Red Deer’s prospects have always been bright, but in the afterglow of our civic elections, I have to say I like them even better now.
That’s not because all my choices got elected. Rather, the overall makeup of our next city council promises an even mix of perspectives. That means whatever initiatives get on the agenda in the next four years, people are really going to need to have their facts arranged in convincing order.
On some issues, at least one councillor will need a change of mind for a vote to pass without the mayor’s vote deciding everything. There will need to be compromises and teamwork. Council will need a willingness to let predetermined attitudes relax in favour of an eagerness to find solutions with broad support.
As voters, we will need to allow councillors to decide matters according to what’s on the table, not what was believed coming in — without one group or another raining condemnation down on their heads. If our mayor and council can accomplish that, there are bright days coming.
Not just for us, but for the entire province. The three cities representing the lion’s share of the province’s population all have young mayors with a vigorous agenda.
Calgary’s Naheed Nenshi has turned his office into a national template for success as a mayor. He was returned to office with 74 per cent of the vote.
In Edmonton, Don Iveson, age 34, won 62 per cent of the vote, and a strong mandate to proceed with a massive (and costly) rebuild of the city’s central core.
Here in Red Deer, Tara Veer took 46 per cent of the vote in a much closer race. (For comparison’s sake, Lethbridge had an election ballot similar to Red Deer’s, with four mayoral candidates and 31 council candidates. Chris Spearman, a longtime businessman and school board member, won the mayor’s seat with 46 per cent of the vote.)
Red Deer has much in common with both Calgary and Edmonton, being a centre of growth. We also have a city centre that is embarking on a major overhaul in the next decade. It’s up to this council to begin building on the stage set by the previous one.
Add in another 60 acres or so of prime, parklike city-centre land to be redeveloped in the next decade, as the province decides the future of the Michener Centre. By the time this council’s four-year mandate is over, we are going to have a rather different city horizon than we do now.
Transit service from Red Deer to Blackfalds and Lacombe is being hammered out. Regular flights by Air Canada now land and take off from our airport.
Our manufacturing base is the envy of many a troubled Ontario heartland city. In sectors that pay very well indeed, employment opportunities abound.
With the trend toward greener, more physically active lifestyles, our access to mountain trails and a relatively untouched river valley corridor has a huge potential upside to tourism, along with our regular list of festivals and attractions.
We have broad consensus that infrastructure for recreation and culture should not be ignored in pursuit of immediate paycheques.
The whole Hwy 2 corridor is poised to hit a strong stride of growth that other Canadian regions simply cannot match.
All of this bodes toward more people wanting to come and live here. Lots more. If our city council can find its way to a middle ground where they can pull together for the next four years, Red Deer stands on the cusp of something truly great. A golden age, peopled by a much more diverse society.
The only barriers are stubborn ideology and a lack of vision of what our city can become in the next decade.
If we cannot find pragmatic compromises needed to allow us to move forward, Edmonton and Calgary (and their economic regions) definitely will. Opportunities such as we have now will never return.
I didn’t get everything I wanted in this election; I don’t think anybody did.
What we have instead is a terrific opportunity to bury what divides us and find common goals. I like our prospects.
Greg Neiman is a retired Advocate editor. Follow his blog at readersadvocate.blogspot.ca or email greg.neiman.blog@gmail.com.