As I read the minutes from the council meeting on Nov. 15, I had to check and see if this was a typo: "Notice of Motion — Councillor Hughes: That the City of St. Albert provide notice that it is withdrawing from the Edmonton Global."
I am a fiscal conservative, and understand the difficult balance between spending on services, and controlling spending. It is an unenviable task, and I thank our city council for stepping forward to do the tough work involved in the budgeting process.
Edmonton Global has been extremely beneficial to businesses and our community. You don’t have to look too far to see the incredible work in the hydrogen marketplace in Sturgeon County. You have to know those folks are going to live, play, and spend in our great city. Our region has so many projects and possibilities right in front of us and Edmonton Global has played a huge part in this. I can’t say enough about their work. Other regions marvel at how well the partners around the Edmonton Global table work together for the benefit of the collective region.
Now I see this motion and I firmly believe we need to separate expenses from investments. With this motion, several other regional partners have suggested to me that St. Albert wants all the regional benefits without paying our fair share. It won’t be long before those partners see us as a problem and will start to look for every opportunity to bill us for the benefits we get as partners of a greater region.
I would strongly recommend council spend some time learning all that we gain from our partnerships with the Edmonton International Airport, Global Edmonton, and other partners before turning us into the person at the bar who enjoys all the food and drink, and then says they have to leave early before the bill comes! They typically don’t get invited back!
I hope council has a longer-term view for our region than this. Please do not remove St. Albert from our Edmonton Global partnership.
John Liston, St. Albert
