EDMONTON – Tory Bob Maskell is among those who will seek to unseat Liberal Leader Raj Sherman in Edmonton-Meadowlark, a seat he helped Sherman win in 2008 under the Conservative banner.

Maskell said that in 2008 Sherman was new to provincial politics, and needed his support to earn a profile in Meadowlark and get elected.

“I supported him,” said Maskell. “He was able to say, ‘Bob Maskell is my supporter.’ ”

Sherman went on to win 55 per cent of the vote that election. After he was suspended from caucus for criticizing his own party in 2010, Sherman defected to the Liberals, and has since become their provincial leader.

“They [the constituents] just didn’t understand it,” Maskell said of Sherman’s party jump.

Unseating Sherman will be a difficult task, however. The Liberal Leader has earned a following by challenging the government on issues like excessive emergency room wait times and alleged doctor intimidation. Maskell said that although he thinks Sherman will probably win, he plans on giving him a run for his money.

Maskell visits supporter Sunamy Garcia, at Park West Liquor Loft at 18916 87 Ave. on March 16, 2012. Photograph by Timothy Gerwing

Maskell has lived in Edmonton for the majority of his life. He remembers riding his bike through the field where the West Edmonton Mall is now. He was elected to legislature in 2001, and served until 2004 when Meadowlark went Liberal for a term. Maskell has since been keeping busy with an education consultation business in China, and various board positions. Alison Redford’s progressive campaign to win leadership of the provincial Tories inspired him to return to the political forum, he said.

Maskell isn’t going to run an attack campaign, however. He said he respects Sherman and his decision to switch parties. His campaign will be strictly about why you should vote for him, and not “American-style” mudslinging. He said he’ll draw on everything he knows to defeat the incumbent.

The other candidates so far are Wildrose nominee Rick Newcombe, New Democrat Bridget Stirling, and Alberta Party nominee Neil Mather.

Newcombe, like other Wildrose candidates, holds strong that his party could form government in 2012. He said the message from constituents is clear.

“Four thousand votes could win this election [riding], and I’ve personally contacted at least 3,000 people who said, ‘Yeah, we’re voting Wildrose,’ ” he said.

A recent poll suggested the gap between the Tories and the Wildrose Alliance sits at only five points. The poll says that 29 per cent of decided voters say they will vote Wildrose whereas the Opposition Liberals are polling at only 18 per cent.

“The Wildrose is poised to take a great many seats,” said Newcombe, who described himself as a fiscal conservative with a social conscience.

Newcombe suggested that this is a “three-horse race,” discounting the NDP’s chances.

Stirling, however, won’t give up on her goal of an “Alberta that benefits everyone.”

“Affordability has become a serious concern both for seniors and young people as their bills, particularly for electricity, have skyrocketed in the deregulated market,” said Stirling. “It’s only a ‘three-horse race’ in the sense that there are three conservative candidates.”

She said she is the only real progressive of the bunch.

A general provincial election still hasn’t been called but is expected within days.

Redford’s tour bus was at Maskell’s campaign office in a show of support for him on March 18, a sure sign that the campaign is underway.

GerwingT@mymail.macewan.ca

Jacquelyn Wild waits with her seven-week-old son for her husband to arrive home at the Lecture Training facility. Photo by Elizabeth Walters

By Elizabeth Walters

EDMONTON — Jacquelyn Wild waited in a gym for her husband to return home.

She anxiously held her seven-week-old son, Gabriel. People had been arriving since 9 p.m., as the flights are sometimes early. The gym was filled with chatter and three soldiers were playing live music, songs that you would expect to hear at a fancy restaurant in a dark candle-lit room, certainly not a sage green gym with bleachers and fluorescent lighting. The movie ‘Finding Nemo’ distracted the younger children on one side of the room. One woman sat alone in a bright purple polka dot dress, but most people came in groups holding babies, flowers or digital cameras.

The room filled with cheers when the double doors opened for the soldiers.

They arrived home at 10:25 p.m. on March 7 to reunite with their loved ones at the Lecture Training Facility at CFB Edmonton.

Wild held Gabriel as she walked towards her uniformed husband.

They hugged, they kissed. Wild handed the baby to her husband. He’d been away for nine months, except for two weeks to be home for Gabriel’s birth.

“You know his voice,” Wild told her son, as his father held him in his arms.

As Edmonton’s soldiers return home from Afghanistan in a 6-week-rotation beginning in mid-February they can begin to settle back into the Canadian lifestyle. A future deployment is always possible, but for now they’re home. The soldiers are returning home after being deployed up to a year. Canadian soldiers from Gagetown, N.B., will replace them in Afghanistan.

The next day at a Starbucks downtown with some friends Wild talked about her experience as a soldier’s wife.

