Category: Uncategorized

Let us move forward, together

There were no major upsets last night. Mayor Mandel was re-elected to his third term. Every incumbent councillor was re-elected, including Kim Krushell in the close Ward 2 race.

Envision Edmonton made a lot of noise about 100,000 people wanting to have their say on the airport, yet they apparently didn’t care enough to show up at the voting stations.

By all accounts, yesterday was a victory for Edmontonians ready to move forward, beyond the airport and on to bigger and better things. Yet if you read today’s Edmonton Journal, that’s not the impression you’d get at all.

The Day After: Calgary Herald vs. Edmonton Journal

Here are the headlines/key phrases today on the front of the Calgary Herald:

  • It’s Nenshi
  • New mayor paints town purple with decisive win
  • Political newcomer vows change on the way for city
  • Best voter turnout in years ushers in new faces to council chamber
  • What’s next for council?
  • Big changes at City Hall
  • Calgarians flood polls

Here are the headlines/key phrases today on the front of the Edmonton Journal:

  • ‘Finally, we will move forward’: Mandel
  • Envision Edmonton vows to continue fight to save City Centre Airport

Turn the page, and on A3 you see in big bold letters, side-by-side:

I’m definitely not the first to point out the differences between the Herald and the Journal – this kind of thing happens far too often. And before you comment and say that the Journal is just trying to be balanced, let me say to that: I don’t buy it.

Is there really a division?

There’s no question that the airport has been a divisive issue in Edmonton in the past. But yesterday is not today, and today is not tomorrow. In his article on the airport issue dividing the city, David Staples wrote:

“A council bent on shutting the historic downtown airport won re-election, but the bitterness over issue will continue to fracture Edmonton.”

I humbly suggest that the only “fracture” left is the artificial one that David and his colleagues seem more than happy to perpetuate.

Let’s follow the logic here. Thousands of Edmontonians re-elect a city council that decided it was in the city’s best interests to close the City Centre Airport. Envision Edmonton’s Ed Schlemko says the issue “has divided the city”. As a result, we’re going to continue to be fractured?

This afternoon, the Herald’s website was full of stories about Nenshi. And the Journal? They’ve got a story about new ward 11 councillor Kerry Diotte pushing for an airport plebiscite. It’s not just the Journal either – CBC, the Edmonton Sun, and iNews880 also have similar stories.

Let’s move on

Edmontonians want to move forward – they voted for a council that decided to close the airport. Mandel wants to move forward, as he made very clear in his victory speech last night. Even David Dorward seems to want to move forward.

Envision Edmonton is heading to the courts, refusing to accept defeat. They and what few supporters they have left don’t want to move forward. Kerry Diotte has decided he doesn’t want to move forward either.

The City Centre Airport will close. And then the lands will be redeveloped. We need to focus our energies on making sure that redevelopment is positive for Edmonton.

Let us move forward, together.

Edmonton Election 2010: Unofficial Results

It took a while for the data to start flowing but that only added to the excitement of the evening! A total of 196,661 ballots were cast by Edmontonians in this election, giving us a voter turnout of just over 34%. Here is your new City Council (unofficial until finalized on Friday by Edmonton Elections):

  • Stephen Mandel (Mayor)
  • Linda Sloan (Ward 1)
  • Kim Krushell (Ward 2)
  • Dave Loken (Ward 3)
  • Ed Gibbons (Ward 4)
  • Karen Leibovici (Ward 5)
  • Jane Batty (Ward 6)
  • Tony Caterina (Ward 7)
  • Ben Henderson (Ward 8 )
  • Bryan Anderson (Ward 9)
  • Don Iveson (Ward 10)
  • Kerry Diotte (Ward 11)
  • Amarjeet Sohi (Ward 12)

Here are your new Public School Trustees:

  • Cheryl Johner (Ward A)
  • Ken Shipka (Ward B)
  • Christopher Spencer (Ward C)
  • Dave Colburn (Ward D)
  • Heather Mackenzie (Ward E)
  • Michael Janz (Ward F)
  • Sarah Hoffman (Ward G)
  • Catherine Ripley (Ward H)
  • Leslie Cleary (Ward I)

Here are your new Catholic School Trustees:

  • Becky Kallal (Ward 71)
  • Larry Kowalczyk (Ward 72)
  • Cindy Olsen (Ward 73)
  • Debbie Engel (Ward 74)
  • John Acheson (Ward 75)
  • Marilyn Bergstra (Ward 76)
  • Laura Thibert (Ward 77)

You can see full election results at ShareEdmonton.

