But what truly sets us apart from province to province is how we perceive time. You find every free moment booked up with professional obligations, navigating a constant stream of opportunities. It is a city where people ask what you do before they ask who or how you are.
In beautiful Montreal, time gradually slips away from you, reality itself becomes unmoored by an endless parade of picnics in the park. Being timely begins to feel less important.
Staying out until 4 a. No such concern in Edmonton. The colossal, yawping sky and winters with unmitigated brightness and clarity make it quite apparent precisely how much time has elapsed over any given period. This is particularly true of Edmonton, where snow falling well into May is not uncommon. A capital city of 1. But there is an ephemeral, transient quality to the city as well. Edmonton has traditionally been a through-point for the country. The city itself has often behaved in the same manner, allowing the urban landscape to be remade over and over at the expense of heritage buildings.
This attitude was made apparent in during the dustup around the Welcome to Edmonton signs that beckoned drivers in from outside city limits. The angular, taupe signs also bore an additional proclamation: City of Champions.
Born and raised here, I never felt that way. To me, Edmonton was a glittering, underappreciated metropolis. Oilers' president Patrick LaForge says the decision to get rid of the slogan was "regrettable," adding its original meaning still rings true in this young province that prides itself on rugged individualism.
LaForge fears the decision was made too hastily, but admits the team's poor performance — the young Oilers are currently dead last in the Western Conference and are having trouble filling seats — may have galvanized council to look for a new way to celebrate the city.
The Oilers haven't qualified for the postseason since Michael Oshry, the city councillor who led the charge to abandon the slogan, says it is "outdated" and Edmontonians are unlikely to see City of Champions on signs again. But, ironically, the team that once embodied the motto is at the centre of Edmonton's flagship rebranding effort. Within two years, the Oilers will be leaving their first home, now known as Rexall Place. The last arena still in use where a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup, the plain concrete structure is a barn in a drab part of town.
It has loud acoustics, weathered wooden blue seats and few amenities — an arena from an era when the players and game were the sole attraction. LaForge says. I hope we can take that rarefied air with us. Workers were still bolting down seats and trying to get the dust out, but the arena was widely considered one of the best in hockey at the time.
It was great, everything was lower key then, all we had for music was an organist," Mr. Hamilton says. Hamilton saw his number 3 jersey become the first to be retired by the franchise. His old number has now been joined in the rafters by that of Mr. Gretzky, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey, among others. I could go on but I think you see my point.
Further, The Journal and and those city councillors who oppose the City of Champions signs and connotation do not even have a new name for us to consider. In other words, they are just throwing the rocks rather than thinking outside the box.
I think the new slogan for the City of Edmonton should be referring to those individuals who have donated their lives towards making this the incredible city that it is today. All those reading this — including Edmonton City Hall and the Edmonton Journal — know of the hundreds of thousands of citizens who over the years have made this city the envy of the nation.
Thus, lets remember them and future leaders of tomorrow where we refer to them specifically with the simple name of: A City of Champions. Bruce W. Hogle is a former j0urnalist and broadcaster and recipient of the Alberta Order of Excellence.
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