Prairie Sky Gondola | 76.2m | ?s | Prairie Sky | DIALOG

What do you think of this project?

  • Total voters
    56
I hope it isn't completely dead in the water. I think most of council got scared off because of the burial grounds. Unfortunately the land has already been disturbed and we have a former power plant there, does the city plan on tearing it down, if not how do they propose to deal with the land?
 
What the City needs to do now is starting working with Indigenous communities to survey the area and develop a plan. They failed to take any meaningful action and then torpedoed a private company that was prepared to take the lead. Now that they've said no, they are responsible for doing the work. Get started.
 
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Was down at Whyte Ave, three lanes in each direction, broken road, broken and narrow sidewalks, dust and sand everywhere…ugh
 
tkoe_ said:
What the City needs to do now is starting working with Indigenous communities to survey the area and develop a plan. They failed to take any meaningful action and then torpedoed a private company that was prepared to take they lead. Now that they've said no, they are responsible for doing the work. Get started.
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I agree - a true case of looking a gift horse in the mouth.
 
Edmcowboy11 said:
I hope it isn't completely dead in the water. I think most of council got scared off because of the burial grounds. Unfortunately the land has already been disturbed and we have a former power plant there, does the city plan on tearing it down, if not how do they propose to deal with the land?
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As far as I can tell, they plan to do nothing - a fittingly bureaucratic approach. So the power plant remains like a deer in the headlights - frozen, which is unfortunate as the building and site has great potential.
 
David A said:
As far as I can tell, they plan to do nothing
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That's not true.

"Sohi and Coun. Aaron Paquette ended the discussion with a motion to start the process of creating a governance structure to empower Indigenous partners and communities with historical and cultural connections to Rossdale to provide direct input into the future of the site."

As I said previously, I think this is the only way to allow future projects in the area — including the Gondola — to proceed without running into this debate each time.
 
The problem being @CplKlinger that that has been ongoing for the last 50 years. Indigenous leaders have strong opinions both pro and con re Rossdale development and every opinion wants to be considered the #1 in importance. The City Council and Mayor were elected to lead, not kick the can down the road!
 
archited said:
The problem being @CplKlinger that that has been ongoing for the last 50 years. Indigenous leaders have strong opinions both pro and con re Rossdale development and every opinion wants to be considered the #1 in importance. The City Council and Mayor were elected to lead, not kick the can down the road!
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They did lead in this case, unfortunately it didn't lead to the outcome you, and many others wanted. This decision was made with the respect to the feedback that city counselors received from their constituents.
 
archited said:
The problem being @CplKlinger that that has been ongoing for the last 50 years. Indigenous leaders have strong opinions both pro and con re Rossdale development and every opinion wants to be considered the #1 in importance. The City Council and Mayor were elected to lead, not kick the can down the road!
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Respectfully, I think that the consultations envisioned in this motion are of a completely different league to those that have been done in the past. For example, as recently as 2001, EPCOR was in the midst of a multi-year effort to expand the Rosedale power plant. It led to bitter encounters with nations including the Metis and Blackfoot, who accused EPCOR of not properly consulting with them, hiding the true number of bodies buried at the site, and wanting to build on their ancestors. This was very reminiscent of most Indigenous consultations done across Canada; they tend to be led by non-Indigenous institutions - like municipal, provincial, and federal governments - and thus are either haphazard, do not take traditional Indigenous practices or cultures into account, and overall perpetuate colonial practices and institutions. This is not to say that these institutions don't necessarily have good intentions, but until recently, it was normal for them to undertake consultations and projects without having any Indigenous voices at the table internally. A lot of unconscious biases can, and do, slip by as a result.

I am not naïve enough to expect consensus. In fact, it would be quite racist of me to assume that Indigenous Peoples are monolithic. However, I am trying to be realistic here. Considering our history with the treatment of Indigenous perspectives by non-Indigenous institutions, it is not unreasonable for the city to organize a formal round of consultations that is spearheaded by Indigenous Peoples. If done properly, and it is far too early to tell whether the city will do a good job with structuring it, then it will give projects in this area a badly needed social license to operate. Consensus? Heck no. But very important resilience to maintain support throughout the inevitable barrage of criticisms.

It's not just the gondola, or city-sponsored projects. For *any* private developments that could occur in the context of the Rossdale ARP, whether they be mixed-use buildings or unique businesses, they could point to these consultations in order to avoid having to start this over each bloody time. I'm sure the consultations won't satisfy every Indigenous person, but given the context we're in, I think it's the best shot we have at moving past our ghosts here.

That being said, I do worry about the gondola maintaining investor support during this process, given the uncertainty involved. Council did drop the ball in that regard. I'm not sure what they could do differently to balance both interests in the meantime, but there must be something.
 
I learned that if the Gondola station proposed for the power plant was built, it would effecitvely cut off the power plant from any vehicular access, which would prove to be a nightmare for providing a loading area for it. So without a gondola station there, it will be much, MUCH easier operationally for the power plant, which is a good thing. The power plant also will not be torn down, as it is both a Provincial Historic Resource, Municipal Historic Resource and is currently undergoing millions in rehabilitation.
 
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