The closest race tonight was in Ward 2, where Krushell defeated Don Koziak by just 539 votes. Aside from that however, I think tonight’s result is a clear vote of confidence in the direction City Council had been moving under Mandel’s leadership.

Congratulations to all the candidates who ran in this election!

Edmonton Election 2010: Candidate Surveys

I think it’s much more interesting and useful to hear a candidate explain their position on something, but there is still value in reading the many candidate surveys that go out during an election. Here are the ones I’ve found:

And if you’d rather watch your candidates answer questions, check out the election videos at ShareEdmonton or the archived candidate forums.

Advance voting is on now!

Stephen Mandel for a greater Edmonton

Last Saturday morning I had the opportunity to sit down with Mayor Stephen Mandel and two of my fellow local bloggers (Dave, Jeff) for an informal chat. We talked about a variety of things, including a few issues that I am particularly interested in.

Mayor Stephen Mandel

Homelessness

I asked Mandel what he thought about the conversation he had at The Learning Centre, where the biggest issue was homelessness. He admitted that he found it frustrating, because many of the people didn’t know too much about the Edmonton Homeless Commission or the plan that has been put into place. I think that illustrates how much work there is still ahead, something Mandel mentioned a few times. He said that “we need partnerships to get it done” and said there is an increasing desire from people and organizations to get involved. He noted that the plan continues to evolve, and while I think Mandel recognizes that completely ending homelessness is definitely a stretch goal, he is truly committed to making a difference.

Working With Councillors

Mandel likes to say that our current council has been quite successful at moving things forward. We asked him why, and what it’ll take to continue that momentum, and he replied that it’s about building consensus. He talked about this at a different event a couple weeks ago, and noted that councillors often do and should want to do more than just deal with ward issues. Mandel seems to want a team of thirteen that can think about Edmonton as a whole, and that can work together to progress things.

Local Food

I wanted to know what Mandel thought about food security and other issues surrounding our local food system. He agreed that the Municipal Development Plan was a good start, and noted the successful push by the Greater Edmonton Alliance in helping that document evolve. He talked about our food processing industry, and said it would be good to help it expand (something others are thinking about right now too). When I asked about beekeeping or chickens within the city, he said “we need to make it possible for people to do these things” but noted that it’s a complex issue.

In the economic vision he released yesterday, Mandel pledged to pursue “a new program to accommodate and promote Edmonton’s Urban Agricultural Strategy as both a community and economic initiative.”

Danielle Smith

I asked Mandel if he had any regrets on how he handled the Danielle Smith airport issue, and he replied “absolutely not.” He was quite emphatic that he’d say the exact same thing if it were to happen today.

Entrepreneurship

I think there are some incredible things happening in Edmonton related to entrepreneurship, whether it’s with Startup Edmonton, Keep Edmonton Original, or just creative people doing things. Mandel said it is important to find a way to effectively support entrepreneurs, noting that “it doesn’t even have to be that much money.” He talked about finding ways for small businesses to compete with big business for City contracts, something he mentioned in yesterday’s economic vision as well. He also brainstormed out loud that a startup fund or something like the Edmonton Arts Council for startups might be a good idea. From yesterday’s press release:

“There are leaders in this community already working to make Edmonton a hotbed for connected young creatives, engineers and entrepreneurs who can compete in a global creative economy,” says Ken Bautista, local tech entrepreneur and co-founder of next gen groups artsScene Edmonton and Startup Edmonton. “We are strong believers that under Mayor Mandel’s continued leadership and this vision, Edmonton will have the best environment for young entrepreneurs to connect, do and win in the economy of the future.”

The feeling I got from Mandel on this issue is that he sees the creative economy as very important to the future of Edmonton (indeed “creative” seems to be one of his favorite words) and that he’ll help if he can, but ultimately he doesn’t want to get in the way.

