Edmontonians Feb09

T H E

P E R S O N A L I T Y

O F

B U S I N E S S

I N

T H E

C A P I T A L

R E G I O N

Call Today...

780-423-2020

ALBERTA’S LARGEST INDEPENDENT PAGING COMPANY

PM 40023292

Reg Milley Chair, Port Alberta

with Marty & Mark

W

ell, the first month of semi-

into casino wizard Howard Worell at the Cardinal’s of the NHL Phoenix Coyotes, coached by some guy tailgate party prior to the NFC final. And, well named Wayne who claims to also have spent time in retirement from the radio biz has known Edmonton lawyer Jack Agrios is also in the Edmonton. gone well… no surprise, eh?

The centre area between the NFL and NHL arenas I headed south with my family for state.

The Edmonton Oilers visit February 16th, so I is a full entertainment complex, with about 10 the Christmas holidays and I’m fortunate enough to hope to hook up with my media pals Rod Phillips excellent restaurants, sports bars, live outdoor stay here in Phoenix, Arizona until the end of (who also has a home down here now) and my entertainment, two hotels, a 24-hour a day movie February. No worries about items for my column— former Total Sports host Bob Stauffer. theatre, and valet parking.

I’ve found lots of Edmontonians ‘snowbirding’ it in I expect I’ll bump into more part time The fountains do a spectacular show all day long, the Desert State.

Americanucks over the next few weeks—especially at co-ordinated with music, and the speakers blare rock John Yerxa, who was just granted a new FM the big Canadian Snowbird Party. There’s also a music at high levels, while licence for Edmonton, is down here doing his preCanadians in Arizona Facebook site so you can a virtual circus show planning for the launch of his new station. Mediakeep in touch with friends surrounds you. wise it looks like the new stations that were granted The Arizona licences along with John’s are not going to rush their that are down here too.

Diamondbacks football new stations on. Just as the announcement from the team has a domed As things heat up on CRTC was made, the economy went into the dumper stadium that actually has and most of these guys figure that the best strategy is Edmonton’s downtown a swimming pool in one entertainment complex, it’s to wait things out. I understand we may hear them of the private suites interesting to note that Phoenix on-air by the fall. behind the left outfield has five almost new sporting Al Anderson, former Newcap General Manager, wall. Next to that arena, stadiums or arenas for its major has been here in the desert for the past few years the Phoenix Suns have sports teams. enjoying his full retirement. Other media folks their own NBA Stadium, include CTV news anchor Carrie ium which hosts this year’s ad St nix oe Ph Doll and husband Steven Petasky, University of all star game, while the who have a place in beautiful Troon US AIRWAYS Stadium houses the North, one of the nicest golf courses Phoenix Road Runners hockey in North America. Word has it that team.

Carrie’s co-anchor Daryl McIntyre The new Phoenix Light Rail will be visiting Phoenix with his wife Transit system just opened and it Mary in February as well—for free: only took a few years to build a It was his prize for winning the 20-mile route through Mesa, Dancing for Kids charity contest last Tempe and Phoenix. Cost to ride: November. Also ran into former CTV $2.50 all day—and it has 20 stops VP/GM Fred Filthaut. compared to Edmonton’s eight at Among Edmonton’s broadcast Arizona $2.50 one-way.

Cardinals alumni spending time in Phoenix are m erchand former CTV news gal Lisa Miller ise The Canuck buck is a with her family, and Wanda Street, little off these days; formerly of CHED. rty pa e Marty and Kim at ilg ta however, the prices down Neil Cunningham, general sales Cardinals’ oenix Stadium Ph of ty rsi Americanucks ive here are much lower and manager for the Corus stations is also outside Un often the difference, even state-side. Man-about-town Pete The NFL Arizona with the exchange factored Kozial, known for somehow talking his way into Cardinals play on a grass in, is minimal. every major sporting event in the world (with his pal field that is on a tray that Plus, the other bonus: Bernie Robitaille), has just set up his marketing slides out during the week 270 golf courses—and no company here for a few months and will return to and slides back in to the shovelling.

Edmonton late in the spring. arena for Sunday’s games— See you back home…

Sun Media big wig Craig Martin is in the same next month. √ complex as the Forbes clan. He and wife Janet enjoy it’s amazing. And everyone should experience an NFL golfing and spent most of the Christmas break with tailgate party to really see Marty Forbes is the recently clubs (and a cigar) in hand. how Americans love their retired VP and general manager of The Bear, Dennis Mozak from Synergy Products has a new sports.

EZRock and The TEAM 1260 Sports Radio. home in Scottsdale, and media lady Susan Right beside the stadium is the Jobing Arena, home Contact marty@edmontonians.com O’Conner came along for the ride this season. I ran

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

2

2

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

seat houses to support and enjoy live local music because $199 plus the evil covers a lot of cover charges. Here are a few suggestions not to miss: Serena Ryder at the Myer Horowitz Theatre on March 25th, Martin Sexton at the Francis Winspear Centre for Music on April 11th, Gordon Lightfoot at the Jubilee on April 14th.

And check out the Celtic Fusion Illusion with the Mattierin School of Irish Dancing on March 14th at the Londonderry Community Hall. Tickets for the gig can be purchased from Lynn Wells at 780-455-3900.

Final music musing: Alas… the Sidetrack. I have never missed it more. RIP

M

“

oin.” “Moin.”

That is how I have been greeted by everyone on the street, in the shops and in my family’s homes here in and around the Ammerland area of Germany. It comes from a local dialect called Plattdeutsch or Plattdüütsch. Moin is like “aloha”. Although I think it’s a morning greeting only, I was using it in the pub last night and it worked well. I’m here visiting family with my brother Kurt for just a week, then back to Edmonton. So to you: “Moin.”

I will get to the trip later but, first, some hats off to Guiseppi Albi, his staff, the crew and especially to the volunteers of Events Edmonton. They held a great New Year’s Downtown event in and around Churchill Square.

It was a wee bit nippy but the crowds came out to enjoy great live entertainment and outstanding fireworks. I wound up watching the fireworks on Global Edmonton and they were impressive. We have a gem on our hands in our city.

NYE Downtown is a free family event and I look forward to its ongoing success.

Some music musings… I grew up on the East Coast.

Big name bands would get to Portland, Maine and not make it around the New Brunswick corner very often. I did see Tina Turner’s Private Dancer tour two of the 5-ish (can’t recall) nights she played in Halifax. Some bands would come to the coast to get their shows polished before they headed west or south. I’m sure, if you have been in Edmonton long enough you know what I am talking about.

Don’t get me wrong, I have seen many great shows back East but I had to travel to see the big name acts.

I have thoroughly enjoyed living in Edmonton considering who has played here. I have seen the best of the best so far and, in the last few years with such a robust economy, it has been fantastic. Clapton, Petty, Waters and Willie, to name a few.

But the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are now turning me a wee sour. Come on now… $110 plus all the evil ‘ticketmaster’ charges for the cheapest seat in the house?

And $199 plus the evil for Rexall’s better seats—and Christine MacVee is not in the line up? I love these two bands, but no thanks. My father has always used the expression, “make hay when the sun shines” but the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac seem to be grabbing the coin during dusk. This long-winded babble translates to: Anybody out there have any free tickets to those shows?

I would suggest that we get out to the clubs and the soft-

where he is from and his thoughts on Canada. Here he is…

Hello Canada!

I am really proud of getting the chance to write a little bit about Germany, more precisely about my home Rastede, in [Edmontonians]. My idea is to show you the beauty of this place, how the people live, our traditions and why you should think about a holiday trip to Rastede.

Rastede is a little town in north-west Germany. It is about 60 kilometres west of Bremen and 15 kilometres north of Oldenburg City. The counts and dukes of Oldenburg chose Rastede 950 years ago as their summer residence, where they spent the best weeks of the year in magnificent houses and picturesque parks.

Even today, the historical surroundings, the attractive Also wanted to countryside and the healthy effects of the maritime say... I was honoured climate provide the ideal conditions for a holiday that is to be part of the full of fresh air.

Glenn Anderson Many festivals and events like the international music civic ceremony at city days or the world championships of sled dog racing are hall last month— a making Rastede an important place in Lower-Saxony. class event. I was The towns and municipalities around Rastede are thrilled to see so many also nice and worth seeing. The whole Ammerland, the great Oilers in one district where Rastede is located, is one of the most room… and to have beautiful landscapes in Germany. my picture take with ri The people here are very different than other one of my favourites, Mark and Ya people. Tradition and community are very important Yari Kuri who flew in for the people in the Ammerland and the clock does not from Finland to see run as fast as anywhere else. If you have a problem, ask “Number 9” raised to the rafters. somebody on the street, you can be sure he will help you as well as he can.

