For those of you not part of the inner circle, a naming ceremony recently took place on 70 Arlington Dr. This was to unveil Habitat for Humanity’s much criticized latest development, now referred to as Aurora Place.
The majority of the crowd was made up of media types with their cameras, recorders and notepads. Then there were the representatives from Habitat, Mayor Crouse and Coun. Cathy Heron. Suspiciously absent were many residents of St. Albert.
In fact, it was only a few residents of St. Albert who heard through the grapevine that this ceremony was going to take place. One person in attendance was informed that, since this was “only” a naming ceremony, it wasn’t a big deal. Gee, if it really wasn’t all that important, who notified the media — and why did they bother to show up?
Could the timing and zero notice of the ceremony have been designed to keep dissenting views hidden from the media at large? Would the negative press call into question Mayor Crouse’s declaration of the mass “outpouring of support from St. Albert residents …”? Could his statement withstand the fact that he was part of the group that helped a school board ram a condominium project down the throats of unsuspecting residents on property that was supposed to house a school?
One has to wonder why Mayor Crouse and Coun. Heron were the only members on council available to give interviews and have their pictures taken for something that wasn’t such a big thing. Could it be that the other members of council chose to opt out of associating themselves with a social project gone horribly wrong?
In the final analysis, it would seem that Mayor Crouse was too busy shuffling papers during discussions on this issue to hear residents say “yes” to affordable housing — if it is dispersed throughout the city. But no, our past and present councils chose to target (and continue to target) a specific neighbourhood and a property with a myriad of legal issues that are still to be reconciled.
Fred Trotter, St. Albert
