SEE Magazine
Issue #393: June 14, 2001
Copyright © 2001. All Rights Reserved

Opinion EDITORIAL by SEE Staff Enough, already! Isn’t there anything more pressing going on at City Hall than whether or not there’s a wading pool in front of it for two weeks? It’s absolutely mind-boggling that the debate over whether to close the pool for the duration of the World’s in order to allow a floating restaurant to be set up in its place has occupied so much time and attention. The City of Edmonton is a billion-dollar corporation, ultimately responsible for ensuring that 650,000 people enjoy the best quality of life possible, and yet this is all our city councillors and the media seem able to talk about. You’d think someone was closing a hospital or putting senior citizens out on the street or something. Problem is, this is a simple story, one involving children. And it’s an election year. The arguments are: a) if the pool is closed, poor inner city kids will be robbed of a free recreational opportunity, or, conversely, b) if we don’t have a novel eating venue, the thousands of people crowding Churchill Square for the duration of the World’s won’t think Edmonton is a world-class city. Both arguments are idiotic. In fact, the entire debate is idiotic. But sadly, not surprising.

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