Back to Germany… a few thoughts…

Interesting are also the national sport and the language Why are the Fords and GMs here not available in North in our district. People here speak a traditional dialect America? In fact, why aren’t all the cars here available? called “Plattdeutsch” (Low German). If you can’t speak Customer is king… bring it on. We can make any car we German, it will not be such big problem, because want in Canada: We have the talent. Now, about the “Plattdeutsch” is very similar to the English language. The production costs? national sport is called “Bosseln” (ball shooting). In this Watched Barack Obama being sworn in, live and in game, participants meet on the road and try to throw a ball German. Not sure what as far as they can. It looks very easy but it is hard to keep he said but it looked the ball away from obstacles like ditches, streams, long great. My relatives left the TV room half grass etc., which would obviously reduce the distance of one’s “shoot”. way through his You see, landscape, people and life in and surround speech. Bored? Not Rastede are very special. I hope we will see us here, if you spend your holidays in Germany.

Canadians are very welcome in Northern Germany Mark’s cousins in Germany because of their help after the Second World War. On the basis of my family, I have a special relationship to your country and I like Canada so much. I hope I can visit my inspired? Hungry? Not family in Canada soon, so that I can enjoy the sure but food and eating characteristics of Canada—not only in pictures and are important around movies. these parts. Nonetheless, r de Alexan Alexander von Essen, 18 years (high school graduate good riddance to George and editor of local newspaper) Bush and good luck to Barack.

Danke shoen. √ No sign of the Edmonton Oilers here so I took it upon myself to plant the seed. I brought all of my younger Mark Scholz, owner of MES Communications Inc. offers a relatives some Oiler pride. They are not too sure what the variety of services including production, creative and pompom is all about but then again, neither am I. I asked my second cousin, Alexander von Essen who is entertainment. For more information or to suggest a story idea, email mscholz@edmontonians.com studying to be a journalist, to write a few paragraphs about

Celebrating 20 Years THAT WAS THE FEBRUARY THAT WAS “If Mr. (Bob) Rae had not squandered his first 40-something formative years steeped in leftist ideology, wallowing in interventionist economics and cavorting with union leaders, the good people of the province of Ontario would not today be sitting in so deep a pile of goo.” ~ Terence Corcoran, The Globe & Mail —quoted in Business Diary 1992

“Albertans have endured their eleventh consecutive year of recession. (Editor’s note: Statistics Canada says the recession is over.)” ~ Paul Near Business Difficulty Management 1993

“Silicone calf implants for men are the rage. Pat Sajak auctioned to People magazine exclusive coverage of his wedding. Though a lover of free markets, I find these examples obscene.” ~ Tom Peters On Excellence 1990

“Since 1986 the number of Alberta exporters has more than doubled with over 2,000 companies now active... they have boosted the 1990 value of Alberta’s exports to almost $16 billion…” ~ Lois Bridges Alberta Business Outlook 1991

“We are the only culture in the world whose culture is dominated by a neighbour.” ~ Rebecca Jenkins, Actor/Singer Round Table on Alberta’s Film Industry 1995

“The original Capital Health Authority board worked very hard. It’s just absurd that front line people weren’t involved.

Hopefully, the situation is changing.” ~ Dr. T. Alex MacPherson, former executive director & deputy commissioner of the Premier’s Commission

on Future Health Care, commenting seven years after release of The Rainbow Report 1997

“To date, Leuders has won a total of eight world cup titles in all categories. But there’ve been no parades—no Pierre Leuders day in Edmonton.” ~ Ken Karpoff Edmonton’s best Olympic contender is faceless at home 1998

“Young Entrepreneurs Organization Annual Survey: Question 8—The Governor of California announced recently that by 2003, 20 percent of all automobiles in California must be 100 percent non-polluting. By 2007, 50 percent will be non-polluting. How are manufacturers going to achieve this? a) Fuel cell (17.1%) b) Hydrogen (19.5%) c) Electric (12.2%) d) Can’t be achieved (51.2%)” ~ YEO Polling results from January 18, 2000

“We also changed our logo, which had been a Phoenician sailing ship, which didn’t seem to fit this Internet and e-age...” ~ Mike Percy, Dean of the U of A School of business to Catherine Carson The Dean’s List 2001

“Jana Clarke left the Downtown Business Association to join Grant MacEwan College as marketing director for its business department.” ~ Linda Hall Business Buzz 2003

Sharon MacLean on the passing of Lois Hole: “In honour of Lois, we encourage you to support the Lois Hole Care & Nurture Fund... Please, keep it growing.” ~ Muggsy Forbes, Funny, Pompous and Unfair 2005

“Our work is one part therapy and two parts marriage counselling. Renovation is a big challenge for homeowners,” says (contractor) Paul Hastings. ~ Peter Roccia The Renovation Generation 2006

“People aren’t necessarily upset with me personally, but take great exception to the ideas I often bring to the table— issues that are disturbing or dangerous to the status quo.” ~ Don Hill Iconoclasts 2007

A glimpse into Edmontonians pages over the years—month by month in 2009.

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

2

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

3

CELEBRATING

Poll

20

STATION

YEARS

V

FOUNDER DICK MacLEAN

Vol. XX

FEBRUARY 2009

No. 2

SHARON MacLEAN Publisher and Advertising Director Telephone: 780.482.7000 Fax: 780.488.9317 e-mail: info@edmontonians.com edmontonians.com

With Linda Banister

oter turnout hit a record low in the most recent federal election. To gain some perspective on the issue, this month we asked Edmontonians for their thoughts on the voter turnout and the results of the federal election.

DID YOU FOLLOW MEDIA COVERAGE PRIOR TO THE FEDERAL ELECTION?

DID YOU VOTE AND WHY OR WHY NOT? When asked if they voted in the recent federal election, 76 percent stated they had. Their reasons included civic duty (54 percent) and wanting their voice to be heard (47 percent). Of the 23 percent that did not vote, 30 percent stated voting was inconvenient and takes too much time, followed by not knowing enough to vote (13 percent), no real choice (13 percent) and not being a Canadian citizen (13 percent). Respondents that did not vote were then asked what actions could be taken for them to be more likely to vote in the future. Twenty-two percent wanted candidates who better represented their views, and 17 percent wanted more information on candidates’ positions.

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Percent

INSIDE VOX POP Marty Forbes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Mark Scholz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

45% 28%

POLL STATION Voting/Banister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 CORPORATE ETHICS Compensation/Somji . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 CIVIC BUZZ Gripes/Norwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 MEDIA MINUTE Nobody asked/Hogle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 COVER STORY Port Alberta/McHugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 VISIONARIES Tom Ogaranko/Gazin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 NINT/Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Briefs/Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Social Media/Schwabe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Said they followed the coverage closely

DO POLITICAL POLLS AFFECT YOUR VOTE?

Said they did not follow the coverage

To begin the survey, respondents were asked how closely they followed media coverage leading up to the 2008 federal election.

Almost half of the respondents (45 percent) indicated they followed the coverage closely, while 28 percent reported they did not.

WHY WAS VOTER TURN-OUT SO LOW?

WERE YOU SURPRISED AND SATISFIED WITH THE ELECTION OUTCOME?

Percent

MY E-SPACE Urban Insight/Rayner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 THE BUSINESS OF LOVE Uninvites/Jespersen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

23%

BARB DETERS Editor

editor@edmontonians.com COLUMNISTS Linda Banister John Berry Linda Bodo Cheryl Croucher Marty Forbes Muggsy Forbes Bruce Hogle Ryan Jespersen David Norwood Erin Rayner Mark Scholz Walter Schwabe Nizar J. Somji FEATURE WRITERS Barb Deters Greg Gazin Peter Drake McHugh Marg. Pullishy PHOTOGRAPHERS Terry Bourque Barb Deters SPECIAL PROJECTS Edmontonians Transformers Tom Bradshaw Les Brost Steffany Hanlen Larry Ohlhauser GRAPHIC PRODUCTION Rage Studios Inc.

THIS MONTH’S COVER

Thought that Canadians were disenchanted with politics

Next, respondents were asked if they had seen any political poll results prior to the election. Over half of the respondents (54 percent) reported they had. Those who had voted and seen the political poll results prior to the election were then asked if the results impacted their vote. Eighty-eight percent stated it did not affect their personal vote. However, 57 percent of all respondents believed the results impact voting in general.

12%

11%

Thought lack of interest in politics and government was the reason

Believed that the Conservatives would win regardless of their vote

Respondents were informed that voter turnout for Canadians was reported at 59.1 percent, and 52.9 percent for Albertans—a record low.

They were then asked why they thought so many people in Alberta did not vote. Many (23 percent) thought that Canadians were disenchanted with politics and politicians, followed by a lack of interest in politics and governments (12 percent), and the belief that the Conservatives would win regardless of their vote (11 percent). Fifty-four percent thought the reasons why Albertans specifically did not vote were the same compared to the rest of the country. Of the 33 percent that believed the reasons were different, 24 percent thought Alberta’s needs are different and that Albertans are facing different issues compared to the rest of Canada. Eighteen percent said Albertans are busier and doing better economically. Another 18 percent indicated the lack of competition in Alberta, stating they knew the Conservatives would win.