“It’s really hard. Definitely you think it’s not going to be as hard as it can be some days. You don’t realize how dependant you become on them before they’ve left.”

“And I was pregnant, so for me the deployment was just all sorts of hard. There’s the emotional side of it, there’s kind of that little thing in the back of your head that worries what if something did happen to them and you just try to not think about that.”

When Wild’s husband came home for Gabriel’s birth, “that was probably like the best two weeks of our whole past year,” she said. “It was just so nice. It just felt normal again. I felt normal again.”

Taylor Auld was engaged to a soldier and has remained close friends with the women she met even after her long-distance relationship ended. “They’re the base of my core friendships now. It’s like a family.”

“All the girls that I have met come from different cities around the country, so we’re our own support system. You kind of create your own family because you don’t have a family support system here.”

Tiffany Motyka’s husband was last deployed in March of 2008 and he was gone for eight months.

The wives are always living with the fear of their husbands being deployed. There is no set schedule and they could be deployed again soon after arriving home.

“I’ve seen it done where they’re on the decompression, where they come to them, and they’re like ‘we need you back for another three months,’ ” Motyka said.

Decompression is a final stop for soldiers before arriving home. Soldiers spend a short time in Cyprus where they can prepare to return to daily life at home.

“Most of the time you can say ‘no,’ but sometimes if they need you, you’re back and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Luckily for Motyka her husband has been home for a while, but she still remembers what it was like when he first got back.

“Having him home, feeling him close to you, smelling his smell, his touch, everything,” said Motyka about the best parts of having her husband home. “You cherish it more than you would have, having him home all the time.”

Even though it is hard Motyka believes you need to “be the biggest support you can possibly be, his job comes first and women need to realize that before they marry them,” she adds. “It’s not just about the wives, it’s about them as well, and they go through the same emotional baggage as we do.”

There is a big support system in the life of military wives as long as you “take help and ask for help,” Wild said. “You need to definitely call on your fellow military wife friends and get help when you need it.”

“Even if it’s to clean your house and you’re embarrassed,” Wild laughed.

walterse5@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — Some people think young people aren’t interested in politics, but Jacquie Lycka proves that wrong. Lycka has been working in politics since she was 17. At only 23 years old, she is already leading a team as a campaign manager for Alberta’s next provincial election.

Jacquie Lycka

Alberta Party campaign manager Jacquie Lycka poses for the camera in Remedy Cafe on February 20th. Photograph by Elizabeth Walters.

Her free time has been hectic ever since she signed up to be a campaign manager for Alberta Party candidate Sue Huff in Edmonton-Glenora in July. Lycka volunteers to lead a team of people in their mid 20s. There is no compensation for anyone on the team, including Lycka, but that’s not why they are involved.

Between working full-time at the legislature as Alberta Party MLA Dave Taylor’s assistant and managing the larger scale tasks of the campaign, Lycka’s life is consumed by politics.

“I actually say that it’s not a job, it’s a way of life.”

“Well, I can kind of give you the whole story,” Lycka said. “Every election I find myself just doing politics, I don’t know how it happens I just find myself supporting a candidate. So I felt that this time around I really wanted to support somebody that I really believed in.”

Being a campaign manager is new to Lycka, but campaigns are not.

“I’ve never worked on a team this young before,” She said. “I’ve worked on several political campaigns in the past and I’ve always felt like the youth wing, like the young person on the team. This team it’s a totally different experience, everybody’s young so we’ve all got a lot of energy.”

Huff is also happy to have Lycka as her campaign manager.

“So now I have this fabulous campaign team where 80 per cent of the team leads are in their 20s, and it’s great, it’s a very dynamic group,” Huff said. “I think the best part of having young people is that they haven’t been jaded by experience. Experience is a good thing, but too much experience makes you think you know it all and makes you stop exploring different ideas.”

Having a team so young does build a different feeling, Lycka may be the campaign manager, but she feels on an equal level with everyone on the team.

The group being so young has created a unique atmosphere.

“I give people direction, but I feel like also because we’re all on the same level playing field, everybody has their own jobs and we all kind of work together to get them done,” Lycka said.

“Getting the experience of being a campaign manager, I feel has been completely amazing so far,” Lycka said. “I loved everything I’ve learned, and I wouldn’t trade it even if we don’t win.”

Lycka’s passion for politics is contagious among her friends and peers as well, who have joined in on the campaign.

The campaign team

Alberta Party volunteers Ian Moore, Jacquie Lycka and Jane Powell Leadbeater pose for the camera in Remedy Cafe on February 20th. Photograph by Elizabeth Walters.

Amanda Huxley currently works as a volunteer on the campaign.

“I’m getting to know a lot of people, which I really appreciate and just getting to know more about politics and the political field.”