Open Data

I asked Mandel about open data and the City’s Apps4Edmonton competition, and he had nothing but positive things to say about the issue. He was familiar with a few of the apps, though he admitted the app he uses most is Sudoku! I mentioned that some departments at the City seem to be hesitant about releasing data, to which Mandel replied “I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t release it. I think we should just make it all open.”

Twitter

As you may know, Mandel himself hasn’t been updating the @MandelforMayor Twitter account. Paul Mennier, who leads communications for the Mandel campaign, said “it’s his words, my fingers.” Mandel told me he found Twitter “interesting” and that he’d like to explore it more after the election is done.

Development in the River Valley

I think we should explore limited development in the river valley, something Mandel agrees with. He noted that the efforts we have made so far, such as Louise McKinney Park, are not enough. The two biggest roadblocks as Mandel sees it? Proper access, and more vocal public support.

Mayor Stephen Mandel

October 18

I think Stephen Mandel is the the right mayor for Edmonton for the next three years, which is why I signed this letter of support along with hundreds of other Edmontonians. I encourage you to consider voting for Stephen Mandel on Monday, October 18.

Edmonton Election 2010: Final Mayoral Forum Recap

Last night was the second and final mayoral forum, held at Eastglen School. It was extremely well-attended, so much so that the overflow seating was all gone shortly after the event began at 7pm (estimates put the total attendance at around 600). Dozens of people stood at the back of the theatre and in the lobby throughout the entire evening. There were large sections of supporters in the audience, most wearing t-shirts for their respective candidates.

Mayoral Forum

It was an evening full of surprises, heated discussion, and some comedy (perhaps unintentional). When Stephen Mandel delivered his opening remarks, he was greeted with boos and jeers from people in the audience who support his rivals. It would happen throughout the night. Probably the biggest surprise came when Andrew Lineker stood up to deliver his opening remarks. He accused David Dorward of stealing his platform, said Daryl Bonar had no platform, and finished with “this forum for myself is done” before he stormed out. Bob Ligertwood delivered a meandering and off-topic opening address, while Dave Dowling talked about democracy. Dan Dromarsky was strong all evening, and made a good impression with his opening statement. Daryl Bonar presented himself as the alternative to Dorward and Mandel, saying he was “beholden to no one but voters”.

Here are some of the more memorable quotes from the forum:

  • “Vote for the future of Edmonton.” – Mandel
  • “I’m Dan Dromarsky and I can count to seven.” – Dromarsky in response to Dowling suggesting there were only four viable candidates
  • “Being your mayor will be a tremendous challenge, no doubt.” – Dorward
  • “I would definitely support an inquiry, if not a criminal investigation.” – Dowling on EPCOR
  • “That’s a lot of plebiscites.” – Dromarsky commenting on Dowling’s love of direct democracy
  • “Closing the City Centre Airport was a vote against your democratic rights.” – Ligertwood
  • “I grew up in social housing. It doesn’t work.” – Bonar
  • “Our city is at a crossroads, make no mistake about it.” – Bonar
  • “The winds of change are upon us.” – Dorward
  • “We should be experts at snow removal, but the sad thing is, we’re not.” – Dromarsky
  • “We need to place needs before wants.” – Dromarsky
  • “It would be the biggest mistake we’ll make in our lifetimes.” – Ligertwood on the Downtown Arena
  • “We’ve found creative solutions and we’ve moved forward – all of us.” – Mandel
  • “I Dave Dowling…” – Dowling

There wasn’t much time for questions, which was unfortunate. I also thought it was odd that the first question came from Ward 6 candidate Adil Pirbhai. The candidates were surprisingly brief with most of their answers.

Mayoral ForumMayoral Forum

As is so often the case nowadays, Twitter played a role in the event. From 6pm to 10pm last night, there were 1225 tweets posted using the #yegvote hashtag or one of the candidates’ names. There has been consistent chatter on Twitter over the last couple of weeks, but the forum really stood out:

Here’s a wordle of those tweets, with only the #yegvote hashtag removed:

And here’s a wordle with the candidates, #yegvote, and Twitter names removed:

It doesn’t come out as clearly as I thought it might, but the key issues last night included the City Centre Airport, the EPCOR deal, LRT expansion, and transparency.

