Farewell Fest

Tonight I am celebrating with friends my final weekend in town. If you've stumbled across this and a) know me! and b) haven't received an invite, check in at Remedy Cafe on 109 street and 87 avenue between the hours of 5pm and 7pm, or at Garneau Pub, also on 109 Street (and about 85 avenue) between the hours of 7pm and closing time.

I really feel no choice but to leave Edmonton at this time in my life, regardless of how well things have gone for me personally of late. There are too many things in this town -- mainly related to politics -- that drive me insane. For example, my girlfriend's rent was just hiked from $460 to $1,100. I find this sort of thing completely unacceptable. I can't live in a place where the government stands by and lets ordinary Albertans get screwed this way.

The other day I read that the majority of city council are AGAINST investing in a major interchange at 23rd avenue and Calgary Trail. These jokers will never get it. Ever. They want a world class city? Well, sitting on 23rd avenue waiting for a freight train to cross does not equate to "world class" city. No major city in the world would allow this.

I think Edmonton could safely claim to offer a high quality of life during the 1990s. But since the boom really took off, that quality of life has been seriously eroded. The city seems to have elected for unchecked profiteering at the expense of everything else. Vast sections of land have been given over to unchecked development. I am only being slightly hyperbolic when I say that to my eyes, South Edmonton Common signals the end of civilization.

Here's another one. The provincial government has given $7 million in grants to golf courses over the years. Now I know $7 million isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, but the question is, why give a penny? In many respects, golf, friends, is a shameful, shameful sport. Having a course here and there is acceptable, but to deliberately support a sport that so intensively wrecks the environment with its exhaustive use of pesticides and energy sucking lawnmowers... it's just not on.

Also, the government has given $100 million to the horse racing industry. That's mainly down to the fact that our former premier, Ralph Klein, loved horse racing. Why didn't they simply stage a photo-op where they take a bag of taxpayers' money and give it directly to their friends?

That's how Alberta -- including Edmonton -- is run. It's the fiefdom of an ignorant elite who hold the majority of the populace in utter contempt. This Tory government is the same government that hired spies to monitor the activities of landowners who legitimately had concerns about power lines being built on their land. It's the same government that deliberately witheld information about their use of taxpayer-funded government aircraft until AFTER the 2004 provincial election. It's the same government that allowed Direct Energy to start advertising electricity contracts before being approved to enter the Alberta market. I know not all governments are on the up and up, but folks, these guys are the biggest crooks of the lot. And even if they weren't crooked, their sheer incompetence should have turfed them from office years ago. Look at this place. Does it look like one of the richest jurisdictions on the earth? No! Four months after the end of winter, there is still trash blowing around the back streets in the Whyte Avenue area. I passed three brick structures built for flowers this morning -- none of them had flowers, all of them had been smashed. All of them have been smashed for months -- maybe years -- and yet they are never fixed. When somebody visits from an actual "world class" city they must scarcely be able to believe their eyes. They must wonder, what did all these folks do with their money that they allow the streets to resemble the cratered landscape of the moon?

Oh dear. This is now turning into a helluva rent. In any case, I thought long and hard about moving -- I had good reasons to stay. But in the end, all the above reasons -- and more -- were what compelled me to leave. I am leaving Edmonton and Alberta because frankly, I've reached the limits of my patience for the place.

All that said, I have had some terrific opportunities here that I might not have had elsewhere. My over three years with the Liberal Opposition taught me a fantastic amount. Ditto my all-too-short stay at the Alberta Teachers' Association. And I met so many great people here. The contrary-minded in Edmonton are great people. There is a bit of solidarity built, I think, in having opinions seemingly so far off the norm. It's all these people I look forward to enjoying a drink with tonight.