Councillor Linda Sloan says Edmontonians should be able to vote on the future of the City Centre Airport without waiting to verify signatures on a petition.
Envision Edmonton was in attendance at today’s City Council meeting and was alarmed with the discussion around the plebiscite question. “We demand our question be used as we wrote it. We protest any discussion of changing the question by City Hall,” says Chuck Allard Chairman of Envision Edmonton.
Allard further says that Envision Edmonton is shocked that City Council went in-camera (closed discussion to the public and media) and would not have an open and transparent discussion on the issues surrounding the City Centre Airport. “We seek openness and transparency from City Hall and none of this secrecy,” adds Allard.
Envision Edmonton has gathered over 92,500 signatures on its petition to demand the vote on the City Centre Airport in the next civic election to be held in October.
A small downtown airport can be a blessing
Edmonton voters should seize on the opportunity afforded by a plebiscite over the proposed closure of the City Centre Airport to put an end to the plan and instead insist city leaders adopt a more forward-looking approach to priceless transportation infrastructure.
Economic Impact Analysis - Report 2009DCM032 – Attachment 4 (conclusion attached)
Here is our conclusion upon reading the economic assessment
- The report states that the reduction in property taxes will average 2.4% per year over 35 years.
- The first reduction will occur not for 10 years! ~ you will have to wait until approximately 2020. Prior to that there could be increases in property taxes.
Ignoring the early stage increase we can make the following statement:
- This whole business of closing the airport is about profits for developers. The city’s own economic report clearly demonstrates that the taxpayer’s benefit amounts to almost nothing – a measly 2.4% of your tax bill per year beginning in 2020.
- For the average Edmonton property owner who pays $2000 per year in taxes, the saving in taxes will average a paltry $48 per year between 2020 and 2041. The largest saving, an amount of $100 will occur in the last year – 2041. That’s the price of dinner for two in today’s dollars. If you wait 31 years.
- This clearly demonstrates that this grand plan of the city is NOT conceived for the benefit of the taxpayers.
In addition, on the tax revenue point:
- This is not new revenue
- The people who choose to live in a development on the airport are simply people who would live elsewhere in the City and pay taxes in a different neighborhood
- It’s not going to attract NEW residents
- No one is going to move to Edmonton just because of this proposed development
- People will move here whether or not it is built
- So the total tax revenue stays the same with or without the airport, there is no net tax gain from this proposal
- Well folks, you did it!
- In the next few minutes we will deliver to the city clerk the names of people who support our petition.
- I feel confident that the city will honor the wishes of over 90,000 Edmonton voters and put the question on the ballot for the October civic election.
- They ignore you at their peril.
- This has been a remarkable achievement.
- You accomplished the goal in the face of countless challenges and adversity:
- summer holidays that meant people were coming and going
- a campaign office that we would have liked to put in a more central location …
- and, I have to say, you also succeeded in the face of regrettable intimidation of volunteers, canvassers, potential donors …
- and even large corporations
- On behalf of the citizens of Edmonton who believe in democracy I want to thank you all.
- Thank you to the canvassers, the organizers, the financial backers, the people that helped us get our story straight and the news media who told the story in a balanced way.
- I extend a special vote of thanks to the Directors of Envision Edmonton and the team that they pulled together in such a short time.
- Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Edmonton have spoken.
- We now move on to the next phase
- …to persuade the voters of Edmonton to vote in favour of saving the City Center Airport when the city conducts the plebiscite. We hope that will be on election day in October
- It would be a shame if the plebiscite is delayed with the taxpayers bearing the burden of the cost of a special election.
- I would like to say a word to those members of city council that have stood firm in their resolve to close the airport.
- We respect that you made your decision on the basis of the information you were given last year.
- It has become apparent that you were not given ‘all’ of the information that would have helped you assess the importance of the City Center Airport to Edmonton and Northern Alberta.
- For a hundred years Edmonton has positioned itself as the Gateway to the North. It is our city’s one great advantage
- …an advantage that no other city in North America can legitimately claim.
- Yet, when you were asked to make your decision, you were deprived of the viewpoints of the people of the north
-
- the families with links to Edmonton,
- the businesses that buy and sell in Edmonton,
- the native populations that have a genuine preference for using this more accessible airport,
- the doctors and patients whose health is aided by the convenience of the airport,
- the young people who learn to fly and maintain aircraft at the airport
- And all of the young people that would be able to have a lucrative career in an aviation industry
- Not to mention the members of the legislature who much prefer to save valuable time by flying in to City Center.