A political science graduate, Huxley has “always been really interested in social studies and history and the way government works.”

“I think Jacquie’s doing a really great job being the campaign manager, she’s put all of her heart and her soul into what she’s doing right now, and I really appreciate the fact that she has given herself so fully to something that she really believes in.”

Another volunteer, Ian Moore, works as the communications co-ordinator on the campaign.

“Personally, I do see myself getting involved in politics on the other side, as the candidate eventually in my life, so this is kind of exposure to what works, what doesn’t work in different contexts,” he said.

“What’s unique about this is although we’re young and there’s that idea that with being young there’s lack of experience, compared to a lot of other campaigns we’re very ahead of the game.”

Moore was attracted to politics because he believes it is better to make a difference working within the system, instead of trying to break the system down.

“I think politics should be about improving our situation rather than criticizing the people that are actually doing it.”

Volunteer Jane Powell Leadbeater acts as of a “sort of a jack of all trades.”

Powell Leadbeater joined the campaign because of her friend Lycka.

“When she took on this sort of huge responsibility in the campaign, I was really impressed by that and I was really interested in what she was taking on and why she was doing it.”

Powell Leadbeater has been spending most of her time door-knocking, but she helps out wherever she is needed.

“It’s really interesting because I kind of assumed that people would be a lot less friendly than they actually are, I kind of think this is a city and people don’t want strangers at their door,” Powell Leadbeater said. “Next month I’m supposed to go door-knocking like once or twice a week.”

The older voice on the campaign, Jarrett Campbell, has been involved with the Alberta Party since late 2010 as financial analyst.

He volunteers his free time as CFO to help with strategy in the campaign.
Campbell has been interested in politics his whole life, but this is the first time he’s gotten involved in a campaign.

“Ultimately, my goal is to get Sue elected,” Campbell said.

“It had to do with just never really finding a party that really appealed to my beliefs and what I thought was the most important issues, and sure enough the Alberta Party came along and interested me enough to reach out.”

Campbell thinks that for a democracy to function properly, more people need to vote, and that means building interest in new parties.

“I’m strictly a volunteer. In fact, I donate quite a bit as well — if anything I pay to be a part of the Alberta Party.”

Funding is not available by the party because it is so new. Money is only made through fundraising events the team create.

“It is definitely a young campaign,” he said. “There are good things and bad things about that. On the positive side, there’s a lot of energy, a lot of creativity, a lot of passion. These are people that are still very much go-getters out there. On the downside it is a bit tough because, with youth comes a bit of a lack of experience, both in campaign experience and organizational experience.”

Sue Huff

Huff said the team really came together after Lycka found her and requested to be the campaign manager.

“I think it was largely a process of meeting people while I was the acting leader and then I think once you start to put a few key people in place, they attract their peers, their friends, their contacts.” Huff said.

Those peers, friends and contacts in the campaign team have rallied around Lycka and her support for Huff.

Having a youthful team helps Huff encourage young people to vote and join the campaign.

“When I’m out door-knocking, if I run across young people, I always mention that my campaign manager is 23 years old, I always mention that I have a young team,” Huff said.

Huff believes that having a young team will encourage more young people to vote. Her message to young people is, “this is your province, this is your future, this is your government and if you don’t have a say in it, a lot of people are going to be making decisions that you may not like.”

Edmonton-Glenora

The other candidates running in Edmonton-Glenora include incumbent Heather Klimchuk for the Conservatives, Bruce Miller for the Liberals, Ray Martin for the NDP and Don Koziak for the Wildrose.

A provincial election will be called between March 1 and May 31.

WaltersE5@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — Steve Young is the newest face on the Edmonton-Riverview ballot. The Conservative nominee rounds out the slate of all first-time nominees seeking the seat in the upcoming provincial election.

Young enters the race with a lifetime of useful service under his belt: university instructor, Edmonton Police staff sergeant, former president of the Garneau Community League, and 1991-‘92 CIAU champion with the Golden Bear hockey squad. Young wants to parlay this into a run at legislature, and challenge for the highly sought-after seat that the Liberals have held since its creation in 1997.

Young said he admires outgoing MLA Kevin Taft, but that Liberals can’t offer an impact in legislature, especially since Taft is retiring, and Taft’s replacement, Arif Khan, is a political unknown.

“I see an opportunity for Riverview to have a seat at the table of caucus that they’ve never had,” said Young.

Steve Young discusses his campaign plans on his lunch break in downtown Edmonton on Feb. 6. Photograph by Timothy Gerwing.

Young won the Conservative nomination in a head-to-head contest with businessman Tom Choucair on Jan. 27 by the narrow margin of 17 votes.