Here are all the tweets, from oldest to newest:

Hopefully that’s useful as you prepare to vote on Monday. You can read the Edmonton Journal’s recap here. Here’s the CBC’s recap. The recorded webcast will be available here shortly. Stay tuned to the Election centre on ShareEdmonton for updates, including live results on election night!

Edmonton Election 2010: Ward 2 Forum Recap

Tonight I attended the Ward 2 candidates forum at Rosslyn School. There were over 200 people in attendance, and without question the City Centre Airport was one of the major reasons for that. Both Kim Krushell and Don Koziak had large cheering sections on hand, and there were a number of familiar faces in the crowd, such as mayoral candidate David Dorward (who left after the opening statements) and former city councillor Patricia McKenzie. All of the candidates were present, except for Michael Waddy.

I thought both Krushell and Thomas Hinderks did the best job of fielding questions tonight. Hinderks in particular sounded confident and knowledgeable. Roxie Malone-Richards was also confident, but couldn’t seem to answer a question without referencing her support for the City Centre Airport, or her catchphrase: “overhaul city hall this fall.” Shelley Tupper didn’t have much to say, and frequently she simply agreed with what Krushell had said.

Ward 2 Forum

Here are my notes. My commentary is in italics. First, the opening statements:

  • Hinderks said the biggest issue facing Ward 2 is the creation of new jobs.
  • Koziak started off by questioning Krushell’s record and saying “we can do better”. He talked about the airport and its relation to business, saying that “business depends on customers”. He also said that if anyone on council is going to support the airport, it should be the Ward 2 councillor. First of all, retiring Ward 2 councillor Ron Hayter was one of the more vocal supporters of the airport. And secondly, you shouldn’t have to support something simply because of where it is located.
  • Krushell started by thanking Ward 2 residents, and said it is important to have a voice with experience representing them on council. Her commitment going forward is on results. She mentioned being in favor of decommissioning the trolley buses (which earned her a few jeers from the audience) and that she wholly supports LRT expansion (which earned her loud applause). She closed by stating that any discussion on the airport must be “guided by facts, not rhetoric or emotion.”
  • Malone-Richards said the big issue facing Ward 2 is the airport, and she is firmly in favor of keeping it open. She felt that there was a lack of democracy in council’s decision. She also promised to donate her 5.5% salary increase to charity if elected, and said she would increase the snow removal budget and frequency.
  • Tupper talked about her community experience, and mentioned a couple times that she has been a resident of Kensington for more than 20 years.

Second, questions:

