Tag Archives: politics

Episode 55: Laurie Blakeman, Pick & Pay TV, The Decline of Vancouver

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In our fifty-fifth episode, we discuss Laurie Blakeman’s interesting move to be the nominee for the Liberal, Green, and Alberta parties in Edmonton Centre, the CRTC’s decision to unbundle TV channels, and an interesting article about the decline of Vancouver.

Is Blakeman’s move a one-off or the start of something more in Alberta? Will it be worth it to pick individual TV channels? Will it matter with the way everything is transitioning to online? Why is it so expensive to live in Vancouver? What can we learn about their situation here in Edmonton? We discuss those questions and more.

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Episode 49: Salary Hikes & Cuts, Winter Cities Shake-Up, Rossdale Canal

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In our forty-ninth episode we discuss the provincial MLA salary cuts and the City Council increase, the WinterCity Shake Up, the proposal for a canal in Rossdale, and an update on construction hoarding. This episode was recorded on January 30, 2015.

Very interesting timing for the Prentice announcement about a salary cut, just days after City Council approved an independent committee’s increase of their own wages. But is that really what the announcement is about, or is it more about the unions? What is going to happen with taxes in Alberta? Does our City Council need to make any symbolic cuts like the Province is? When might a provincial election be called?

We also discuss winter, from a variety of angles. People enjoy winter all over the world, why can’t we enjoy it here? Do we have to stay locked indoors during the winter? When can I get some mulled wine outside? Why is this canal idea for Rossdale coming forward now, if we already have Touch the Water? We agree Edmontonians should be able to enjoy access to the river, but what’s the best way to do that? With all the construction happening downtown, what changes are needed to improve construction hoarding? We discuss those questions and more.

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Episode 37: Eat Alberta, Opening the Potential, VenturePrize, The Yeggies, yegTreeMap

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In our thirty-seventh episode, we discuss Eat Alberta, Opening the Potential, TEC Edmonton’s VenturePrize, the Yeggies, and the City of Edmonton’s yegTreeMap.

Graham attended Eat Alberta once again this year, and had a great experience. Mack has been on the organizing committee for the last four years and is now stepping away. Here’s the episode we did last year on Eat Alberta!

Mack thinks the new Opening the Potential program is a worthwhile endeavor, while Graham thinks it is sexist. Are enough women getting involved in municipal politics? Can programs like this help? We also discuss the VenturePrize business plan competition, the 2013 Yeggies, and the City’s new online tree map.

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Episode 32: Who will lead the PCs in Alberta now?

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In our 32nd episode, a follow-up to our last episode on Alison Redford, we discuss the leadership race for the PC Party in Alberta. The premier is now Dave Hancock, but he has said that will only be interim, meaning we have a race on our hands!

With a leadership race occupying everyone’s attention, will anything get done? Who’s interested in being the next leader? What names should we expect to see in the race? Can the next leader pull off a victory given all of the issues the party has faced recently? We discuss those questions and more.

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Episode 31: Can Alison Redford survive?

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We recorded our 31st episode last week, the day before Alison Redford announced that she would be resigning as premier of Alberta. We decided to post it anyway, for posterity. Next week our episode will feature a post-resignation discussion!

With all the turmoil facing Alison Redford and her party, we decided it was only right to add our thoughts to the mix. Where did Redford go wrong? Can she survive the current crisis? If she can’t survive it, can the party? Is “eating your own young” a good strategy? We discussed those questions and more.

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Episode 28: Mayor Iveson the Operator

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In our twenty-eighth episode, we discuss the new City of Edmonton office tower and the way that Mayor Iveson handled the situation. Graham thinks he’s a smooth operator, and I have to agree.

There wasn’t a lot of fuss about the building, and Council was more or less on the same page about the deal. Even though it went to the Katz Group, no one questioned that the process followed was fair. On the whole, the announcement came and went rather smoothly. We suggest it’s because Mayor Iveson is great at the behind-the-scenes action.

And if he did that for the arena and the tower, can he do it for the LRT? Or for other big infrastructure projects? We dive into those questions and more.

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Episode 26: The Edmonton Region

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Apologies to anyone who missed our last episode in the feed – we incorrectly categorized it. All should be fixed now!

In our twenty-sixth episode, we discuss the growing interest in regional governance. We have the Capital Region Board of course, and Mayor Iveson has indicated he’d like to rename it to highlight the importance of Edmonton. While the organization has had success getting agreement on transit, and supporting funding for the downtown arena, there’s still a lot of room for improvement.

What can Edmontonians expect for regional governance in the future? Does the Capital Region Board have too many members? Is transit really the only thing we can agree on? What kind of impact will Bill 28, recently introduced by the provincial government, have on us? How will the proposed south annexation impact relationships? We discuss these questions and more.

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Episode 25: Premier Redford’s Leadership Review

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In our twenty-fifth episode, we discuss Premier Alison Redford and the PC Party leadership review she faces later this week. An estimated 1500 voting delegates will converge on Red Deer on Friday and Saturday for the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta AGM and one of the things they’ll vote on is Premier Redford’s performance.

After a series of missteps since winning the election last year, there’s a small but loud group of people that would like to see some change at the top. How likely is it that Premier Redford will survive the leadership review? If, as expected, she does, what then? Will there be any other fallout? We discuss those questions and more in this more provincially-focused episode.

Graham was right on the money with his prediction for the outcome of the municipal election – will he do it again with his prediction on Redford’s leadership review?

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Episode 17: Campaign Contributions

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In our seventeenth episode we discuss campaign contributions made during municipal elections. Should developers and unions be able to make donations? Do those donations influence politicians once they are elected? Should elected officials excuse themselves from decisions for which they might have a conflict of interest?

We discuss those questions and more. The cost of running a campaign for council has risen quite a bit over the last four elections, from about $22,000 in 2001 on average to more than $56,000 in 2010. Candidates need to raise the money, but as Graham says, “money buys influence.”

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Full disclosure: Mack is volunteering for Don Iveson’s campaign for mayor.

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Episode 15: Early Election Action

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In our fifteenth episode we discuss some of the latest campaign announcements that have taken place. The municipal election doesn’t take place until October, but that hasn’t stopped a number of candidates from kicking off their campaigns, including three current councillors running for mayor.

Things really got underway with the approval of the arena deal and the announcement the very next day by Kerry Diotte that he would run for mayor. In recent weeks, both Karen Leibovici and Don Iveson have announced that they too will run for the top seat. With Amarjeet Sohi’s decision to run again for council, it looks as though the big names for mayor have all come forward. There’s a long way to go before a winner is declared, but that doesn’t stop us from comparing them!

Here are some relevant links for this episode:

There’s much more to come on this topic. Thanks for listening!

Disclosure: Mack is volunteering for Don Iveson’s campaign.

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