Young’s campaign will focus on health, education and the economy, but the police officer said public safety trumps everything. He supports Alison Redford’s drunk driving legislation, saying he rues being the one to see another person hurt or killed due to impaired driving. Young said Redford polled well in Riverview during the Tory leadership race, and he made a hockey analogy to stress the importance of good leadership succeeding good leadership.

“I am part of a party that has a 40-year-history of success behind them,” said Young. “You had the ‘Oiler machine’ made up of great leaders. Wayne Gretzky didn’t win [alone]. It takes a team, in our case a party.”

Wildrose nominee John Corie rejects Young’s outlook, calling a dominance of one party unhealthy for democracy. Corie doesn’t think voters should feel pressured to vote Conservative in order to have their voices heard.

“Several PC candidates have suggested that voters should support them since the PC party currently forms government,” said Corie. “It’s doubtful that this type of messaging will change popular opinion throughout the constituency. The overwhelming majority of voters I speak with are unhappy with the current government, and want a change.”

Young fills out a ballot of all first-time nominees in what will be a crucial riding for all parties — a ballot that includes Khan, Corie, and New Democrat Lori Sigurdson. Even though Young is “late to the party,” Grant MacEwan University political scientist Chaldeans Mensah said the race is only beginning.

“I don’t think the other candidates have any kind of a head start,” said Mensah. “It’s going to come down to how these candidates are able to connect to voters.”

Mensah said dethroning the Liberals will be a tough task, but a doable one. The seat has always gone Liberal. Losing the seat would be a massive blow to the opposition.

“I think it’s going to come down to being able to sway people that were loyal to Kevin Taft to take a different direction,” said Mensah.

Young said he loves living in Riverview. It’s where he went to school, and where he makes his home for his kids. Voters are his friends and neighbours, and he loves to eat at places like Jeffrey’s Cafe and Gracious Goods Cafe. Young said that despite his footing in the community, his opponents are strangers to him.

“I think I know a lot of people, and I’ve never crossed paths with any of these folks,” said Young.

Young plans to embark on a door knocking campaign soon where he will speak to constituents like home owners, small businesses owners, and low-income renters.

“My job is to listen to them all,” said Young. “I want to hear what their opinion is.”

GerwingT@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — Edmonton-Glenora has always been a competitive riding, but this year it has become the race to watch.
The candidates running have proven their aptitude and are ready to fight for the riding.

Heather Klimchuk, the Conservative incumbent who won the riding from Liberal Bruce Miller in 2008, was recently sworn into Premier Alison Redford’s cabinet as the minister of culture and community services. Klimchuk hopes her record as a volunteer for the community will help win her votes.

Being a mom and a volunteer made Klimchuk want to become an MLA.

“One of the things I’ve worked hard on is being visible. I think that perhaps some of the folks who are running, were perhaps not as visible as they could have been,” she said. “People kind of choose where they think they should run. I chose this community because this is where I raised my family.”

Edmonton-Glenora is the prize riding for one lucky candidate in the spring election. Photograph by Elizabeth Walters.

The newest competitor to join is Wildrose candidate Don Koziak, a strong fiscal conservative who believes in small government and is running in Glenora because, “Well, I live in Glenora.”

“It’s been a constituency that’s not a safe constituency for any party,” Koziak said. “So, I guess, everybody sees it that they may have a reasonable chance here.”

In 2007, Koziak finished second in his bid for mayor, and again came close in Ward 2 in 2010. “I think that we’re going to find it’s a very tight race, with five credible candidates,” he said of his foray into provincial politics.

“It will be too difficult for anybody to strategically place their vote, I think they’ll more likely vote with their heart for whoever candidate they like best,” Koziak said. “It’s going to be a close five-way race.”

Defeated by only 104 votes in 2008, Bruce Miller, who is running for the Liberal party against Klimchuk once again, hopes he can win back the riding.

“I’ve lived here for a long time and I was the MLA for Glenora from 2004 to 2008,” Miller said. “So for me it’s kind of like unfinished business and I really enjoyed serving the people, so I would like to do it again.”

All-stars have flocked to Glenora because the riding is always changing party hands.

“I think people in various parties think they have a really good chance, because it’s always very competitive,” Miller said.

As for his chances, Miller believes being a part of the Liberal party will give him a lead against the competitors.

“It’s more difficult because they don’t start with a base of support, so it’s more challenging,” he said. “I think the Conservative and Liberal candidates, whoever they are, can always count on a good base of support that’s been there for a couple decades.”

Not everyone agrees with him, though.

“We’ve always had very strong support here,” said NDP candidate Ray Martin, who led the party from 1984 to 1993.

“Glenora can’t be taken for granted by any party,” Martin said. “I think the riding’s very much open for the right candidate.”