  • When asked about whether or not they would take direction from city administration, both Koziak and Hinderks agreed they would give direction instead. Tupper said she’d listen to constituents, administration, and others, and then make a decision.
  • In response to a question about where the funding for LRT expansion will come from, Koziak replied that he is “extremely concerned” with the city’s debt levels. He otherwise avoided the question, and asked the same thing in response, where are we going to get the money?
  • Hinderks said that while LRT is important, “I wish we’d start calling it transit.” I like his overall point, that LRT is just a part of the public transit system.
  • In response to a question about an overpass at 127 Street and Yellowhead Trail, Malone-Richards said that she’s in favor of removing the lights on Yellowhead. All the candidates agreed that the overpass is needed, and Koziak went so far as to say the overpass would be his key transportation issue.
  • Koziak then took the opportunity to ask the audience for a show of hands if they took the LRT to get to the event. No hands went up. I thought this was one of the funniest things of the evening. I’m sure the room was divided into two. Those who support Koziak’s skepticism on LRT expansion were probably quite satisfied with the lack of hands. Those of us who support LRT expansion were probably thinking, ‘what a silly question, there’s no LRT station even close to here’. The nearest station, Belvedere is still two buses or a one an a quarter hour walk away from Rosslyn School.
  • When asked how we can ensure the redevelopment of the City Centre Airport lands results in affordable housing, Malone-Richards said “I’m not ready to give it up yet.” Krushell said the lands need to have a mix of housing options, and noted that any development would still have to go through the zoning process.
  • When asked about the bicycle plan, Koziak said he learned as an engineer that “one big truck causes more damage to a roadway than a million bicycles.”
  • On redevelopment and curbing urban sprawl, Malone-Richards say she supports incentives or penalties to encourage land and building owners to redevelop empty lots or derelict buildings. Except when it comes to the airport, of course.
  • Hinderks said a few times that if he’s elected, he expects constituents to call him daily to ensure he is keeping is promises.
  • One of the best questions of the evening was how we can retain talent in Edmonton, and diversify our economy. Malone-Richards said she wasn’t sure how to answer. Hinderks said that to make Edmonton more than an oil town, we need to focus on the City Centre Airport. Krushell finally answered the question, citing Next Gen and open data as two successful examples of the right approach, and said that closing the City Centre Airport will result in NAIT expansion and lots of new jobs. Koziak disagreed.
  • Hinderks also talked a lot about focusing on “advanced technology” in relation to the City Centre Airport, but never elaborated on what he meant.
  • In response to a question about social housing throughout the city, Hinderks said it “is a load that must be shared by everyone” and then quickly clarified that social housing is not a load but is “our friends and neighbours”.
  • At this point in my Twitter stream, Tupper once again agreed with one of the candidates. Woman of few words? Also of few thoughts/opinions?
  • There were a couple of questions about EPCOR. Koziak said that he thinks the goal of creating Capital Power was simply to create a new highly-paid CEO in Edmonton. And I’m quite certain he wasn’t joking. Krushell stood up for the decision, saying that by creating two companies, city council was actually helping to grow EPCOR.
  • The final question asked candidates for their vision of Edmonton as a whole. Malone-Richards said EXPO 2017 is “a colossal waste of money”. Tupper said she sees a city in which people care for one another. Hinderks picked up on the EXPO 2017 reference and said “we’re already on the map” and also “we don’t need to be on anyone’s map”. Koziak said “we have it pretty good here” and listed a bunch of negative things we don’t have, such as earthquakes. The only vision he referred to was infrastructure. Krushell responded by citing the success of Next Gen and similar initiatives, by pointing out that we’ve had a net increase in migration and that we’re creating more jobs.

And finally, closing statements:

  • Tupper didn’t say much, but encouraged everyone to vote.
  • Malone-Richards said “I’m the gal that talks the talk, walks the walk, and gets things done.”
  • Krushell said she has delivered over the last six years, citing some key accomplishments, and asked for continued support.
  • Koziak used the first half of his one minute to talk about where he and Krushell first met. He eventually got around to saying that he hopes to stop talking about the airport and that he wants to bring fresh ideas to council. Yes, in the same sentence.
  • Hinderks lectured: “Don’t just vote!” and be done, but after the election is over, “start riding your selection’s butt.”

My hat is off to the Toastmasters who moderate these forums. Without fail, someone will get to the microphone and talk for an hour if you let them. And without fail, the person at the front of the question line complains once the time for questions is over. Tonight’s moderator handled both situations expertly.

Ward 2 ForumWard 2 Forum

You can learn more about Ward 2 at ShareEdmonton. Election day is Monday!

Edmonton Election 2010: Inner City Issues at The Learning Centre

It’s pretty clear that technology is playing a big role in this year’s election. Lots of candidates now have websites and a presence on social networking sites, and there are an increasing number of places you can look online for more information. We’re fortunate in Edmonton to have lots of opportunities to meet candidates in person too, such as at City or community organized forums, many of which are either streamed online or live-tweeted by those in attendance.

But what about Edmontonians that don’t have regular access to the web? Or Edmontonians whose reading skills are in need of improvement? Some people simply don’t feel comfortable attending a forum or talking to candidates in person, so how can they have a voice in this election? I was happy to discover that The Learning Centre (I am a board member) was making an effort to help people in the inner city get involved.

The Learning Centre

Daniel Johnson, a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta, has been a volunteer at The Learning Centre since being introduced to it through the Humanities 101 program. Recently, he decided to try to get people that use The Learning Centre and Boyle Street Community Services (BSCS) thinking about the election. For the last few weeks, Daniel and other volunteers have been running an informal session called “Inner City Issues” in the Boyle Street drop-in. The goal was to get people talking about the issues they care about. Daniel would write down their questions and thoughts on the whiteboard, and then he’d ask other people what they thought. As you can see below, they’ve come up with not only questions, but also lots of ideas.