Seventy percent of respondents indicated they were not surprised by the outcome of the election. Among the other 30 percent, 20 percent were surprised with how many seats the Conservatives won, while 17 percent thought the Conservative would win more seats.

Finally, respondents were asked how satisfied they were with the results of the past election. Roughly one-quarter of respondents (24 percent) indicated they were highly satisfied, while 45 percent indicated a low level of satisfaction. Among the latter, 20 percent said their candidate’s party was not elected, 20 percent indicated nothing changed as a result of the election, and 18 percent had hoped for a Conservative majority.

Monthly Poll Station Online Question Visit www.edmontonians.com to register your opinion

Want a question included in the Edmontonians Poll?

Contact Linda at 780.451.4444 or e-mail lbanister@edmontonians.com.

Linda Banister is a certified management consultant and the owner of Banister Research and Consulting Inc., a full service provider of market research and program evaluation services.

Visit www.banister.ab.ca.

Slimming Secret!

Lose 4 to 20 inches in an hour!

A hot new detoxifying body wrap!

Why it works?

The wrap detoxifies the body.

The body can get overloaded with toxins because it cannot keep up with the filtration process.

The more toxins in the body, the more lymphatic fluid increases to protect cells.

Edmonton International Airport President & CEO Reg Milley Published by 399620 Alberta Ltd. on the first day of each month at C-100 Park Side Tower, 8920-100th Street Edmonton AB CA T6E 4Y8. ©All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Manuscripts: must be accompanied by a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. Edmontonians is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts.

All stories Copyright ©Edmontonians Publications Mail Agreement No. 40023292 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department C-100 Park Side Tower, 8920-100th Street Edmonton AB CA T6E 4Y8 Email: info@edmontonians.com

You force out toxins. Once the toxins are gone, the lymphatic fluid decreases and you lose inches. It is not water loss—rather, an exchange of minerals for toxins.

That’s a Wrap!

Call Linda Perras at Suddenly Slimmer Day Spa

780.459.3444 pedicures. manicures. facials. aroma therapy message

www.suddenlyslimmerdayspa.com EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

4

2

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

corporate ETHICS

Compensation Culture

By Nizar J. Somji

F

all 2008 brought about fresh discussion on the age old topic of compensation: How much is too much? It started locally with the severance packages paid to the CEO and key individuals in two Alberta Health regions. Journalists gleefully communicated the extent of the package, implicating that the extravagance included not just the severance but the total compensation package received by these individuals. This was quickly followed by the federal election where some key individuals lost their seats. Again, the journalists had a field day with the pension amounts for the departing politicians.

The impetus for renewed focus on compensation in the global community started with the collapse of many of the financial institutions. The collapse revealed excessive executive compensation levels. On the other side, a significant number of investors lost entire life savings. While what the executives took home is interesting and enables politicians and regulators to grandstand, it enables everyone involved to hide the true cause of the collapse: an abundance of greed at all levels and the failure to enforce or practice governance theories.

The executives became merely the universal scapegoats.

The journalists, seeking to improve readership, created controversy and the

…where is the value? masses became enraged by the perceived excesses and unfairness. Since the industrial revolution, there has been an ongoing debate on compensation: What is fair? Why does one make more than another? What should the boss make?

How much should the owner or investor end up with?

To protect the employee—who is the “underdog” in the employer/employee relationship model—unions found a home in the business world to ensure fair wages and working conditions.

Toward the end of 2008 came the debate over the bail out of the automotive industry in the USA. It became clear that the compensation structures within the auto industry were not competitive, and with the unions unwilling to be part of the solution, no amount of money would enable this industry to recover and be competitive. The media reports of the significant differences in compensation earned by those working for American auto makers versus non-American auto makers in the USA was not quite as enthusiastic as other compensation controversies. While the low cost of labour in developing countries is frequently reported, discrepancies in our own backyard are seemingly easier to ignore.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to debate compensation models with many very talented human

resource professionals. The discussion typically incorporates various external factors—inflation, cost of living adjustments, market conditions, and the competitive landscape. Rarely does the discussion centre on the value that the individual delivers to the organization. I recall an interesting discussion with a salesperson. He made a case for a significant raise based on the usual external factors. When questioned about his recent sales quota to actual performance, his response was “That does not matter; the cost of living has increased substantially!”

The reality is not about external factors, but based on two critical fronts: the value the individual delivers to the organization, and the financial performance and viability of the organization as a whole.

Smaller organizations do a tremendous job of instilling “performance-based compensation”, since they are unable to reward their more senior individuals any other way. As organizations grow, such models become more complex as it takes groups of individuals to deliver performance as opposed to the heroic efforts of one.

It is always a challenge for large organizations, such as the Capital Health Authority with a budget in excess of $2 billion, to attract and retain someone to provide leadership and manage the portfolio. The stakes are high. The compensation levels are significant. If the

individual performs it is money well spent. However, should the individual not perform, the cost of parting can be significant and the exercise expensive, and the cycle begins again. When one is working for a public organization, the costs (and benefits) both to the Board that does the hiring and the individual in question can be huge. While you may question the salary of the Capital Health Authority CEO, the real question that should be asked is: What kind of individual do I want to run this organization? The answer will dictate the compensation.

So when looking at compensation, don’t think in terms of what an individual makes.

Think of what you get for that salary.

Borrowing from the familiar “Where’s the beef?” slogan, ask “Where’s the value?”

Talking about compensation for politicians…it is anticipated that the mayoral candidates for New York City will spend over $75 million on campaigns during the election. To add perspective, the job pays less than $200,000. Clearly, those in the race are not doing it for the pay. √ Nizar J. Somji is president and CEO of Jaffer Inc., a management/investment consulting firm; and chairman of the board of Matrikon Inc., a company he founded in 1988.

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

5

C ivic Buzz with David Norwood

Public Transit: a universal gripe

I

make it a worthwhile investment. My fear is day. The result is that both residents and that the City will slow down its plans for you live, there is always something to visitors alike can get around inexpensively LRT expansion, citing a lack of financial and efficiently. gripe about regarding your home San Francisco—and presumably the State surety in the face of the economic city. In Edmonton, depending on the downturn. If anything, it should be speeding of California and the U.S. government— time of year, we complain about the roads it up—this is not the time for short-term have invested heavily in the area’s not being plowed quickly enough—if at transportation system which, because it’s so thinking or planning. all… too much road construction… slow efficient, is used by hundreds of thousands decision-making by City Council… or any of people every day. For Despite the overall one of dozens of issues. Having just spent economic slowdown, most nine days in San Francisco, I can assure you example, Market Street, if not all indicators suggest that its residents have gripes as well. a main that the metro Edmonton One complaint I heard more than once thoroughfare area will remain above had to do with the San Francisco transit cutting through average in growth and system, a topic familiar to economic performance Edmontonians. The over the next year. One gripes concerned sector which this column scheduling more than has examined in past anything else, and the te Bridge Ga n lde Go e issues is possibility of cutbacks View of th condominium due to an increasing development.

As deficit. By Edmonton of early 2009, the standards, San Edmonton condo Franciscans have nothing market is to complain about. generally In addition to the city’s saturated, meaning fabled cable cars, San that we likely will Francisco offers two not see many new separate and efficient developments rapid transit systems: Bay Bay Area Rapid announced.

Area Rapid Transit or Transit (BART) Moreover, many BART, and the Muni which have been which is almost a hybrid the centre of announced—such of our own LRT and the San as Century Park, Vision for the Corner heavy rail subway Francisco, is and Strathearn—will likely be slowsystem. It also offers served by tracked until the market improves. But, streetcar service, using both underunlike other cities including Calgary and restored cars from as far San Fransico Skyline ground rail Vancouver, no major projects in Edmonton away as Milan, Italy, as systems, the have been cancelled… at least, not yet. well as trolley (electric) For now, the 35-storey Icon II and 23buses on many routes, hybrid diesel-electric streetcar, trolleys and buses.

The lesson we can learn from San storey Quest are proceeding downtown, and and standard diesel buses.