As there are so many big names, vote splitting may be a concern, but Martin is hoping it will work in his favour. “The vote splitting on the right, for the Wildrose and the Conservatives, could be for our benefit.”

Sue Huff, candidate for the Alberta Party, chose Glenora because it is her home.

“Really for me there’s no other constituency that I would feel comfortable running in,” said Huff.

“It’s been a community that’s been open-minded, and so it has gone in different directions over the years,” said Huff, a former Edmonton Public School Board trustee and former interim leader of the Alberta Party. “People see it as a place for opportunity, so I think that’s why it’s of interest.”

It’s that open-mindedness that Huff hopes will push her past the competitors.

“I think it’s a fantastic community because of its diversity. There are 14 different neighbourhoods in the constituency and we have a little bit of everything.”

“I’ve been out door-knocking for two months now, and what I’m hearing is that people are ready for change,” Huff said.

“Vote splitting is not as much of a concern as the fact that we have typically very low voter turnout in this province, and I think that anything you can do to get more people engaged, to get more people interested and to have more voices heard is positive. So I see the strong field as a positive not a negative,” she said.

Klimchuk also hopes to get more people out to vote.

“I’m concerned about voter turnout,” Klimchuk said. “I think that splitting is very obvious in a low voter turnout, but I think that’s something I’m working very hard at.”

A provincial election is expected in the spring.

WaltersE5@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — As election bells ring, Kevin Taft’s exit date is nearing. The Edmonton-Riverview MLA will close his political chapter and move forward embracing uncertainty.

“My plan is to not have a plan,” Taft said of his future after politics. “Eventually I will find some work, but I don’t know what that will be.

Edmonton-Riverview MLA, Kevin Taft, takes time to sign his new book, Follow the Money, at the book release event held at the Metro Cinema on Wednesday, January 18, 2012. Photograph by Tejay Gardiner.

“Career opportunities for opposition critics are not that juicy,” he continued.

Surely there will be plenty to look forward to for Taft. He released his fourth book, Follow the Money, on Jan. 18 at the Metro Cinema’s Garneau Theatre. Despite the frigid temperatures, hundreds filled the venue and were treated to free admission for braving the cold.

The event featured a short video produced by award-winning documentary filmmaker Tom Radford. Working with University of Alberta economist Mel McMillan and PhD student Junaid Jahangir, Taft produces an argument to counter the idea that the provincial government is overspending on public services.

It’s a timely political message, but Taft isn’t collecting votes with his book. He decided not to run again in the anticipated spring election.

“I never planned on being a career politician,” Taft said. “I believe in political renewal.”

Taft was first elected as the MLA for Edmonton-Riverview in 2001 and has had many thrilling moments, but the one that stands out for him is the 2004 election, his first as Liberal leader. Taft helped the Liberals to boost their seats from seven to 16 in the 2004 election, an unusual accomplishment in a province that has seen only three changes in government in its 106 year history said Taft.

“Political change comes slow here.”

After the high of 2004 came the low of 2008 where seven seats were lost, leaving the Liberals with nine in total. Taft resigned as Liberal leader later that year.

Taft continued to flex his political muscles in the Legislature and fought hard to create change as opposition critic for health and Aboriginal relations.

“He is a tenacious politician,” said Chaldeans Mensah, chair of Grant MacEwan University’s political studies department. “He’s always based decisions on sound research.”

His role as opposition critic is what Taft said he would miss most about the MLA post.

“It is a very rare privilege that an opposition MLA gets,” Taft said, “to stand up in legislature and give pointed questions to the premier and the cabinet ministers.”

Taft will continue to critique from the outer ring. He is already a bestselling author with his previous releases: Shredding the Public Interest, Clear Answers and Democracy Derailed. Follow the Money may prove to be just as influential.

“The book is selling by the hundreds,” said Taft.

In his book, Taft lays out his money trail, examining first the usual suspects that can drain government budgets such as health care and education. Taft, McMillan and Jahangir find that Alberta has instead faced significant cutbacks in public spending in these areas over the past 20 some years, at times by nearly 50 per cent, adjusting for inflation and a growing population.

The trio determines that when it comes to Alberta’s finances, it is not a question of spending but lost revenue. Corporate profits in Alberta are nearly 23 per cent of the provincial GDP, as compared to the 12 per cent Canadian average.

“It’s time for a new debate,” Taft said in the video.

Taft’s role in provincial politics may be coming to an end, but he plans to remain active in the Riverview community, the same community he lived in since he was young. He said he will continue to be involved with the community league and other volunteer commitments.

“I’ve lived here since I was a boy,” Taft said. “I have very deep roots here.”

Businessman Arif Khan is the new Liberal candidate for Edmonton-Riverview.

