Edmonton Notes for 11/8/2008 at MasterMaq's Blog

Edmonton Notes for 11/8/2008

By Mack D. Male | November 8, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Here are some Edmonton-related things I found interesting this week:

The Edmonton Real Estate Blog has a weekly update on the local real estate market. Sara MacLennan, co-author of the blog, has joined Twitter too!

Bad news for Edmonton drivers – our city has the worst collision rate in the country at 1,109 per 100,000. This news comes just a couple days after our transportation boss called Edmonton “the car capital of Canada, perhaps North America.”

A marketing/tourism piece from the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation popped up on the news wire this week. It states that there are “more than 3,500 restaurants, bistros and pubs” in Edmonton. Seems rather high to me, I’m going to do some digging.

Apparently city councillors “forgot” they were paying $169,000 to a Toronto PR firm to promote Edmonton. I wonder how that deal was ever approved in the first place!

NAIT announced the novaNAIT Technology Commercialization Challenge recently. Seems like an interesting competition, with up to $10,000 in prizes. The competition closes November 21st. I’ll be writing more about it this week at Techvibes.

The Global Visions Film Festival started on Thursday evening and runs through tomorrow. The festival “celebrates the work of passionate, accomplished documentarians from Canada and around the world.”

If you were wondering why everyone was walking around in cowboy hats this week, it’s because of Canadian Finals Rodeo! This year is the 35th anniversary of CFR. The event finishes tomorrow. In a related story, Alberta Liberal Party leader Kevin Taft wants to make rodeo Alberta’s official sport. Um, no.

For more local events taking place this month, check out the list on Sharon’s blog.

6 Responses to “Edmonton Notes for 11/8/2008”

Rob Davy Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 11:44 pm

“In a related story, Alberta Liberal Party leader Kevin Taft wants to make rodeo Alberta’s official sport. Um, no.”

As a Rodeo fan (I was there on Friday), I’d have to ask what else could be Alberta’s official sport? Rodeo is about the only thing that’s fairly unique to Alberta (what with the Calgary Stampede and the CFR in Edmonton).

More Voices Opposed to Declaring Rodeo Alberta’s Provincial Sport at River City Writer Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 1:32 pm

[...] Edmonton-blogger Mack Male made his distaste for the idea very clear, with two simple words: “Um, [...]

Mack D. Male Says:
November 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

I have nothing against Rodeo, but I would hate to see it become Alberta’s official sport, for all the reasons that Adam outlined in his post (the one I linked to).

Trudy Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

Re the 2nd point: That is 1,109 collisions involving injury per 100,000 inhabitants per year (in case any other statisticians except me were wondering about the units

Mack D. Male Says:
November 11th, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Thanks for clarifying Trudy!

Jenifer Christenson Says:
November 13th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

Hi Mack,

Just a short note on our article regarding Edmonton’s eating establishments and hoping this clarifies a bit on our numbers…

http://www.capitalhealth.ca/NewsAndEvents/NewsReleases/2008/Restaurant_disclosure_system
Capital Health news Release – “Environmental Health Officers complete more than 26,000 inspections of almost 8,000 food establishments in the region annually.”

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/features/restaurants/news/story.html?id=6c1adcba-0a7e-45b5-af20-c1e14e8d5ab2
*** Edmonton Journal article “Capital Health closed just five of the region’s 3,600 restaurants last year.”

http://www.edmonton.ca/accommodation-dining.aspx
City of Edmonton Article “Edmonton enjoys a diverse blend of cultures, and we have the food to match! With over 1600 restaurants, you can satisfy your taste buds no matter what kind of meal you’re in the mood for.”

Thanks.