Francisco is not a new one: Investing in an a host of condos just west of the downtown Moreover, San Francisco offers efficient transportation system encourages core—including AltaVista South, inexpensive Muni passes (daily, three-day, Meridian Plaza, the Venetian, Uptown weekly and monthly) which can be used on more people to use public transit. In recent years, Edmonton has begun to move and Serenity—are nearing completion. As every system except BART, which is forward with LRT expansion, and the cost well, Urbia Developments, working with operated separately from the San Francisco is anything but cheap. However, the Brinsmead Kennedy Architects, is system and covers much of the Bay area. I proposing a twin-tower, 400-unit condo for purchased a seven-day Muni pass for $24… savings—fuel efficiency, roadway infrastructure repairs, transportation104th Street and 102nd Avenue. The tallest considering that a one-way trip on a cable oriented developments, among others— of the two towers will reach 50 storeys, the car is $5, the pass paid for itself within a

t seems that no matter where

edia Minute MNobody with Bruce Hogle

asked me, but... ...Rather than Jeh Custer of Sierra Club Canada wasting time with legal action against Syncrude over the loss of 500 birds in a tailing pond last year, why don’t Custer and his cronies do something about the tons of raw sewage continually being dumped daily into the Pacific Ocean at Victoria. Over Christmas, there was so much poop and pee on the shores in and around Victoria, that the Vancouver Island Health Authority had to erect warnings on every beach. While the Halifax Harbour is now clean enough to swim in, Victoria’s Capital Region district admits it doesn’t treat its waste. Further: It has no intention of eliminating this despicable practice until 2016 at the earliest. I can only presume the health of

B.C. seals, otters, birds and fish— including, I’m told, brown salmon—is irrelevant to Mr. Custer. …I was happy the Edmonton Journal was successful last year in eliminating a twoyear ban on the name of Dexter Ian Estacio, former member of the Crazy Dragons street gang. To impress gang members, Estacios stabbed Evan Grykuliak to death on the night of Evan’s 17th birthday. Estacio’s identity was originally protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. But Youth Court Judge James Koshman lifted that ban after Journal lawyer Sean Ward argued that a young offender’s name is no longer protected when sentenced as an adult. …I’m not so happy, however, with the fact that the 33-year-old Edmonton foster mother, who was sentenced in December for murdering her three-year-old foster child, will never have her name revealed.

The feeble excuse given is to protect the name of the foster child. Why? The names of the foster mother and foster child are completely different. Protect the child if you will, but why this sadistic female? Alberta’s Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act allows only the

Enhancement Act Director to identify the woman. Amendments to this Act by cabinet minister Janis Tarchuk foolishly disallow any judge from revealing that name. Bad legislation, Ms. Tarchuk. …In early 2000, my wife Gail and I led a tour of the Middle East. At that time, the region expected millions of tourists, so all sides put away their arms. When the tourists didn’t come, the arms came out and haven’t been put away since. The situation continues to worsen. Sadly, I fear permanent peace will never come to that part of the world. That’s because thousands of children have been, and continue to be, raised in homes where outright hatred prevails against those of other races and religions. Edmonton has demonstrated how these barriers can be eliminated with such groups as the Arab/Jewish Coalition. Also: the Phoenix Multi Faith Society for Harmony was formed by the late Larry Shaben, Canada’s and Alberta’s first Muslim cabinet minister, and Sol Rolingher, a Jewish lawyer, after two city synagogues were fire bombed in 2000. Mr. Rolingher’s faith had to be tested last New Year’s Day after the front window of

shorter one in the range of 40. The project has to go through a number of regulatory and approval processes, but the developers are confident that the project will go ahead.

Further east, the 23-floor Mira, the first of the five-tower Aurora project, continues to be marketed with a projected construction

Urbia Towers

start later this year. The first high-rise in The Quarters, Vinterra Properties’ Valleyview, is expected to go ahead later this year. A number of high-rise condos have also been approved for the 97th Avenue area east of 106th Street, ranging from 26 to 34 floors; at some point, they too will go ahead.

We won’t see a plethora of cranes on the skyline for the next year or two—actually, the last time Edmonton saw a plethora of cranes was the late 1970s. Nonetheless, developers seem to have maintained their confidence in the Edmonton market, which continues to have the lowest unemployment rate of any major Canadian city and is still attracting in-migration. With construction of EPCOR’s new office tower well underway and the Ironwood office condo on 103rd Street and 102nd Avenue expected to commence in the near future, the Edmonton skyline will evolve and change for the better. Further, when and if the City Centre Airport is closed, the transformation will be dramatic. We just have to be patient, something that Edmontonians are very much accustomed to. √ David Norwood is a freelance writer/editor.

Contact dnorwood@edmontonians.com

his home was smashed. Despite the hopes of the two groups I’ve mentioned, plus others, I fear that Middle East animosity is permeating throughout too many Canadian cities. …I love the passion of PK Subban of the Canadian Junior Hockey team. After winning the World’s Championship last month, he said: “We came to Ottawa as one team, one nation and one mission.”

Aside from the sport connotation, I truly see Canadians of all colours and creeds being one team. I also see Canadians, regardless of where they live, what they believe and the language they speak, being one nation. And I certainly see our collective one mission as working together for the betterment of one and all.

What better vision could we have for this Canada of ours — both for those born here and for those to whom we have opened our doors and our hearts. √ Bruce Hogle is the former news director at CFRN TV and recently retired head of the Alberta Press Council.

Contact bhogle@edmontonians.com EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

6

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

By Peter Drake McHugh

I

f you want to talk about the Port Alberta, you can always start with, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one”—you are almost guaranteed that nobody will and nobody has. Very odd for a blockbuster of an idea whose success could parallel that of Alberta’s oil boom.

It is called Port Alberta, but Edmonton stands to gain many millions of dollars if it can out-compete other centres that see world trade as their ticket to long-term development, full employment and a hedge against resource-based economies that currently come with a best-before date.

Alberta and Edmonton Region are on the verge of an incredible economic opportunity—and, for the first time in a long time, it is not oil based. World trade has grown at such an astonishing rate that West Coast ports in the United States and Canada can no longer keep up with the pace. Canada’s newest deepwater port is Prince Rupert on the British Columbia coast. It can offload the mighty trade that exists between American consumers and Chinese

factory workers, but the trick is to get the products to the U.S. Midwest. Figure out how to do that efficiently and there is a huge reward: managing the transportation of freight between the world’s largest markets.

If it works, it will position Alberta and Canada as one of the world’s great trading nations and leading economies.

Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel is on board, “The future of Edmonton as an inland port is key to Canada’s economic prosperity.”

Reg Milley, president and CEO of Edmonton International Airport and chair of the Port Alberta steering committee, says Canada is bracing for a “tsunami of trade with China, Japan, and India.” He’s thought about this a lot. He began by looking at air freight strategies at a time when Calgary had been chosen as the air hub for Alberta and Air Canada seemed not interested in serving central and northern Alberta. “We are on the Can-Mex corridor, and we have a variety of competitive advantages. What we are doing now is the research, everything from textiles to electronics.”

He believes Nisku Business Park will play a role. It is the second largest oil and gas park in North America (Houston is first) and 65 per cent of goods are destined for export.

Port Alberta project lead Janet Riopel is no less enthusiastic. She reminds that the Edmonton-Calgary corridor “is the fastest growing economic zone in North America.” She says that will help engage industry partners. “Private sector investment is a significant strategic goal.”

As an inland port transportation hub, Port Alberta will handle air, truck and rail shipments with containers of products from North America and the Far East giants.

The federal government is investing heavily in Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor program. Prince Rupert is already living the dream. In recent years, tens of billions of federal, provincial and private sector dollars have dramatically expanded container handling capacity at the Port of Prince Rupert, transforming it into one of Canada’s largest intermodal facilities

with direct rail connection to the North American industrial heartland. A steady stream of ocean freighters unloads consumer goods, automobiles and other merchandise from Asia, then loads tonnes of Canadian wheat and other grains, iron ore, pulp, lumber and potash to meet the ever growing Chinese demand.

This, at a time, when North America ports are increasingly congested as falling trade barriers prime the pump for the flow of goods between regions.

Gateways are under growing strains to handle the Asian boom, and there is concern Canada could suffer if backlogs begin to build. Business has grown so rapidly that major ports like Vancouver and Long Beach cannot keep up. Containers can sit idle for up to a week in congested ports. Inland ports are important to manage the anticipated rush and to ensure incoming products and materials are moved quickly away from increasingly congested marine facilities.

Continued on page 8

GO EAST YOUNG MAN

GO FAR EAST

If you think Alberta’s economy is doing well, you may be right. But, according to the Western Centre for Economic Research, Western Canada needs a wake-up call or we could once more be hewers of wood and drawers of water while others handle huge international markets more competitively.

A December 2007 report says Western Canada has increased the volume of trade to the United States, but “we have neglected other potential markets,” according to Rolf Mirus, a lead researcher.

“Western Canada has not been competitive, particularly in Asian markets.” The region’s manufacturing sector imports jumped from $1.2 billion in 1995 to $3 billion in 2007, and the share of exports to NAFTA partners has increased from 63.5 percent of exports to 77 percent in 2007, says Mirus, a professor at the University of Alberta School of Business.

But, in Asian markets, we are a disaster. Annual growth was less than inflation at 2.3 percent, he says.

Trade with smaller Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners such as Costa Rica, Chile, and Israel showed only “mixed results.”

The report was commissioned by Canada West Foundation. √ EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

0

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

7

Continued from page 7 Advocates say the turn-around time for rail cars and ships arriving at the Port of Prince Rupert is up to three days sailing time faster than to other West Coast ports. If cargo can push on quickly to the proposed transportation hub of Edmonton, there can be a seamless transfer to the markets—two-thirds of over three million containers imported from Asia end up in the U.S. Midwest.