As the election draws near, the focus of the session will shift toward helping people be prepared to vote, ensuring they know where to go, what identification is required, etc. And everyone will continue to have the opportunity to voice their concerns.

The Learning Centre

Daniel also organized two candidate forums, held at The Learning Centre on September 30 and October 7. Mayoral candidate Daryl Bonar was joined by Ward 6 candidates Brian Kaptiza and Jane Batty at the first forum, and Mayor Stephen Mandel was on hand for yesterday’s forum. I wasn’t able to attend the first forum, but Daniel told me that there was a great turnout, with lots of questions and animated discussion.

I was able to check out yesterday’s forum, however. Mandel arrived late but stayed for quite a while to answer more than two dozen questions. There were about 25 people in attendance, a little less than at the first forum. There were a range of issues brought up, but homelessness and housing issues (bed bugs, basement suites, etc) dominated the discussion. Other issues that came up were policing, transit (not enough passes or tickets in the Donate-A-Ride program), helping those with mental illness, the amount of garbage downtown, school closures, safe injection sites, and the downtown arena. The airport and EXPO were mentioned once or twice, but were definitely not the focus!

I thought Mandel did a good job of answering questions for the most part, though he did get a little defensive on occasion. Most people in the room wanted to see more action on helping the homeless, though a few did explicitly thank Mandel for the work the city has been doing under his watch. What impressed me most was that people didn’t just have questions, they had ideas for possible solutions too. Things like using recently closed schools for transition housing, or offering a free downtown bus route. One person even suggested that Mayor Mandel go homeless for a night, to see what it’s really like. He replied: “I’ll think about it!”

I think it’s great that Mandel, Bonar, Kapitza, and Batty took the time to meet with people in the inner city. It’s a group that is often overlooked, even as we tout the statistics of the Housing First program and other service agencies. Kudos to Daniel and his fellow volunteers for making it happen!

The weekly inner city issues session will continue to run next Thursday at 1pm at the BSCS drop-in centre, and on October 18, there will be buses available throughout the day to bring people from BSCS to the polling station.

Recap: Edmonton Next Gen’s Candi{date} :: north of the river

Edmonton Next Gen held its second Candi{date} forum this evening, this time for candidates in Wards 1 through 7. Organized in conjunction with interVivos and the MacEwan Students’ Association, the event provided young people the opportunity to sit down with candidates for 20-minute mini-dates. The first Candi{date} event was poorly attended, but tonight’s event was much more lively. Most of the candidates were in attendance and their tables generally seemed busy throughout the evening.

I decided to focus on Ward 6 candidates, since that is the ward I live in. I managed to sit down with each of them, except for Jane Batty. Here are my thoughts on the candidates I talked to:

