legislature, and the constant appeal to the rural base.

[return to the red]

UofL is forced to cut nearly 12 million dollars from it's budget, a school that probably receives less funding and private sponsorship, not to mention has a huge impact on the local economy.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Read the article and appreciate you posting it, but its hard to take any politician that signed that arena deal seriously. Also they rank their education facilities as their largest growth sector? Has he seen a report that deals with Canadian GDP growth and its correlation with the oil sands?

I'm still in disbelief how Edmonton can piss away so many guaranteed city building advantages. The U of A predates U of C by decades, they had the first major oil discovery at Leduc #1, they have the capital for Alberta and all the ancillary services, they have the refineries, they retained their military base when Calgary's was shut down, etc, etc...hard to believe given that kind of head start that Calgary was able to out pace them. I see it as a testament of the quality of politicians and what the citizens demand from them.

FYI - Refineries arent in Edmonton. They are in the county of Strathcona (in case you wonder why property taxes in Sherwood Park are so much cheaper than in Edmonton).

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Is that true? I may very well be mistaken, but I thought that Calgary and Edmonton ridings had fewer seats in the provincial legislature than our populations would warrant, thus Alberta's two largest cities are actually under-represented.

This.

2/3 of population, 44 combined of 87 seats. I wouldnt mind it so much if the number was 50 or 52 but 44 is sto low.

I dont think the seat number should ever equal the same percentage because you have to give an appropriate amount of weight to the land area that exists and the people who live there. Just because Fort Mac only should have a few seats doesnt mean I want people in Edmonton or Calgary alone to determine its fate.

After living here for 9 years - people in bigger cities have more narrow focus on issues that they know nothing about. Its like asking someone in Bieseker about living in condos.

Ideally Alberta would have the exact % legislature and then a senate where Edmonton and Calgary would each have 2 seats out of say 10 total seats. The legislature would speak for the voters and the senate would speak for the province as a whole.

Its what the US system is supposed to accomplish but hopefully this would be less dysfunctional.