The rapid turn-around time for ships and reduced terminal-handling charges mean cost and time savings. And incoming containers could be broken down and redistributed by the tenants of Port Alberta.

FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY In a $1.5-million cost-sharing arrangement between Western Economic Diversification Canada and Edmonton International Airport, two key components are being developed. EIA is already establishing a logistic support centre that will serve as a one-stop cargo processing facility for services such as security and regulatory clearance. Acres of land around the airport will serve as a “SmartPort Platform” that uses state-ofthe art information technology for tracing and monitoring cargo. Planes, trucks and trains will stream into Port Alberta with cargo from marine ports, from Alberta industries and from the rest of the continent. The airport has 3,000 acres of land surrounding it—1,400 are immediately available for the first stages of Port Alberta in an area designated as AirLINKS Business Park. Edmonton may be on the cusp of a new era— warehouser to the world.

Milley’s vision goes well beyond the clearinghouse scenario. He believes manufacturing could be the next driver of the Alberta economy. “We’re looking 20 or 40 years into the future,” he says.

“This is not short term.” He believes that by establishing a Foreign Trade Zone in Edmonton, manufacturers abroad would see the advantage of doing assembly work in the Edmonton area: The addition of Canadian content or labour to the

goods would qualify them under NAFTA to the new facilities, more and better infrastructure will be required. for sale anywhere in North America The plan is not without its naysayers. without the duties overseas exporters would otherwise have to pay. It is one of We are now entering what could be a many innovative ideas that is keeping the major recession but advocates of the idea growing. However, it also offers one plan argue this may prove to be an opportunity to build infrastructure for of the first big challenges. the future. Critics also point out that free For a trading nation, Canada is trade has not brought the rewards to somewhat left-footed. A Foreign Trade America that its politicians promised.

Zone (FTZ) is critical to the success of Still, say backers, this is not the world of Port Alberta to provide importers with your father: Wake up, or lose. The facts the facilities to store or process goods duty and tax free before sending them on would seem to support that view. to a third country or into the domestic economy through the normal customs process. FTZs in the U.S. bcart and other r on Bom containe countries Loading have proven to be strong economic generators. The zones provide the support needed to compete in the global marketplace and an umbrella under which operation costs can be streamlined.

Probably because over 80 percent of our exports go to the United States, Canada stands alone as the only G8 country that does not have FTZs. The federal government is said to be re-thinking its policy but, for it to be changed, the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government must be in agreement.

Alberta’s labour shortage could impact investment decisions. More workers— perhaps foreign and from provinces harder hit by the economic downturn— will be required, and some companies will have to adjust their operation to utilize higher levels of automation. And, because speed and efficiency will be critical in attracting investors and tenants

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Edmonton is Canada’s most northern major city. This has not always been viewed as an advantage. It is on the shortest route to Europe and from the Asian countries. With a population of over a million people, the region is home to world-class education institutions and is the gateway to Canada’s resource-rich North and the second largest oil reserves in the world. We have the fifth largest airport in Canada—one of the fastest growing in North America. Unlike elsewhere, there is a substantial amount of land available for development and it is strategically located on key aeronautical trade routes.

There is a lot of geography in Canada but no place looks better situated to benefit from trade with

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

8

0

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

major global freight forwarders have China and other Asian countries than operations in the region. When we reach Edmonton. out, we can touch Alaska, the American It is not lost on any number of Midwest, Mexico, Central Canada and Albertans that the 19th Century the world, all from our backyard. invention of railroads could well be Leduc-Nisku—long a hotbed of oil responsible for pulling Alberta kicking and gas servicing companies that banded and screaming into the 21st Century.

Ron Gilbertson, president and CEO of together—makes the area a big player, not only in Alberta but around the world. the Edmonton Economic Development It already has a full range of commercial Corporation, cautions that “population and airfreight services that send 30,000 alone is not enough to create a hub (for tonnes of freight per year out of transportation). We need rail... we need Edmonton International. It is on the air... we need pipelines... we need CNR north-south main line with links to trucking. There are tremendous Calgary and beyond. How big an impact opportunities here.” will it have? You only have to look at the Edmonton’s topography, geography major trucking companies in Leduc and planning already hold promise.

County to see the potential benefits.

There are major air, rail and surface Canada’s two rail companies are transportation routes and the city is strategically Fairview contain located on a number of er terminal key international trucking routes. Most

Alberta bound train

and distribution free of congestion. The on board. CP is investing $15 million in smart money is betting on Edmonton. infrastructure in the Edmonton Region, Back in 2007, Premier Ed and $25 million between Stelmach acknowledged, Leduc and Scotford. It also “With expansion of the plans to build a new Port of Prince Rupert, intermodal terminal in we can establish south Edmonton, Alberta as an based on estimated important inland growth of 12 to 15 terminal and percent, projected distribution hub. The prior to the federal government economic predicts that by downturn.

2020 container CN’s Western cargo coming Canadian through British Network Columbia ports is Operation Centre is projected to increase in Edmonton. The Ron Gilbertson by up to 300 percent— city is the first major EEDC President from 1.8 million distribution centre on containers to as many as CN’s seven million. And Alberta can line out serve as an essential link in a of Prince supply chain that would be efficient and Rupert—a fast and reliable.” So far, the Alberta government efficient line through has put up $250,000 to research the the Northern benefits of a Port Alberta. Many millions Transportation Corridor, with capacity will likely be needed to make it happen. to expand.

Both rail carriers see A TWO-WAY DEAL the Edmonton Region There is a stumbling block. Alberta will as an important link in need critical mass to encourage the managing the increased world to stop at its door. Currently, a traffic to and from major problem has been the number of Canada’s West Coast containers dead-heading back to the ports. Prince Rupert is coast empty because there is not enough viewed as a welcome merchandise to fill them. Dave Bedwell addition. It boasts the with Cosco Container Lines is hopeful deepest natural harbour in Alberta can play a major role. “You can North America and the send anything to the (far) East, but you sailing time between Asia can’t send air and expect a profit,” he to Prince Rupert is says about the disproportionate container significantly less content coming in compared to empty compared to North American ports. Its containers returning to Asia. The competitive advantage includes downturn in the economy doesn’t bother streamlined infrastructure, with direct him nearly so much. “The cost of interface between the container vessel bringing ‘project cargo’ (material to build and the rail line. West Coast container refineries, for instance) has been traffic is expected to triple in the next 20 substantially reduced.” And, because the years. Where will we store all those value of coal and iron ore is dropping, the trade goods? Virtually every other major cost of steel is as well. marine port in the world is exploring an To some degree, the deadheading inland port option to ensure processing problem can be mitigated by businesses Continued on page 10

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

0

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

9

Continued from page 9 people across most industrial sectors, BUSINESS INVOLVEMENT and generate billions of dollars of pooling containers and trains and ships to IMPERATIVE economic activity. Last September, the ensure competitive pricing and timing to “The time has come for a new vision of group was front-and-centre at the largest outside markets. One more piece of the jigour role in the changing global Alberta trade delegation to ever descend saw in place. economy,” says Riopel. “The entire The possibilities seem endless. Forest and spectrum of the emerging local economy on Washington, DC. Its primary presentation to U.S. legislators and agriculture products are high on the list. can be to our advantage because we can administrators was titled Port of Alberta: Sulphur, seen as a waste product in prove front-line access to the global Strategic Gateway in the Emerging AsiaAlberta, is used with potash as fertilizer supply chain.”

North America Trade and Transportation in China. Grains have traditionally There are some concerns.

Landbridge. In trumpeting the virtues of been poured into the belly of a She has only been in her the Port of Prince Rupert and the ship, but being containerized job a year, starting establishment of Port Alberta, it stressed guarantees higher quality. long after other the advantages to the U.S.: They become premium jurisdictions had “The integrated supply chain concept products and can been busy or strategic gateway is meant to secure include grains, oil planning for not only speed of delivery but certainty seed, malt, pellets and increased trade. hay. But, according to But Edmonton is of delivery… The Port of Alberta will expand market access, reduce CN’s Jim Feeny, the making up for Asians are not lost time as more congestion, and reduce bottlenecks that are currently inhibiting economic interested in our and more growth. America’s interest in the plans. “They are businesses begin development of the Port of Alberta will interested in what we to see a very can do for them now,” he says. “They may not AEG President Tim Shipton introduces Premier Project Lead yet have a good idea of Ed Stelmack in the U.S. Senate in Washington, DC where Alberta is but, if it Janet Riopel helps their marketing, they will come.”

And no wonder. In a short span nearly 300 million Chinese have entered the middle class—about the size of the entire American population—and 30 million more—approximately the population of Canada—will soon join them. With the middle class comes demand for goods.