- My message to City Councilors is:
-
- please think of our northern friends when you are making your decisions
- look on them just as you would a huge new industry that the city fathers travel around the world to lure to our city
- Except that we already have them…they like us… like our city…they spend their savings here…they support our sports teams and our cultural activities.
- Our task is to continue to make them welcome, not to drive them into the arms of -heaven forbid – Calgary.
- Thank you once again…and we will be in touch.
Thursday, August 26, 2010 – Volunteers and supporters of the City Centre Airport plebiscite will be joining the Envision Edmonton board of directors as they walk the over 80,000 signed petitions over to City Hall.
Date: Thursday, August 26, 2010
Time: 3:00 – 4:00
Schedule:
- 3:00: Volunteers, supporters, and Envision Edmonton Board members to convene outside mkm office (Swedish Jewellers building, 10169 101 Street) and walk to City Hall.
- 3:20: Envision Edmonton Chairman, Charles Allard addresses volunteers and supporters on City Hall steps.
- 3:30 Envision Edmonton Board of Directors hand deliver the over 80,000 petitions to city clerk on 2nd Floor, NW Corner of City Hall.
- 3:45 Envision Edmonton Chairman and Board of Directors available for Q & A’s with the media.
Envision Edmonton is a not-for-profit business society formed specifically to develop a suitable and economically viable plan to revitalize the City Centre Airport. It is primarily funded by individuals and businesses, many of which have no direct investment in or association with the City Centre Airport, but who are instead dedicated exclusively to helping to make Edmonton a great city.
For more information:
Contacts
Johanna McIntosh, APR
Public Relations
780.937.8592
johanna@mcintoshpr.com
From Ken:
I am fully and completely behind the efforts of Envision Edmonton to keep the ECCA open. I work in the aviation business in Calgary and we do a fair number of HOPE Program medevacs and adhoc medevacs through the year. Almost every single HOPE medevac we have done (We are HOPE’s coordinator for flights) has been to the ECCA and the program has worked because of the close proximity of the ECCA to the U of A hospital. We are well versed in the advantages of the ECCA in helping save lives and know that closing this airport is going to severely impact the range of areas from which HOPE will be able to acquire a donor organ for transplant to a needy Albertan or Western Canadian.
I found this link to a medical website that details the difference even small amounts of extra time in delivering a transplant organ to the recipient can have in terms of recovery time and the very real added costs in extra ICU care. It states that they have learned that for every 5 minutes and 38 seconds of additional time added to the delivery of the organ to the recipient, you can add one additional day for recovery in the ICU. That being said, all those proponents of the ECCA’s closure need to see a hard stat like that and know that those extra minutes required to get an organ from the EIA to the U of A hospital for transplant can add up to possibly substantial uneccessary costs and greater peril to the recipient of that organ.
http://icvts.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/10/6/945
Congrats on collecting the signatures necessary to force the referendum this fall! I am doing everything I can to stir the populace to action as the closure of the ECCA would affect all Albertans and citizens from a great many northern communities.
Sincerest regards,
Ken M
Volunteers and supporters of the City Centre Airport plebiscite join us as we walk the petition over to City Hall.
Wear your Blue T-shirt but bring an extra as you can’t wear the T-shirt into City Hall where we will hold a press conference.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Convening at MKM’s office – Suite 401, 10169 – 101 Street then walking to City Hall
Timetable
3:00 – Volunteers and supporters meet at MKM
3:30 – March to City Hall – City Room
3:45 – Deliver the boxes to Chairman Chuck Allard and Envision Edmonton Directors
4:00 – Chuck speaks to group and press
4:15 – Qs and As
Thanks to the hard work of all the volunteers, Envision Edmonton has successfully collected the required 78000 names. We absolutely need to keep collecting signatures to go over the top. This is important not only to insure we have the required numbers but to send our message loud and clear to city hall!
There are still people who want to sign and we have until Wednesday night to get those signatures. There will be two final BBQ’s – one tomorrow(Tuesday) night and a final one Wednesday night – 18:00 at Building 39 for both.
BRING IN YOUR SHEETS!! IT’S NOW OR NEVER AND NEVER ISN’T AN OPTION!!!
- We are still collecting signatures in anticipation that some will be rejected.
- Locations: E-Golf and Capilano Mall All day today.
- Please, Bring in your sheets (even if they aren’t full).
- There will be a Tuesday night BBQ at Hangar 39 @ 6 pm
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