The dragons den errr I mean Edmonton city council!

Well that was an experience! I think more people would benefit from spending a day at city hall watching council and the executive committee. Speak for or against something.. Watch the members as they respond to the speakers..

I learned a lot about the leanings and personalities of the people who run my city. I also got to participate by addressing them directly on an issue of great importance and responded to their questions.

I watched a community group try to get funding to rebuild an important parking area, and parry between the different interests of the council members and the mayor. It was ALOT like dragons den. It showed me a lot about the different options available to us and the procedure to make decisions. (It taught me a few things about how hard city council will fight sometimes to NOT spend taxpayers money when it doesn’t really make sense to, although there are compromise options and always studies to be done).

I spoke my piece regarding the many ways our city would benefit from a feed in tariff being introduced to Alberta. There is a task force being created by Edmonton involving many different interests (council, industry, business, local residential concerns, etc) who will be studying renewable energy generation for Edmonton. Their mandate is to assess and weigh all the different options and technologies available, identify barriers to their use, determine city policy to implement incentives, as well as take action to remove those barriers (including, specifically, lobbying other levels of government), and report back to the city with plans and policies for the short, medium, and long term..

That is a huge mandate, and there is a lot more to it than that even.

Municipalities and local governments the world over are taking initiative on climate change and energy. This is most evident in Canada, where our conservative government does nothing and even impedes our progress on pollution initiatives. Will we finally get what we want when towns, cities, and people band together and say it louder and louder? If Ontario is any indication, yes we can! (Heh, forgive me I got a little excited there..)

Anyways there are lessons here. Any citizen has the right to speak and participate and there are meaningful (if not always convenient) ways to do so. Major centres are looking into renewable energy as a source of income, green economy style. We are struggling to change the way we think and see the world. These old bastards can’t get it right without us so get in there…

My experience was overall positive, although I saw one or two uninformed ideas and opinions from council members and the mayor, I can chalk a lot of it up to simple misinformation from their major corporate and power generating contributors. They did an admirable job of not looking too bored, or like they just wanted us to go away so they could run the city.  I think there was some good efforts on the part of mayor Mandel and Ben Henderson to explore options and get to the bottom of some motivating factors raised during discussion with presenters. Also councillor Kim Krushell did a good job of explaining her position and extracting additional information (and is kinda cute which doesn’t hurt).

We can’t expect these people to do what we want if we refuse to tell them. Voting for them one election and against them the next teaches nothing. In municipal politics where we still have access to these people its vital that we take advantage of it. I for one demand better of them and I intend to follow up and see that I get it.

Promises at election time mean a lot less than actions while in office, and those actions speak a lot louder when you know that they were not made in ignorance, that you told them and educated them and they either made good decisions or bad. Ignorance on their part is partly laziness on my part. They stand to gain, or lose, a lot more than just MY vote. The world is my soap box, my neighbors, my friends, my community groups, the strangers that I meet and speak with, MY FREAKING INTERNET. My efforts (and yours too, if you will take a step and do even some small thing, such as be heard) are magnified through a lens of public information dissemination. I may not get everything I want, and I may change what I want… that is my prerogative. (No ladies, not only yours) One thing that is always for sure, they will know what it is, why I feel that way, and what impact that has on others. They will consider my position and how it benefits my fellow citizens, and I will see that consideration in the results of their deliberations.

Think about it, you could do the same, maybe less, maybe more, and it would mean less of your life being decided by people and companies who make millions off your back whether you know it or not.

Fear me or love me, Edmonton city council. King Steve, you’re next.

Ding Ding.

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