Over 1.3 billion people—one-in-five of all people on Earth—live in China, and India is not far behind. Both have a burgeoning middle class with an appetite for western products and goods. They need raw materials to build their economies.

With funding from Western Economic Diversification, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is also researching development of value-added opportunities across a range of industries. Yuen Pau boost American commerce with Asia, Woo, its president and CEO, understates bright future just off the coast of British improve reliability for U.S. exports to both the challenges and the rewards, “The Columbia. the Asian markets, and connect the rise of Asia as an economic power will In fact, the Alberta Enterprise Group, United States further with Asia and its require profound adjustment in the way chaired by Cal Nichols, is hugely rapidly expanding markets.” we do business. Canada is a committed committed. Member companies of AEG Such strong support should ease member of the Asia-Pacific Region.” collectively employ more than 20,000

Riopel’s burden of convincing small, medium and large businesses to invest in the opportunities that are presenting themselves. “This is very much business driven,” she insists. “It won’t work unless the business community takes the lead and becomes very involved. We must not miss the opportunity to become a player in the global economy.”

A growing number of Port Alberta proponents have seen the future: It includes ships, planes, trains and trucks and millions of 20-foot containers appearing on Edmonton’s horizon.

The next year will probably tell what sort of a niche Edmonton can find in world trade. It may just be a gusher. √

PORT ALBERTA

STEERING COMMITTEE Chair Reg Milley, President & CEO Edmonton Airports Martin Salloum, President & CEO Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Ron Gilbertson, President & CEO Edmonton Economic Development Corp.

Doug Maley, Assistant Deputy Minister Western Economic Diversification Canada Gary Boddez, Deputy Minister Alberta Transportation Al Maurer, City Manager City of Edmonton Paul Benedetto, City Manager City of Leduc Doug Wright, County Manager Leduc County Pat Klak, Executive Director Leduc Nisku Development Authority Janet Riopel, Project Lead Port Alberta Ken Mamczasz, Interim Executive Director Port Alberta

Join the

CONVERSATION have your say online at

edmontoniansvisionaries.wordpress.com

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

10

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

Tom Ogaranko Chair of Alberta ICT Council

Tom’s Crusade

By Greg Gazin

T

hree days into law school, Edmonton-born Tom Ogaranko decided he was not going to be a lawyer—for the information and communication technologies (ICT) industries in Alberta, that’s a good thing.

Recently, Ogaranko became chair of the Alberta ICT Council, an industry-led organization comprised of our largest infotech and public sector support associations, whose goal is to deliver programs to strengthen ICT sector companies.

“It’s not just about the technology. It’s about using it to solve fundamental problems in healthcare, education and the heritage industries—agriculture, energy and forestry.”

The 39-year old is extremely passionate about this province and about ICT. He has firm beliefs.

“Fundamentally, ICT is an enabler to everything. We need to ensure that sector is healthy.” Ogaranko feels that more established industries must recognize and leverage the value that ICT can deliver to drive productivity, adding that the sector needs to be seen as more than just

for ICT an input factor to those other sectors.

“There are huge opportunity costs to the province because we’re not embracing technology as aggressively as we might. Fundamentally, without a strong ICT sector, we do not have an economy.”

Ogaranko is on a crusade. He wants to open the door to a broader provincial debate on the importance of the province’s ICT. Timing couldn’t be better. In light of the current economic situation, there are opportunities to help Alberta deal with the global recession and make it more competitive.

“Alberta is certainly well positioned. It has the network infrastructures and Albertans have the highest adoption rate of consumer electronics… and we have no shortage of imagination.”

So, what’s holding us back?

“We don’t install technology fast enough in our businesses. We (often) don’t understand business models and how they can change because of technology. We also

have a fear of implementation and, of course, there is often both a resistance to and a cost of change.”

According to Ogaranko, we work in our businesses and not on them… so there is a huge need by the ICT industry, with the help of the Alberta ICT Council and respective associations, to communicate its value proposition. Another way is by assessing successes elsewhere.

Ogaranko cites a Harvard Business Review study of the U.S. economy over the last decade that found 80 percent of productivity growth has been correlated with industrial investment in IT. He mentions that similar studies in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, show that between 78 and 82 percent of their improvement in GDP was driven by ICT-related investments.

He argues that this can apply directly to Alberta where “…we have a sector with 6500 companies (according to tax authorities)… 54,000 people directly employed and, when you factor in indirect occupations in established sectors, you have 105,000 people in IT in Alberta.”

Continued on page 14

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

11

Nanotech: Working in a world you cannot see

By Cheryl Croucher

H Dr. Nils Petersen

BRIEFS

ow many angels dance on the head of a pin? In today’s world of nano sophistication, you just might get an answer to this age

old question.

When asked what excites him about nano science and the potential for nanotechnology, Dr. Nils Petersen replies emphatically, “It’s the fascination of being able to work in a world that you cannot see.

I sometimes compare it to people’s fascination with astrophysics, where you need tools so you can see the stars that are far, far away. You get fascinated with the unknown.”

He is the director-general of NINT, the National Research Council’s National Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Alberta. He is also a professor in physical chemistry at the U of A where he researches intermolecular interactions in biological membranes.

Petersen and his cadre of researchers at NINT depend on an

array of specialized equipment to study the universe at the nano scale. And here, we’re talking many times smaller than the size of a human hair.

Nano science is all about getting down to basics: understanding how the world operates, molecule by molecule, then manipulating those molecules or building blocks to develop something new.

Says Petersen, “That, I think, is exciting—the ability to learn from nature and use nature in a constructive and planned way. You can actually start to design new constructs, new types of materials that will create different types of things.”

Learning from biological systems at this molecular scale will also help in the development of new systems or technologies based on biological insights. Nano-produced synthetic biology has spin-offs for medical treatments, new forms of energy, and environmental mitigation, just to name a few.

Researching at this molecular scale brings together scientists from across many disciplines—chemists, physicists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists.

Petersen calls it a convergence of the sciences, something that is physically reflected in the design of the NINT building on campus.

O

Clara Qualizza ne of the materials Syncrude Canada is using to reconstruct the boreal landscape after mining bitumen is tailings leftover from production.

Through its instrumented watersheds program, Syncrude scientists have found that tailings behave like fine sand with lots of silt.

According to environmental scientist Clara Qualizza, the experimental tailings watershed acts as a large storage site for sand, but without artificial drainage.

“When we place tailings sand, we pour it. It’s moved in a pipeline so it is carried in water. It takes a while for that water to drain out of the tailings sands and so that water seeps out at the low points in the landscape where the wetlands would be.”

As part of the experiment in rebuilding watersheds removed during oil sands mining, the scientists constructed one area without topographic relief and another area with a lot of hills and valleys. They found the reconstructed watershed with the hills in it flushed and the water drained out of those sands quicker.

As Qualizza explains, this flushing is important to reducing salinity in the reconstructed watershed. √ ~ Cheryl Croucher

t’s taken millions of years for tiny microbes in the ground to break down organic matter and turn it into oil.

Using the new science of genome sequencing, it may be possible to speed up that process. That’s certainly the prediction of Dr. David Bailey, president and CEO of Genome Alberta.

Dr. Bailey says once the important microbes are identified, they can be seeded into oil wells where they can change the viscosity of the crude. This, in turn, will make extraction easier and more efficient.

But how do you compact millions of years of microbial action into mere decades?

“In the past,” says Dr. Bailey, “you would have had competing microbial communities working very slowly over time. If you remove some of that or influence the number of microbial populations of a specific type, you could actually increase the rate of that happening. I think that is all we’re looking at here. This would be more efficient if you used these communities versus that. The communities vary from location to location, but that’s an important thing to determine and figure out because you don’t want to be seeding them with a population that is not going to help them at all.”

This project is the highest priority for Genome Alberta. And Dr. Bailey believes we could see results within one or two decades. √ ~ Cheryl Croucher

www.syncrude.ca

www.genomealberta.ca

Instrumented Watersheds III:

Tailings Sand Watershed

Microbes

and Oi

l

Dr. David Bailey

I

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

12

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

“It is designed to optimize interaction of people from different disciplines. So if you look through the design of the building, we have created it so that the chemistry labs are next to the biology labs which are next to the engineering labs so that you have a natural flow of people who will interact with each other. You will also see that the seating arrangements are fairly open space so there are lots of opportunities for people to talk to each other across the different disciplines… it is almost like a social engineering environment from that point of view.“ The building is also constructed to shield the sensitive equipment these scientists are working with from sound, vibration and electromagnetic radiation.

And just what exactly are these nano scientists working on?

As Petersen explains, the NINT program is strategically focused on four major areas: energy, medicine, molecular electronics, and bio-industries. In the case of bioindustries, these are related to agriculture and forestry.

“We are trying to understand how one might be able to get new materials that come from a biological source and carbon source other than the petrochemical one, and see if we can substitute the plastics of today with another kind of material with similar or better properties.”