GardinerT3@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — Coun. Karen Leibovici raised eyebrows at a city council budget hearing on Nov. 28 when she questioned the number of rinks that will be built in Edmonton’s west end.

“I don’t want to sound too parochial, but when I look at where the cuts were made, when I look at where the demand is, when I look at the growth, it almost seems like this part of the city is being ignored,” Leibovici said.

Leibovici represents Ward 5, which encompasses the area west of the river and south of the Whitemud in addition to some neighbourhoods south of 87th Avenue. She says she just wants to make sure that the distribution of rinks is fair as the city continues to grow.

“Some kids have to drive a half hour to skate, “ Leibovici said.  “It’s not fair to our kids.”

The issue is a complex one, however. Here is a primer on how indoor rinks are allocated:

Q: What plan is this based on?

A: The city decided in 2005 that as Edmonton expands, facilities would have to expand with it. The result was the implementation of a 10-year Arena Capital Development Plan that would see the city add nine new ice sheets while updating some of the city’s existing rinks.

When the plan was implemented, Edmonton had one sheet of ice (either for purely leisure skating, or all purposes) for every 19,800 residents, and one rink for every 28,545, a ratio that is consistent with other Canadian cities that have similar populations as Edmonton. Given the city’s projected growth, the nine new sheets of ice would move the ratio to about 19,000-to-1, or 25,258 people per rink.

Q: How many rinks will be built?

A:  The city plans to increase the number of public ice sheets in Edmonton from 25 to 34 by 2019. This does not mean it will simply build nine rinks, though. The city will also be upgrading existing rinks as well as shutting down some of the older rinks. In total the city hopes to construct 15 sheets of ice while shutting down six.

Q: So, is the west end being overlooked?

A: The 10-year plan would see Edmonton’s west end, southeast and southwest receive three new sheets of ice each, while the north end would receive no new rinks.

Still, Leibovici wonders whether the west end is getting its fair share of new rinks.

“If we are looking at distribution of rinks through out the city,” Leibovici says.  “We have to make sure that distribution is fair.”

Map of new rinks. Taken from Edmonton's 10-year Arena Development Plan

Q: And is the distribution fair?

A: If you look at the projected growth of each of the city’s four sections, it seems like the west end is getting its fair share.

The west end’s population is expected to grow by 57 per cent between 2006 and 2026. Comparatively, the southeast is expected to see a growth of 54 per cent, and the north is expected to see a 51 percent growth. But the largest margin of growth is expected to come from the southwest.  This area is expected to see an increase of 81.6 per cent to its population between 2006 and 2026.

With these numbers in mind, the city decided to allocate three new rinks to the west, southwest and southeast sections of the city, while the north will receive no new rinks.

But the maps used by the city to chart population have different boundaries than the maps used to determine the allocation of rinks.

The maps drawn up to determine rink allocation broke the city into four segments: the north, west, southwest and southeast. However, the initial maps used to determine Edmonton’s projected population used six zones, with central zones in the north and south.

When the city determined where new rinks should go, it split the central north zone into the north and west. Likewise, the central south zone was dispersed between the southeast and southwest zones.

This is important because it makes it impossible to determine how many rinks each of the four sections should get.

To accurately do this, a new map of future rink allocation needs to be drawn, one that matches population and rink allocation among the same boundaries. Only when this is done can it accurately be determined how many rinks each of the city’s zones should get.

Photo taken from 10-year Arena Capital Development Plan

Photo taken from 10-year Arena Capital Development Plan

Q: How does the number of rinks in the west end match up with the rest of the city?

A: As stated earlier, the city hopes to maintain a ratio of 25,258 residents per Edmonton rink. This new rink allocation would bring this ratio in the west end to 18,877-to-1, which is the best rink-per-resident ratio in the city.  This is how the rest of the city is projected to play out:

• North: 42,130-to-1
• Central north: 36,062-to-1
• Central south: 20,972-to-1
• Southwest: 24,883-to-1
• Southeast: 40,036-to-1

taylora32@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — New legislation around the legal limit of alcohol for Alberta drivers has some west Edmonton restaurateurs worried it will hurt businesses without making streets safer.

Bill 26, which passed third reading last week, means drivers who are found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.05 would have their cars taken away for three days, as well as their licence suspended for the same amount of time. Before, drivers blowing between 0.05 and 0.08 could have their licence suspended for 24 hours.

Bill 26 will not mean a new legal limit, but it will mean higher consequences for reaching the warning level of 0.05 per cent. As always, a level of 0.08 per cent will result in a driving-under-the-influence charge.

Will diners drink less now that the penalties are more severe? Photograph by Elizabeth Walters

Police aren’t expected to start enforcing the new law until early next year, but even before the bill passed, some in the hospitality business were worried it might stop people from having anything to drink while they’re out.

