PRAIRIE SKY GONDOLA
The Prairie Sky Gondola is an idea that sparked a great deal of passion and conversation in our community. In August, Council was asked to approve a conditional land lease to accommodate the stations and towers needed for the project. After hearing from dozens of speakers, I ultimately made a motion not to move forward with the land leases for the gondola project at this time, which was supported 12-1 by my Council colleagues. Although the decision of Council was very clear, the gondola raised a number of important and nuanced questions for our community that I wanted to take some time to reflect on.
The geography of Edmonton isn’t always easy to work with, especially as we try to introduce more choices for how we get around the city. Innovative solutions are always welcome, but sometimes they can be hard to believe in. When I first heard about the 100th Street Funicular and the introduction of e-scooters, I was doubtful of their usefulness, yet they've both become important pieces of how I get around Ward O-day’min. So when the gondola was first proposed, I tried to suspend my disbelief at what seemed like an outlandish idea and ultimately became cautiously optimistic - finally a direct connection from Whyte Ave to downtown! The transportation opportunity provided by the gondola was, to me, its greatest promise, and I'm grateful to the Prairie Sky Gondola team for their inspiring vision for a new way of moving through our city.
Through the public conversations, however, it became clear that there was one critical connection that the gondola hadn’t made. The River Crossing area is more than just a parcel of land, it is a place of both deep history and current relevance as a place for ceremony, and a resting place to relatives and ancestors. While the Prairie Sky Gondola team was clear in their commitment to advance reconciliation through opportunities for visibility, awareness raising, and storytelling, the significance of the site called for more. As I continue my learning journey, I’ve come to see that reconciliation must be founded on processes that builds relationships and opportunities for Indigenous-led approaches where we can all truly call ourselves equal partners in choosing the future of this city. I want to thank everyone who reached out by email and social media, spoke in front of Council, or talked to me in person who emphasised the importance of relationship, more than the final destination, in making these decisions.
Our conversations about these expectations of Prairie Sky reinforced to me that we as a City organization have to hold ourselves to the same standard. With so many City-led projects in the River Crossing area, it’s essential that we as an organization undertake this work in a good way. That’s why I was very pleased to be able to support Councillor Aaron Paquette’s subsequent motion to produce a report for Council for 2023 on how we can empower the City of Edmonton’s existing Indigenous partners and other communities with historic or cultural connections to provide direct input on the implementation of the River Crossing Business plan, Touch the Water, and future developments on the Rossdale Flats. There is more to be done, and I hope this motion helps us to answer the question of how we navigate a path towards reconciliation and reckon with the complicated history of our city.
The gondola decision isn’t about Council not welcoming bold ideas and audacious solutions. Rather it’s a recognition that we need to be more intentional in answering the question of how we navigate a path towards reconciliation and reckon with the complicated history of our city. When I reflect on the Ward Naming Strategy led by the iyiniw iskwewak wihtwawin (the Committee of Indigenous Matriarchs), or kihciy askiy, the Sacred Land Indigenous Ceremonial and Land-based Learning site, I see examples of not only fantastic outcomes but the kind of processes that move us towards reconciliation. As these projects demonstrate, this intentional approach is not a barrier but rather a benefit to the way we build our city.
Along with my colleagues, I look forward to working with businesses, Indigenous partners, administration, and the public to build a great Edmonton. Thank you again to everyone who reached out throughout the discussion - whether you wanted to share your excitement, your reservations, your criticism, or your praise, your input enriched an important conversation in our community.