In terms of energy research, Dr. Petersen is looking for opportunities that combine Alberta’s expertise in this area with the innovation potential of nanotechnology.

One such opportunity is research on creating better structural materials for solar cells. Engineer Dr. Michael Brett and inorganic chemist Dr. Jillian Buriak are combining their expertise to make some interesting modifications at the molecular level. According to Petersen, “They think they have an edge in trying to create new kinds of materials that will improve the efficiency of capturing light and converting it into electricity.”

Another project is focused on hydrogen storage. Led by materials scientist Dr. David Mitlin, the goal here is to modify materials so they absorb hydrogen and store it as

an energy battery, then release it when needed.

Dr. Petersen explains the significance of this effort.

“That’s another example of a niche area of energy that we believe will be important, particularly for Canada, because hydrogen is coupled with fuel cells and Canada has a strong effort in general in fuel cells. There are some companies in this area. So it feeds into a strength for the country.”

He believes Canada can be a world leader in the development of new nanotechnologies and that we can compete at an intellectual level.

“Globally speaking, Canada corresponds to about two percent of GDP, but we generate four percent of the knowledge. We have a knowledge edge relative to the size of our economy.” He goes on to say this extra knowledge generation attracts scientists to Canada from other parts of the world, and “it also allows us to create new technologies here that hopefully will lead to new business development as well.”

Certainly, there is strong support from the Alberta government for economic development based on nanotechnologies. Its most recent investment is in ACAMP, the Alberta Centre for Advanced Microsystems and Nanotechnology Products, a $11.5-million partnership with Western Economic Diversification.

Dr. Petersen sees the development of nanotechnology over three phases. He describes the first phase as “mundane applications” such as nano particles to enhance paint, cosmetics or cookware. Currently, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation counts about 700 nano-enabled products worth $50 billion on the world market.

Phase two is replacement technology. Over the next five to 10 years, nanotechnology will invade our current product lines, improving cell phones, cameras, and computer technology.

“And the third phase,” says Dr. Petersen, “which for many scientists is the most exciting, is the possibility of seeing nanotechnology be transformational. That means

creating new products that we haven’t even thought about today, creating new kinds of structures, materials that are smart, respond to the environment and do things we are just dreaming about from a science fiction point of view.”

How about nano paper that in itself is a computer?

That’s just one example of sci-fi dreaming.

NINT is young, but it hit the road running. “We’ve defined the institute around 23 people we call principle investigators. Of those 23, 18 are new to Edmonton because of the institute,” explains Petersen.

He also credits his predecessor, Dr. Dan Wayner, with some innovative talent development strategies. “He created some positions for very young people who were just starting out in their careers. We basically hired them and then seconded them to go to work in other institutions because we did not have the lab space here. So we sent people to MIT, to Cornell, to Standford and to Cal-Tech.

They learned some tools and then we repatriated them...

Now they are building their own careers on the basis of what they learned there.”

Given the quality of the team Dr. Nils Petersen has gathered around him, NINT has all the right stuff to put Edmonton and Canada centre stage in the new era of nanotechnology.

He’s confident we’ll see the NINT label on nano inventions before too long. √ Learn more at www.nint.ca To hear Cheryl’s conversation with Dr. Nils Petersen, visit www.innovationanthology.com Cheryl Croucher hosts Innovation Anthology which is broadcast on CKUA Radio at 7:58 am and 4:58 pm Tuesdays and Thursday. Or download the podcasts at www.innovationanthologyy.com

The Socio-Economic Side of

Mad Cow Dr. Ellen Goddard

T

he mad cow crisis that hit Canadian beef farmers five and half years ago has given rise to a concerted scientific effort.

Some researchers are looking for the cause of the disease. Others are looking for treatments.

And then, there is Dr. Ellen Goddard, a professor and co-operative chair in agricultural marketing and business in the department of rural economy at the University of Alberta.. She’s leading a broad investigation into the social and economic impacts of mad cow disease for the Alberta Prion Research Institute.

One focus is whether the mad cow crisis changed consumer behavior. Dr. Goddard found that at the discovery of the first mad cow in Alberta, consumers actually rallied to support farmers, and beef consumption increased for a time. Mad cow disease is not top of mind when it comes to buying food.

Dr. Goddard explains, “We’ve done comparisons of Canadian consumers to consumers in the Netherlands. And there are other concerns that seem to be much more strongly felt by Canadian consumers than mad cow disease. Canadian consumers seem to be much more concerned about things like antibiotics in food. The whole trend about buying local, buying natural seems to have its roots in production practices that might be based on the farm.”

The social research of Dr. Goddard’s team will help inform the development of better public policy toward food safety and the mitigation of catastrophic loss for producers. √ ~ Cheryl Croucher www.ales.ualberta.ca EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

13

On the

HORIZON

FEBRUARY February 4 AWE Inspiring Women Luncheon Speaker Katherine Lomax 11:30 to 1:30pm Union Bank Inn 10053 Jasper Avenue Registration: www.awebusiness.com

A

re you in touch with your organization’s soul? If not, it’s time to look in the mirror. Why? Simple, you’re planning to implement social media enterprise-wide and you should ensure you’ve completed this first step. Understanding your own corporate culture, that of the social web, and then calculating your willingness to fully participate openly and honestly is a crucial first step. The technology is so easy to implement, liken it to quicksand—easy to get into, near impossible to get out of and, in this case, we’re talking about your brand and livelihood that are at stake.

A common misconception today is that social media is an information technology project. Social media is not first and foremost an IT project. All due respect to those really smart guys and gals in your IT department but simply handing over your new social media idea to them forces the organization down a slippery slope from the beginning. An initial focus on the Web 2.0 technology—quicksand. You’ve just armed your organization with a powerful set of communications tools that exposes your soul. Is your IT department equipped to ensure you’re ready for that reality?

This is the precise stage of evolution where Troy Wason, senior communications officer for Government Caucus Communications (Social Media) finds himself with his www.mypcmla.ca project. He attended my recent presentation to the Edmonton chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society, after which he introduced himself.

Fast forward to a follow-up meeting where we talked about, among other things, his experiences and passion for Alberta politics, his love for the Edmonton Eskimos and the great Bobby Orr. Wason explained that the purpose of this website project is to create a series of inter-related websites that contain

February 5 THECIS Breakfast Club Dr. Gary Albach, Nanotechnology in Alberta 7 to 9am Royal Glenora Club Register www.thecis.ca February 8-10 Bio Partnering: North America Supported by Canadian Trade Commissioner In Vancouver at the Westin Bayshore Resort www.biopartnering.com/home/home/section.htm

Social media

101

media with Walter Schwabe

social media influences and capabilities, one for each member of the PC caucus.

The goal: Increase the dialogue between Albertans and their PC MLAs. According to Wason, they regularly communicate with their constituents throughout the province in many different ways. In fact, he’s a large part of that effort. However, because of the desired social media influences within this project, Wason feels this is a new direction.

As such, he’s spending a great deal of his time communicating what he believes to be the virtues of social media to the MLAs. Wason has consensus from caucus to move forward. He pointed out that the premier likes social media too. “Premier Stelmach understands that it can change how we communicate with Albertans, especially with the millennials.”

Having the support of the premier is certainly critical. That said, there is more

work ahead. Wason still faces several challenges as I see it: convincing MLAs that learning these new skills and then integrating them into daily routines is a worthy effort… convincing Albertans to engage with their MLA in the way he’s proposed… and, despite having several choices, using the appropriate technologies to support and encourage the dialogue he envisions.

Can Wason do it? Not without the support of the entire caucus.

Is caucus prepared for this? I hope, for Alberta’s sake, it is. √ Walter Schwabe is the Chief Evolution Officer of fusedlogic inc., a social media strategy firm and Alberta company since 2000. You can learn more at www.fusedlogic.com

February 10 Alberta Women Entrepreneurs Association Information Session for Your Business 12:15 to 1 pm Suite 100, 10237–104 Street www.awebusiness.com February 18 ECAT and Digital Solutions Alliance One day seminar and ECAT AGM-Dinner Making IT in Alberta Ingenuity 2009: Reflation 101 Royal Glenora Club Contact pkinkaide@shaw.ca February 25 UofA School of Business 4th Annual Technology Commercialization Dinner Guest Speaker Ken Brizel CEO of ACAMP 6-8pm U of A Faculty Club www.business.ualberta.ca/tcc/events.htm February 27-28 Health and Wellness Show Mayfield Inn Trade Centre Produced by The Kachkar Group Phone: 780.424.9224 www.edmontonhealthandwellness.com

Continued from page 11 Ogaranko confesses he hasn’t run this by an economist, nor is he one. Nonetheless, he says applying the same settings to Alberta implies that 15 percent of our GDP is directly or indirectly driven by information technology. By sector, this makes it the third largest industry—after energy and agriculture and ahead of forestry—with 20,000 employees and a $20-billion dollar direct or indirect impact on the economy.

“This is the argument I want to build on my crusade.”

