Perhaps St. Albert city council was trying to make a big splash by catering to a select group of well-organized voters. Or perhaps it really does believe this city exists in its own special little bubble. Either way, both arguments are short-sighted and simply all wet, because when it voted in favour of a St. Albert-residents-only period of early registration for civic pool programs, it boldly announced to the capital region that we ride in the front of the bus and to heck with the rest of you. Voting in favour were councillors Cam MacKay, Sheena Hughes, Bob Russell and surprisingly, Cathy Heron, an active member of the Capital Region Board that promotes regional co-operation.
The new policy would not be a big deal if St. Albert offered its residents so many amenities they simply did not need to venture into other jurisdictions, where other responsible civic taxpayers have been sharing their wealth for years. But let’s be realistic. Do St. Albert skaters never play on Edmonton or Sherwood Park ice? And while the Arden Theatre is a fine and charming facility, have St. Albert music lovers never crossed the threshold at Rexall Place for that big-name concert? Will St. Albert hockey lovers never bask in the glow of Edmonton’s new Rogers arena, where if they are lucky that night, the calibre of play may exceed that which they find at home? Should they show ID with their address when they purchase a ticket? You know, to make sure Edmontonians get first dibs on the seat.
We think not. That would only be unfair and, to use an overworked but appropriate phrase these days, non-inclusive to St. Albert residents. Well, guess what? An Edmontonian or Sturgeon County resident may feel just as resentful when hospitality doesn’t go both ways. It may become like having that chronically unreciprocating relative show up for Christmas one too many times. Hmmm, can we charge them for the turkey? Fair is fair.
It is easy to understand the more apparent motive of the move. There are too few pools in St. Albert to meet the demand of all the growing families and fitness-minded people who live here. As a result, the situation has become testy. A St. Albert mom or dad may wonder why their Olivia can’t take swimming lessons down the street when a space has gone to an Edmonton family’s little Liam. And when this situation potentially plays out 40 per cent of the time in St. Albert aquatic programs and 35 per cent of the time in other fitness and recreation programs, clearly the time has come to do something. Really what it needed is more pools for the taxpaying families that use them, but that is an expensive option. Another might be to do nothing and let all capital region residents share all of the pools the best they can.
Unfortunately, the option council picked essentially ignores such co-operation and builds a wall between communities. Fort Saskatchewan’s city council understands this. That is why it recently showed the wisdom to reject a proposal to give its own residents priority at the pool. Instead, it will be first come first served for swimming lessons in the Fort. That is just as it should be.
“We’re talking about exclusion here of residents who are non-residents of Fort Saskatchewan,” Fort Sask Coun. Frank Garretsen said in registering his vote against the proposal. “ ‘No sorry, you’re not from here so we don’t want you,’ in my heart that is the message we would be sending.”
Is that the community we want?
