Basically, the City of Edmonton and the Province of Alberta spent $3.5 million dollars on their bid to host the 2017 World's Fair (Expo), but in the fall of 2010, the Federal Government withdrew their support citing a lack of security initiatives in the budget. The Feds had been asked to chip in about $706 million to assist the Expo's $2.3 billion budget.
Why are we talking about this now?? Well, a fact-finding mission to uncover the details of the reports as they addressed this issue last fall revealed that the government's initial view of the proposal was that it was "solid, comprehensive and professional." Of course it is likely true that security concerns were not budgeted for properly, and the lessons of security frmo the G8, G20, and Olympics held in the nation in recent years only serve to embolden the point. But the comment that stood out in the documents uncovered was the warning that: "An anchor in Western Canada could lead to a request for a largescale expenditure in Eastern Canada."
Yes, the old east versus west question. Thus, the headlines read: "Ottawa killed Expo bid over eastern jealousy." And, "Envy kills bid for Expo 1017."
And truthfully there is some merit in blaming the green-eyed-monster for the final decision. We'll ignore for now that the decision came when the notion of a possible Federal election in the coming months was not completely out of the question and thus it played well into drumming Eastern support. Instead, let's look at the reasoning for hosting the Expo.
1. Canada's already done it twice, Montreal 1967 and Vancouver 1986.
2. Montreal has been compared to Edmonton's bid because it fell on Canada's 100th birthday year and 2017 will be Canada's 150th. In 1967, Montreal became a focal point for Canadians to celebrate the 100th anniversary and as yet there is no equivalent for 2017.
3. 2017 is almost 6 years away, plenty of time to organize a better budget for security concerns and fundraise the necessary mony required for the multi-billion dollar project.
4. Expos are nationally and internationally supported events. They bring in massive tourism and deliver investment and devleopment opportunities for businesses and companies across the country.
5. Expos put countries on the world map for a significant amount of time. Some even leave lasting impressions years later (i.e. the Crystal Palace, the Eiffel Tower, the Space Needle).
The oddest thing for me as a political junkie is that this appears to be a standard case of the West getting ditched for the gain of a few votes in th East - except that we're supposed to have a conservative, west-supporting government in power. We're supposed to be pulling through the economic crisis A-OK because our government is so fiscally responsible. We're supposed to be coming together as a country. But all three of these notions have been negated by the recent report, (which states that the country's economy is in a fragile state - notice that this is only mentioned when it befits a federal decision because otherwise we're going strong!).
Also, the concern that a billion dollar expenditure in the West would result in cries from the East is actually a little immature. The Expo would bring benefit nationally and would be a source of pride for all the provinces no matter where it was held. The financial burden to the city of Edmonton alone should be enough to discourage jealous cries from the East. One good example of this is the fact that Montreal supported the bid.
Still, I will allow that the government made a reasonable decision if they are willing to admit that the national debt deserves attention and a billion dollars (which over six years is $170 million per year) could go well to handling that issue.
CTV Edmonton: Feds liked Edmonton's bid, but still pulled support
CBC: Ottawa killed Expo bid over eastern jealousy
Montreal Gazette: Envy kills bid for Expo 2017
Why are we talking about this now?? Well, a fact-finding mission to uncover the details of the reports as they addressed this issue last fall revealed that the government's initial view of the proposal was that it was "solid, comprehensive and professional." Of course it is likely true that security concerns were not budgeted for properly, and the lessons of security frmo the G8, G20, and Olympics held in the nation in recent years only serve to embolden the point. But the comment that stood out in the documents uncovered was the warning that: "An anchor in Western Canada could lead to a request for a largescale expenditure in Eastern Canada."
Yes, the old east versus west question. Thus, the headlines read: "Ottawa killed Expo bid over eastern jealousy." And, "Envy kills bid for Expo 1017."
And truthfully there is some merit in blaming the green-eyed-monster for the final decision. We'll ignore for now that the decision came when the notion of a possible Federal election in the coming months was not completely out of the question and thus it played well into drumming Eastern support. Instead, let's look at the reasoning for hosting the Expo.
1. Canada's already done it twice, Montreal 1967 and Vancouver 1986.
2. Montreal has been compared to Edmonton's bid because it fell on Canada's 100th birthday year and 2017 will be Canada's 150th. In 1967, Montreal became a focal point for Canadians to celebrate the 100th anniversary and as yet there is no equivalent for 2017.
3. 2017 is almost 6 years away, plenty of time to organize a better budget for security concerns and fundraise the necessary mony required for the multi-billion dollar project.
4. Expos are nationally and internationally supported events. They bring in massive tourism and deliver investment and devleopment opportunities for businesses and companies across the country.
5. Expos put countries on the world map for a significant amount of time. Some even leave lasting impressions years later (i.e. the Crystal Palace, the Eiffel Tower, the Space Needle).
The oddest thing for me as a political junkie is that this appears to be a standard case of the West getting ditched for the gain of a few votes in th East - except that we're supposed to have a conservative, west-supporting government in power. We're supposed to be pulling through the economic crisis A-OK because our government is so fiscally responsible. We're supposed to be coming together as a country. But all three of these notions have been negated by the recent report, (which states that the country's economy is in a fragile state - notice that this is only mentioned when it befits a federal decision because otherwise we're going strong!).
Also, the concern that a billion dollar expenditure in the West would result in cries from the East is actually a little immature. The Expo would bring benefit nationally and would be a source of pride for all the provinces no matter where it was held. The financial burden to the city of Edmonton alone should be enough to discourage jealous cries from the East. One good example of this is the fact that Montreal supported the bid.
Still, I will allow that the government made a reasonable decision if they are willing to admit that the national debt deserves attention and a billion dollars (which over six years is $170 million per year) could go well to handling that issue.
CTV Edmonton: Feds liked Edmonton's bid, but still pulled support
CBC: Ottawa killed Expo bid over eastern jealousy
Montreal Gazette: Envy kills bid for Expo 2017