He has many examples, but Ogaranko favours the impact of deploying ICT in the agriculture sector: “There are three million cows in Alberta. If you can trace information and everything related to raising a cow”—from gate to plate, as he called it—that added value could add $20 to $100 per head having that information.

“Across Alberta, that’s $50 million in revenue that we could be leaving on the table… with the industry average of (only) $5 to track that information.”

And while part of the challenge is in the pace of the economy, the other has been within the ICT sector itself.

Ogaranko sees them as opportunities and strategic priorities for the council.

“We have less than three percent of Alberta’s venture capital. It’s been tough to compete with the recent returns in the oil and gas and real estate sectors. We have severe labour shortages—at less than one percent unemployment rate in ICT, a crisis and a serious issue—and, of course, the view of ICT companies as being simply service providers.”

Access to capital, particularly at early and growth stages, is being addressed by the Banff Venture Forum and other angel investment networks and initiatives like IVAC and Alberta Capital Corporation. There are recruitment campaigns put on by the council and the province, including one called Check out IT, to address workforce challenges, deal with reduced enrolment in educational institutions, and create awareness of related occupations.

Health of the ICT sector also relies on companies developing their own intellectual properties rather than being service providers.

A RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT Ogaranko is humble about his own success and how he applied his philosophies to his own business, Redengine Inc. At one point, it was strictly an IT and management consulting firm and well known as a “web” shop. Today, with customers in eight countries, 75 percent of its revenue is from software licensing and subscriptions for e-learning, collaboration tools and decision support. Redengine has won 25 awards and been named one of our best-run companies.

His latest venture, Redengine Health Inc, was formed last July as the commercial component to market the Wireless Wearable Physiological Monitor (WWPM), after five years of R&D conducted at the U of A. This project was designed to develop new physiological sensors for integration into health monitoring, health promotion and illness prevention.

We can expect to hear more about this in the future.

Despite his accomplishments and those of many others, the relationship between the traditional sectors and ICT has yet to produce a billion dollar market-cap company in this sector. According to Ogaranko, the closest is Bioware, in an unrelated sector, entertainment and gaming.

Initiatives put on by industry associations like Digital Alberta, an Alberta ICT Council member, help build capacity. Market access programs prepare and support digital media companies looking to enter new markets across Canada and around the world.

Ogaranko appears well qualified for his role. That he is not an economist—having dropped out of the course because he hated calculus and linear algebra, in favour of a philosophy and law degree—does not diminish his capabilities or the value of what he has to say.

His roots in ICT are deep. “It paid my way through a philosophy degree,” he remembers. “It got me started in the industry.”

Through the U of A, he worked on a study of the broad impact of ICT on society from an inter-disciplinary perspective. It found its way to the Premier’s Council in Science and Technology. Upon graduation, a phone call

from director Barbara Nyland resulted in an interview and subsequent research position.

“They asked me to assist in doing an assessment of Alberta’s info tech infrastructure. That led to a list of a whole host of consulting engagements in the area of understanding the industry and the strategy to develop the sector in the province.”

He eventually became involved with Minister Lorne Taylor and the ICT Task Force on strategy development in 1998. It became Ogaranko’s inspiration and motivation.

“I decided to live that vision by building a company— that’s Redengine. As we built the company, I realized that there were a variety of things in the context of that experience that really required companies to band together to figure things out for themselves, particularly in an emerging sector.”

First, Ogaranko became an attendee at myriad industry events and then sought ways of becoming engaged with associations directly. His service on various boards over the past decade has given him a strong perspective on broader strategies that can generate sector growth.

So, passion and vision aside, why is Ogaranko doing all this?

“I have a sense of obligation. I was handed some opportunities that shaped me.” Getting emotional, he adds, “I was inspired and was grateful. And second— paying it forward.”

Ogaranko, who lives in Sherwood Park with wife Heather and children Sophie and Alan, explains, “I have two small kids. What kind of Alberta do I want them to be in?”

Thus, his crusade continues. √ Greg Gazin, “The Gadget Guy”, is a serial entrepreneur, freelance technology columnist, small business speaker, an avid Podcaster and producer of Toastcaster.com. Greg can be reached at 780. 424.1881 or greg@gadgetguy.ca EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

14

1

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

E

my

space

For Young Entreprenuers

Destination

Edmonton three years ago. While Evenden was working with Hostelling International at Canada’s West Market Place Trade Show, Miranda McKinley planted the seed for Urban Insight by saying “we need a company to specialize in Edmonton.”

“We needed someone who could focus on this city as a fantastic destination with lots to offer, in addition to West Edmonton Mall,” says Evenden.

With travelers focusing more on an all-inclusive travel experience, Urban Insight combines her agency expertise with the knowledge she gained in becoming an “Edmontonian” to assist travel agents in packaging Edmonton and Alberta.

Urban Insight has begun to market itself using various media such as a full page ad in STAY magazine, distributed throughout Western Canada. While its website, urbaninsight.ca, is easy for the individual traveler to use to choose local activities and accommodation, the main audience is travel agents and tour operators. A website is a

Edmonton

I

n the ever-changing landscape of the travel and tourism industry, Edmonton welcomed a new player to the arena in 2007. Urban Insight, founded by Karen Evenden, offers individual travelers, travel agents and tour operators an authority on Edmonton and its attractions.

Growing up in England, Evenden imagined herself on the sunny beaches of Australia… not the beautiful but distant coast of Newfoundland. After six years as owner and operator of a travel agency there, she moved to

The Businessof

T

here’s the wedding invite, and then there’s the wedding unvite. The latter, an unofficial “Seinfeldian” term for a last-minute wedding welcome that falls short of sincere.

In the classic Seinfeld episode called The Betrayal, character Elaine Benes receives her invitation to a wedding in India just one day before the ceremony. It’s obvious the couple doesn’t really want Elaine at their nuptials but they don’t have the heart to tell her.

Unvites are not unusual, says wedding expert Anne MacLean, who consults with up to five couples a day in her role at Notables Stationers.

“Couples will order two sets of invitations well in advance with two separate reply dates,” says MacLean.

“They’ll send one set out, wait for a reply, and then send their second set out at a later date.”

The thought of trying to execute such a cloak and dagger strategy has my head spinning already. On the heels of selecting (and excluding) friends for my wedding party, choosing a far-away destination and going “Adults Only” (a whole other column), I’m not so sure I can handle more controversy.

Love

With Ryan Jespersen

With our intimate Costa Rican wedding just months away, my fiancée, Capital FM’s Kari Skelton, and I had to make Invites... s? unvite a tough decision: Keep the group small and step on more toes than Shaquille O’Neal at a salsa dancing class, or open up the guest list and break the bank like Jesse James.

MacLean’s advice is to make your big day your own. “It’s your wedding so the guest list is your decision. Some people are going to take offence no matter what.

That’s not a problem with the couple getting married. It’s a problem with the couple receiving the invitation.”

That said, it’s tough to imagine simply shrugging off the hurt feelings of a friend or relative who didn’t make the cut.

But, in the age of e-mail RSVPs, wedding websites, costsplitting between couples and parents, and declining numbers of traditional church ceremonies, is there even such thing as wedding etiquette anymore?

“It’s really what the bride and groom want, even if it seems improper,” MacLean assures me. “When there’s

By Erin Rayner must in the travel industry since many travelers use the web to research specific destinations even if they do not actually book their trips online. But, how do you get the right people to visit? Possibilities include SEO or Search Engine Optimization, a process of cross referencing most searched words in an industry and ensuring they are included in the site content… purchasing google adwords… or advertising on specific travel industry sites.

One marketing option Evenden hadn’t considered using—many businesses don’t—is public relations as a tool to reach potential buyers. For new initiatives especially, notifying editors and writers about the business and asking for editorial coverage in industry publications can be an inexpensive, effective way to announce to the target audience that you’re open for business.

Evenden’s favourite mistake? “People said that leaving Newfoundland and quitting the business there was a mistake, but I haven’t regretted it.” √ Erin Rayner is president of ED Marketing and Communications Inc. You can submit marketing materials for review; suggest young entrepreneurs to be profiled; nominate a Top Three; or ask a business developement question. Contact erayner@edmontonians.com

Kim and her mom, Kay

limited space, your list is short for a reason.”

Seinfeld enthusiasts will never forget the debacle that unfolded when Elaine actually accepted her unvitation, flying all the way to India to publicly prove a point. The thought of a similar tropical tantrum in Costa Rica this March helped Kari and me decide against sending out unvitations.

If I get a call from somebody wondering where their invitation is, I’m blaming the postman. √ Ryan Jespersen hosts Breakfast Television weekday mornings from 6-10 am on Citytv. E-mail Ryan at rjespersen@edmontonians.com

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

0

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________

15

EDMONTONIANS FEBRUARY 2009

16

0

Proof__ _________PROOFED BY:_______________________________________________CHANGES MADE:__________________________DATE:_________________