“My issue is that I think that law enforcement has to be enforcing the existing regulations; I personally haven’t seen a check stop since Thanksgiving,” said Amanda Babichuk, the owner of D’Lish Urban Kitchen & Wine Bar at 10418 124 St. “I don’t think that the current laws are being enforced enough to slap an extra law on there. I think they should just try to increase the penalties of these existing laws.”

People who have two glasses of wine over the course of a two- or three-hour dinner are not the dangerous drivers, but the new law may prompt them to have just one, she suggested.

“In my opinion, people who drink and drive are still going to drink and drive,” Babichuk said. “I think this is targeting the wrong demographic of people.”

The owner of Somerville, a wine room at 10723 124 St., worries the new law will discourage people from going out altogether.

“I think the idea of reducing drunk driving is of course an honourable one and with the right intention,” said Sheri Somerville. “I think targeting restaurants is absolutely absurd.”

The new legislation will have no effect on chronic drunk drivers, and the economic impact will be severe, she said.

“The federal government has set a limit,” she said. “I think for the provincial government to set a new limit is outrageous. So here we are trying to promote growth in our cities and at the same time sabotaging it by targeting people who go to restaurants.

“Most people will be completely intimidated and they won’t go out for dinner. That’s going to put going out in a whole new light, and I think people will make alternate plans, and it will devastate my business, I can tell you that.”

The law puts restaurateurs in a difficult position, said Jessie Radies, owner of The Blue Pear at 10643 123 St.

“I think it’s a complicated issue,” Radies said Jessie Radies. “I mean, we don’t want people drinking and driving, that’s for sure.”

Like Babichuk and Somerville, she wonders whether the law is aimed at the right people, although she notes similar legislation appears to have reduced the number of drunk drivers.

“For the sake of the community, we’re for it obviously,” Radies said. “As local business owners, we’re a little concerned about it because we know it has reduced liquor sales in other communities.”

However, Anita Lewis, owner of Café De Ville at 10137 124 St., feels the new legislation will not change her business.

“I don’t believe in drinking and driving, period, so that’s kind of our persona here at Café De Ville,” Lewis said. “We’re very contentious about our customers and that they have designated drivers and things like that.”

Edmonton Police feel the changes are not much different from what they have already been doing.

“It’s is not like a new legal limit, from our understanding,” said Sgt. Conrad Moschansky. “They’re just changing sanctions where we deal with people with a 24-hour suspension. So none of the numbers are changing per se, it’s just what happens to the driver.”

Even if the change is small, it’s a triumph for some.

“We’re completely behind the new legislation for Bill 26 and we applaud the Alberta government for what they’re doing and we know it will be effective at saving lives,” said Gillian Phillips, spokesperson for the Edmonton and area chapter of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

When similar legislation was passed in British Columbia, the hospitality industry campaigned against it, she said.

“And then once it actually came into effect in B.C., the sales evened out and it’s just an adjustment people are getting used to it, and the same thing will happen here in Alberta,” Phillips said. “Honestly, what cost and price can you put on saving lives?”

Phillips said some European countries have an even lower limit, and much less impaired driving.

“Do I see eventually us going down to 0.02 per cent? Probably not for many, many years, no? It’s taken us years of campaigning for our Alberta government to look at this new legislation, so I think it’s one step at a time.

“It’s about saving lives and hopefully from there we just snowball into more legislation.”

WaltersE5@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — Telus World of Science is gearing up for the grand reopening of the newly renovated Discoveryland on Dec. 17.

 Discoveryland, which has served the science centre’s youngest visitors since 1992, needed some rejuvenation.

The new Discoveryland has areas for role-playing, water-play and creative play, as well as space for toddlers and for infant care.

“Our primary objective was to create our region’s premiere early childhood learning environment so children start school excited, eager and ready to learn,” Gillian Crichton, marketing and communications co-ordinator for the Telus World of Science.

Discoveryland supports “playful learning,” Crichton said, offering a variety of activities exploring the arts, sciences and humanities with lots of opportunities to interact with other children.

Many of the Telus World of Science’s 500,000 visitors per year come specifically for Discoveryland, Crichton said.

Telus World of Science has received positive feedback on the Discoveryland Renewal Project.

“Based on customer feedback and requests from parents, caregivers and teachers, we began researching how to best meet the community need for childhood development,” Crichton said.

Janine Waddleton frequently takes her four-year-old daughter to the Telus World of Science, specifically for Discoveryland.

“My daughter always has such a great time at Discoveryland and meets new kids her age every time we come,” said Waddleton. “I am glad they decided to renovate because the equipment was starting to look pretty used. When you have young ones playing, jumping and yanking on equipment and toys, it’s bound to get a little banged up.”

