Edmonton has not been the City of Champions for some time, even though many fondly remember its glory days. In fact the City of Edmonton re-branded in 2017 and brilliantly reduced their essence down to one word, “Edmonton.” Yes, they tried to pull that off.They may have the unfortunate experience now of being re-re-branded by the public as, “Broke’monton” after news has surfaced that they have no more money.The phrase “go woke, go broke” is very common these days, but it appears Edmonton city council is in fact posturing to attempt a takeover of that term and rebrand it for their city.But seriously, how could a city such as Edmonton be out of money?This is the question that has everyone somewhere between puzzled and blame shifting. There is nothing as shameful as a politician ripping pages from Justin Trudeau’s playbook and yet that is exactly what Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi did.While talking to reporters Sohi had the chutzpah to suggest he and council are still struggling to deal with all the commitments made by the previous council. To put this in perspective, Sohi was elected as mayor of Edmonton in October of 2021, and he still thinks it is the previous council’s fault.We all know that Trudeau is desperate when he stoops to blaming former prime minister Stephen Harper for his issues, but would Sohi really follow suit? What next? Will this Liberal politician blame Ralph Klein for Edmonton’s homeless crisis? Maybe, but we should not be surprised, to be honest, that the former Liberal cabinet minister would try such a tactic.In fact, this sheds light on Canada’s housing and many other issues, when you look at them in light of Edmonton. A former federal cabinet minister of infrastructure and communities would be well-equipped to lead the City of Edmonton you'd think, right?Apparently, the people who believed that sentiment have the same things in common with those in BC who said free and a safe drug supply would make things better. At every twist and turn of left leaning policy, the people suffer. Yet, the lesson is still lost on too many Canadians.The problem facing Edmonton is not going to get better as they have 300 city buses and 37 light rail cars to replace. The replacement of these vehicles is estimated to be close to half a billion dollars.This is where some will be quick to inform me of how the previous council purchased 60 underperforming electric buses. That was a mistake, so why would the current council allocate another $11 million to purchase more “emission neutral” vehicles and another $100 million to bike lanes?Einstein once famously said that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Yet here we are. More policies wrapped in the self-righteous robe climate and progressive rhetoric with no regard for fiscal policy. How will a mess like this be resolved? Who is going to have to bail out a city that made the NDP the opposition party in Alberta? It will no doubt be the taxpayers.Oh, and Calgary, don’t think you are off the hook here. Too many Calgarians need to observe Edmonton’s plight and learn the lessons that are unfolding there. You voted a leftist mayor and like the NDP as well.There needs to be consequences for such negligence — more than just people resigning. Should a politician that bankrupts a jurisdiction retain their pension? This might be extreme, but in all seriousness, neither Sohi nor his city council will suffer from the impending tax hikes and fallout from their decisions. Maybe they should?Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is standing by, ready to help if necessary. Smith is just waiting outside the fray though, no doubt haunting Sohi’s dreams as he waits for a conservative woman to clean up his mess.Margaret Thatcher once said, “power is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you ain’t.” I don’t know what Smith will do next but I hope it is effective, helps the people of Edmonton and establishes her leadership and value among naive NDP ridings.Ryan McMillan is a fourth-year journalism student of Mount Royal University who will be graduating this spring. X @ryanimcmillan
Edmonton has not been the City of Champions for some time, even though many fondly remember its glory days. In fact the City of Edmonton re-branded in 2017 and brilliantly reduced their essence down to one word, “Edmonton.” Yes, they tried to pull that off.They may have the unfortunate experience now of being re-re-branded by the public as, “Broke’monton” after news has surfaced that they have no more money.The phrase “go woke, go broke” is very common these days, but it appears Edmonton city council is in fact posturing to attempt a takeover of that term and rebrand it for their city.But seriously, how could a city such as Edmonton be out of money?This is the question that has everyone somewhere between puzzled and blame shifting. There is nothing as shameful as a politician ripping pages from Justin Trudeau’s playbook and yet that is exactly what Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi did.While talking to reporters Sohi had the chutzpah to suggest he and council are still struggling to deal with all the commitments made by the previous council. To put this in perspective, Sohi was elected as mayor of Edmonton in October of 2021, and he still thinks it is the previous council’s fault.We all know that Trudeau is desperate when he stoops to blaming former prime minister Stephen Harper for his issues, but would Sohi really follow suit? What next? Will this Liberal politician blame Ralph Klein for Edmonton’s homeless crisis? Maybe, but we should not be surprised, to be honest, that the former Liberal cabinet minister would try such a tactic.In fact, this sheds light on Canada’s housing and many other issues, when you look at them in light of Edmonton. A former federal cabinet minister of infrastructure and communities would be well-equipped to lead the City of Edmonton you'd think, right?Apparently, the people who believed that sentiment have the same things in common with those in BC who said free and a safe drug supply would make things better. At every twist and turn of left leaning policy, the people suffer. Yet, the lesson is still lost on too many Canadians.The problem facing Edmonton is not going to get better as they have 300 city buses and 37 light rail cars to replace. The replacement of these vehicles is estimated to be close to half a billion dollars.This is where some will be quick to inform me of how the previous council purchased 60 underperforming electric buses. That was a mistake, so why would the current council allocate another $11 million to purchase more “emission neutral” vehicles and another $100 million to bike lanes?Einstein once famously said that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Yet here we are. More policies wrapped in the self-righteous robe climate and progressive rhetoric with no regard for fiscal policy. How will a mess like this be resolved? Who is going to have to bail out a city that made the NDP the opposition party in Alberta? It will no doubt be the taxpayers.Oh, and Calgary, don’t think you are off the hook here. Too many Calgarians need to observe Edmonton’s plight and learn the lessons that are unfolding there. You voted a leftist mayor and like the NDP as well.There needs to be consequences for such negligence — more than just people resigning. Should a politician that bankrupts a jurisdiction retain their pension? This might be extreme, but in all seriousness, neither Sohi nor his city council will suffer from the impending tax hikes and fallout from their decisions. Maybe they should?Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is standing by, ready to help if necessary. Smith is just waiting outside the fray though, no doubt haunting Sohi’s dreams as he waits for a conservative woman to clean up his mess.Margaret Thatcher once said, “power is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you ain’t.” I don’t know what Smith will do next but I hope it is effective, helps the people of Edmonton and establishes her leadership and value among naive NDP ridings.Ryan McMillan is a fourth-year journalism student of Mount Royal University who will be graduating this spring. X @ryanimcmillan