  • I started with Thomas Roberts. He seemed unprepared, both in terms of his campaign (he had some excuse about not having materials) and in terms of his knowledge. Thomas brought up the airport, as an example of the current city council not listening to citizens. He cited business as the core reason to keep it open, but could not express why and I don’t think he really knows anything about the airport. He thought all the businesses had already moved away from the ECCA. He also thought Port Alberta was called “Port Edmonton” and that it involved the ECCA. We talked about transit as well, and he expressed his belief that the U-Pass is too expensive and should be opt in. He couldn’t tell us how much the U-Pass costs, and he did not have a strategy for making the program viable if it were opt-in. I asked him why he wanted to run for council, and he said the airport was a big issue, and there was another one…that he read in the paper not long ago…that he couldn’t remember. Frankly, I couldn’t wait for our time to be up.
  • My next stop was with James Johnson, one of the younger candidates running for office. He seemed relaxed and did a good job of answering questions, even if he lacked enthusiasm. I asked him where he sees Edmonton in twenty years, and he said “with the same boundaries we have now.” He seems to understand that a more compact urban form could help our city run more efficiently, but unfortunately, his policies don’t align with that vision. He supports the ECCA, again claiming we’ll lose business without it. I asked him what he’d do to ensure we attract new business when it closes, and he didn’t have a strategy. James has concerns with the Stony Plain LRT and referred to transit in general as a “social service”. He did acknowledge that having everyone drive is not the solution. We also touched on EXPO, something James is opposed to due to cost. I thought James was a pretty personable guy, but I disagree with his ideas about how to move Edmonton forward, and I got the impression that he’d have a lot of learning to do.
  • My third stop was at Lee Permann’s table. He was very friendly, and actually, I’d say my conversation with him was the most enjoyable of the evening. I had to start by asking him about his lawn signs, which have councillor spelled “councelor”. He blamed it on the printer, but didn’t have a reason for why he didn’t print new signs. He had a sense of humor about it though, suggesting it might get people to notice him. He lives in Westmount, and talked a lot about increasing the number of people living in the ward. He thinks downtown (I’m assuming he means Downtown and surrounding neighbourhoods together) could support another 100,000 people in the next 20 years. I’m not sure that is realistic, but I do like that he views downtown revitalization as a function of the number of people living there. He also talked about the need for infrastructure. I asked him why he wanted to run for council and he said that he felt the current council was too closely aligned with big business, but did not elaborate. Lee seems like a good guy, but I don’t think city council is for him.
  • Next up for me was Brian Kapitza. He clearly knows a thing or two about how the city works, and seems to have spent some time learning about other places in the world too. Almost as soon as we sat down he launched into his two core issues: neighbourhood renewal & empowerment, and curbing urban sprawl through property tax reform. I think his idea for property tax reform (basically you pay based on the services your land can use, rather than the value of the land) makes a lot of sense but would be difficult to get consensus on. Likewise I think his plan to give community leagues the power to veto planning and development issues in their neighbourhoods would be difficult to implement. I guess someone needs to start these discussions, but I wonder what else he’d do if elected. I really felt as though I was being lectured to when Brian talked, but I am happy to see a candidate with some experience, a vision for Edmonton’s future, and some concrete strategies to start working toward that vision.
  • My last stop was at Cris Basualdo’s table. We spent our time talking about Cris’ two major issues: creating a vibrant downtown (she includes the surrounding neighbourhoods) with more residents, and dealing with community safety. It’s a little odd to talk about how unsafe the ward is in one breath and then to start talking about bringing in more families in the next, but that’s how it went. Like Lee Permann, Cris thinks the key to creating a vibrant downtown is to get more people living there. I think she exaggerates the crime problems facing ward six, and did not share any specifics on how she’d go about improving the situation. Cris wants to take a firm stance against undesirable activities such as needle use, but did not indicate where users would go (no mention of safe injection sites, etc). I thought Cris was really friendly, and she certainly has passion for what she believes, but I don’t think she’s ready for city council.

Candi{date}

I tweeted earlier that the evening was both eye opening and depressing. The speed-dating format is a fantastic way to meet the candidates, and to find out more about them. It’s also a format that prevents candidates from hiding behind platform points or big issues. You can fairly quickly figure out which candidates know that they’re talking about, which candidates would likely be team players, and which candidates have a vision for Edmonton beyond fixing potholes. The depressing part is that I left most tables underwhelmed and unimpressed.

I’ve mentioned the learning curve a few times. I think it takes guts to throw your hat into the ring to run for office, but I also feel you should be prepared for it, and I want a councillor that can hit the ground running. Obviously there’s a learning curve for anyone new to council, but there is a whole ton of knowledge about how the city works that you can learn before getting into office. That doesn’t mean no new ideas, it just means being prepared to do the job well. I think we’ve got some momentum as a city, and I’d like to see us capitalize on that.

Candi{date}Candi{date}

I thought NextGen did a great job with Candi{date} and I’d love to see them do it again. I can only imagine that candidates would want to do more of these events as well. Daryl Bonar told me about his experience at the first Candi{date} and said it was a great way to meet lots of people in a short amount of time, far more than you’re likely to have a meaningful conversation with door-knocking. It would be great to see similar events for school board candidates as well.

Thanks NextGen (and partners) for a unique way to meet my candidates! You can see a few more photos from the evening here.

TechDays 2010: Edmonton

This year Microsoft finally brought TechDays, its Canadian technical training conference, to Edmonton. Some of us had been asking Microsoft to add our city to the cross-Canada tour for a while, and when enough people spoke up, they listened. And it paid off too. Initially Microsoft was expecting 250-300 people to register for the Edmonton event, but we blew that out of the water! Nearly 500 people registered! And judging by the large crowds, I’d say that most of those people attended too (it’s probably quite uncommon pay the registration fee and then not attend).