The Discoveryland Renewal Project is being funded by a variety of anonymous donors, as well as the Alberta Lottery Fund, the Butler Family Foundation, the Edmonton Space and Science Foundation, Edmonton International Airports and the Edmonton Public Teachers Local 37 Charity Trust Fund, said Crichton.

The Telus World of Science is now turning its attention to a $150-million expansion set for 2020.

At a city council meeting on Nov. 23, president and CEO George Smith requested $50 million towards the long-term expansion of the Telus World of Science.

City councillors have yet to make a decision, but an answer may be provided as early as Dec. 13.

“The master plan is a long-term plan to expand the science centre into truly a world-class facility,” Smith said at a Nov. 3 consultation meeting.

George Smith, president and CEO of Edmonton's Telus World of Science. Photograph by Elizabeth Walters

“We’re still severely undersized at this time, and still limited and what we can offer to the community.”

The expansion plans are part of a larger vision for the development of the Coronation District Park.

As a non-profit organization, the centre plans on raising the money for the expansion through fundraising, government grants and corporate sponsorship.

The Telus World of Science was originally built in 1984 as a planetarium, but is now used for a multitude of purposes.

“We tried to convert the facility into a broad-based science centre. This will allow us to complete that work,” Smith said.

The renovation would include a number of permanent exhibits, a feature traveling exhibit gallery, a digital visualization theatre, a learning and dialogue centre, and a Canadian circumpolar science centre.

Along with all those changes, the centre plans to upgrade the Imax theatre.

“Technology in our Imax theatre is now 27 years old, and of course that technology has all gone digital today and 3D… which we can’t offer at this stage, but we will be able to,” Smith said.

The Telus World of Science and the University of Alberta have developed a partnership to create a Canadian circumpolar science centre, with the goal to bring “real science to the science centre and interpret it for the public,” Smith said.

“There will actually be University of Alberta research labs on site, people will actually get to watch the researchers doing their work, and talk to them, so it’s a very different kind of learning experience than what we can offer today.”

A Star Wars exhibit will be visiting the Telus World of Science in October 2012.

MeloK2@mymail.macewan.ca

WaltersE5@mymail.macewan.ca

EDMONTON — The city of Edmonton is working on a couple of ways to make you fall in love with winter.

WinterCity will be launched in January and aims to create a more fun and interactive winter environment.

“Hopefully it will mean that we’ll be developing a strategy that will help make Edmonton a leading winter city,” project manager Susan Holdsworth. “It touches on the way our city’s designed: Is it designed for all four seasons, for winter conditions? It’s about active transportation, it’s about our quality of life in the heart of winter.”

The first step in the strategy will be to talk to local businesses about what they think will make winter life better. “If there’s more interesting things going on locally in Edmonton and around, then more people are going to want to come,” she said. “The point with developing this strategy is to tap into expertise and engage the local business community.”

The official launch will be the evening of Jan. 19 and will include keynote speakers at a symposium. A decision has not been made yet on who will be speaking.

“Any time anybody thinks about winter, there’s no positive.” Holdsworth said, “We need to change our perception. We’ve somehow lost touch with anything positive about winter.”

The ground is covered by snow in West Edmonton on Nov. 28 2011. Photograph by Elizabeth Walters

Part of the plan is to launch a “Winter Life’” contest to “ask people what they think will make them fall in love with winter in Edmonton,” Holdsworth said.

“We have to deal with limited daylight hours in the winter months, especially January, that’s the one thing that we’re guaranteed, is more hours of darkness,” she said, “So light becomes really important.”

While the WinterCity strategy is being built, a new festival called Metropolis is also being launched with a view to improving our opinion of winter.

Metropolis will take place in Churchill Square starting New Year’s Eve and run through the Family Day weekend.

Giuseppe Albi, the general manager of Events Edmonton, hopes the two-month long festival “will bring people downtown to enjoy the festival, do some shopping, and go skating at the City Hall plaza.”

The festival will also include bright light structures. “It’s a new winter festival in downtown Edmonton, and it’s based on cold climate construction technology,” Albi said. “We’re building four pavilions. They’re built with scaffolding and then they’re wrapped in shrink-wrap”

The Edmonton International Winter Festival will include a multimedia light and sound show, live entertainment and winter food.

Winter Light will be producing two festival events in 2012 that are not a part of Metropolis. The first will be an Adventure Walk in a snowy winter wonderland taking place Jan. 27 and 28 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Mill Creek Park. The second festival, Illuminations, will celebrate the Year of the Dragon through fire, and will include a circus aspect. The event will be taking place Feb. 10 and 11, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Louise McKinney Park.

WaltersE5@mymail.macewan.ca