Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
- There’s no time like election time during which to make an arena-related announcement. The City and the Katz Group announced on Friday that PCL Construction has been selected as “the preferred company to manage construction of the proposed downtown arena.”
- On Wednesday the City announced Food in the City, a conference taking place on May 25 and 26. It’s “a key step in the development of a city-wide food and agriculture strategy” and is listed as one the possible public involvement opportunities for the project. Anyone is welcome to participate, assuming you have $175 to spend. That’s completely wrong, as Liane wrote. I had the opportunity to ask the two City officials behind the event about this on Friday, and they told me that the conference is not a public involvement event (which obviously is not true). Just one more thing to add to the list of public involvement failures.
- For the third straight year, the Edmonton Oilers have landed the 1st overall pick in the NHL entry draft. Assuming they don’t trade it, the Oilers will be just the second franchise to make three consecutive number one picks.
- The City of Edmonton has become the first major municipal government in Canada to use Gmail and other Google apps. The new system will be phased in over the next two years. Here is Google’s post about the decision. I think the most incredible part of the news is this: “Currently, about 3,000 employees who work throughout the City and not in an office setting do not have email accounts.”
- About $200,000 was raised in the latest DONATE A RIDE campaign, which meant that more than 91,000 ETS tickets were distributed to Edmontonians in need.
- Edmonton is finally going to be doing something with all of that sunshine we get! NAIT and the City are starting a solar energy research project.
- Some sad news for the Valley Zoo. Nauticus, a 21-year-old South American sea lion, passed away on Friday. The average life span of a South American sea lion is 16 to 20 years.
- The City is looking to redevelop the area around the Stadium LRT Station. The $39 million plan would feature a new pedestrian and cyclist friendly street across the LRT tracks.
- Do you think Sean Horcoff is overpaid? You’re not alone. “I’ve always been a guy who whatever my role is, whatever is wanted out of me, I’m going to play it to the best of my ability,” said the 33-year-old centre. “The unfortunate thing is that it just doesn’t add up to what I’m being paid to do.”
- Former Edmonton police chief Robert Lunney was back in the city recently to promote his new self-published book, Parting Shots: My Passion for Policing.
- Possibly my favorite story of the week: Councillor Tony Caterina was working late on Wednesday when a fire broke out in the City Hall kitchen. Caterina pulled the fire alarm and used an extinguisher to put the fire out.
- Wondering what Wildrose leader Danielle Smith thinks about Edmonton? “I luvvvv Edmonton!”
- For the latest election news, check out daveberta.ca.
- It’s nice to be included in this list: Nadine is working on The Edmonton Do-Gooder Project.
Awesome panoramic of Edmonton Clinic North!
Here are some upcoming events to note:
- EEDC’s Annual Luncheon is taking place on Tuesday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
- On Tuesday evening, CANDI{DATE} is taking place at The Common. It’ll be a great opportunity to meet some of the candidates running in the election!
- The City is hosting an “idea gathering workshop” on Wednesday evening regarding Queen Elizabeth Park.
- At the Citadel that evening, TEDxEdmonton’s second installment in the Salon Series will be taking place. Speakers will be addressing the theme of “Rethinking Human Engagement”.
- National Meetings Industry Day is Thursday with the celebration taking place first thing in the morning. I’m very happy to have been nominated for the NMID Influence Award!
- If you’re free at lunch on Thursday, head over to the CBC Edmonton studios for a leaders’ forum with Brian Mason, Alison Redford, Raj Sherman, and Danielle Smith.
- The Edmonton Woman’s Show takes place this weekend at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
- On Saturday evening, the Edmonton Rush are hosting the Calgary Roughnecks. Should be a great game!
- Also Saturday is hot chefs, cool bEATS. Sharon wrote about the event here. We’re looking forward to it!
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
MasterMaq's Blog 
The Food in the City conference does not exclude anyone from having a voice in the development of a food and agriculture strategy. The conference is one means of gathering the best ideas and thinking from Edmontonians on such a strategy.
The costs of running an actual conference versus a public involvement exercise means the City of Edmonton needs to charge a registration fee. Although the conference does have a public consultation component, the bulk of the conference is educational, where participants can learn about the latest research and best practices on food and agriculture issues. The conference is also a celebration of the innovative and ground-breaking work being done in our city to help build a resilient local food system. Given that those who attend will gain personal knowledge and experience, the City of Edmonton cannot fully subsidize personal attendance.
Attendance at the conference is not the only way to get involved in the development of a food and agriculture strategy. Between now and the conference the City of Edmonton is conducting focus groups with stakeholders, as well as citizen panels being facilitated by the University of Alberta Centre for Public Involvement. Citizens can also respond to online questionnaires, blog posts and direct email. Over the coming weeks, results of research will be shared online when they become available. Following the conference there will be further opportunity for anyone to provide feedback on the draft strategy that is presented at the conference. Finally, when a draft strategy is ready to be reviewed by City Council, expected in the fall 2012, citizens will be able to share their views with Council. For all who care about food in the city you are invited to join us in the conversation. Go to www.edmonton.ca/foodandag .
Either it’s a conference or a public involvement exercise, I don’t see how it can be both. By combining the two and charging the fee, it seems that you will almost certainly exclude people from that particular opportunity.
Furthermore, the first mention of all of these surveys, citizen panels, and other efforts seems to have come only after people complained about the conference. I’m not suggesting that you didn’t have those planned ahead of time, but the public didn’t know about them. Perhaps launching a survey before announcing the conference would have been helpful.
Shawn Horcoff, not Sean 😉