There is always criticism of the sessions offered at TechDays, but I think they had a decent mix this time around. Lots of introductory stuff I suppose, but that seemed to match the makeup of the audience. The addition of the Local Flavours track was a good start toward including some more diverse content as well. I was the track host for the “Optimizing the Development Process” track, and I did two presentations of my own.

TechDays 2010

My first presentation was Top 10 Mistakes in Unit Testing, adapted from a similar talk that was done at TechEd. The goal of the session was really to get people thinking about the little things that can help them be more successful with unit testing. I included three demos: a simple MS Test demo, a more involved demo using Ninject and Moq, and finally a demo showing JavaScript unit testing. Here are some resources for the session:

For my second presentation, I teamed up with Devin Serink to present A More Programmable World with OData. We talked about open data in general, about the work the City of Edmonton is doing, and then showed how easy it is to create and consume OData services. We spiced things up by using some PHP and Google Charts in the demos! Here are some resources for the session:

I thought both talks went well, and I hope people found them useful!

TechDays 2010

Given the success of the inaugural TechDays in Edmonton, I’m sure they’ll be back again next year. You can follow along as TechDays continues to travel across the country using #techdays_ca on Twitter.

Joey wrote about Day 1 here, and you can see the rest of my photos here.

Recap: CloudCamp Edmonton

Tonight was the first-ever CloudCamp here in Edmonton, an unconference focused on cloud computing. Held at the Shaw Conference Centre, kind of in conjunction with Microsoft’s Tech Days (happening tomorrow and Wednesday), around 60 people attended. Here’s the brief overview:

CloudCamp is an unconference where early adopters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place where we can meet to share our experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you are encouraged to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.

The format was similar to other unconference events. Moderated by Larry Carvalho, we started with six lightning talks:

  • Barnaby Jeans went first and gave an overview of Microsoft’s cloud computing strategy and offerings.
  • Associate Professor Paul Lu from the University of Alberta was up next and talked about the university’s proposed adoption of Gmail, its experimentation with Google’s Fusion Tables, and its research work on virtualized RAM.
  • Third was Rob Bissett from 6fusion. He talked more about infrastructure-as-a-service as well as the need for consistent price-per-compute units across the industry.
  • Li-Yan Yuan, a Professor at the University of Alberta, talked about LogicSQL, which is basically a grid architecture for a DBMS.
  • Fifth was Sean Ouimet, who dared to be different and used a flipchart instead of slides to talk about how to design your applications for the cloud so that they scale.
  • Last but not least was Timothy Dalby, winner of Make Web Not War, who discussed his application Find-A-Home.

CloudCamp Edmonton

After the lightning talks, Larry asked everyone in the audience to raise their hands if they thought they were an expert in cloud computing. The four guys that raised their hands become the panelists on the “unpanel” (and it was guys…I think there was maybe one woman in the whole audience). Everyone in the audience then had the opportunity to ask questions, which the panel fielded. Larry took notes, and the questions eventually formed the basis for the breakout sessions.

Some of the topics that came up included: geography (where is your data located), multi-tenancy, cost, building a cloud application, and startup opportunities. We ended up breaking into just two separate groups though, one more focused on the business side and one focused more on the technical side.

I decided to join the business group, and for an hour or so we had a really great (not to mention really broad) discussion about the impacts of cloud computing. I had to leave before the two groups came together again, but that was to be the final part of CloudCamp.

One of the more basic questions that arose throughout the evening was the difference between the various “as-a-service” offerings:

  1. Software-as-a-Service
  2. Platform-as-a-Service
  3. Infrastructure-as-a-Service

I think the Wikipedia articles do a good job of explaining each one, so I won’t expand on that here. I tend to think of it like this: SaaS is something like hosted Exchange, PaaS is something like Azure (which hosted Exchange runs on), and IaaS is something like Amazon S3 (which could host the Azure data).

It was great to see so many people interested in discussing cloud computing! You can see a few more photos from the evening here.