THE PEOPLE SPEAK: WHAT EDMONTONIANS TOLD COUNCIL ABOUT THE BUDGET
“When people are worried about their income, it hurts. Half of the week, most restaurateurs I talk to are operating at a loss because of lack of traffic.”
Patrick Saurette, co-owner of The Marc restaurant
“A city that doesn’t take everyone into account is a failure of justice and equity.”
Bailey Dawn Coty, DATS user
“For every part of our lives, DATS is basically an essential service for us ... we can’t live or eat without DATS.”
— Matthew Huska, DATS user
“Right now, showing leadership will mean saying no to a number of initiatives.”
Dawn Harsch, owner of Exquisi-Care senior care
“Wouldn’t it be cool if downtown and the south side were better connected? If families, students, seniors and visitors shared an amazing linear park in the centre of our city? It’s real, it just hasn’t been built yet.”
Kevin Dieterman, High Level Line
“My son’s home ice rink is Oliver. It is nearly three-quarters of an hour drive to his home ice rink ... There isn’t enough space in the rinks to accommodate all of the children, as my middle daughter has to change in the hallway or the bathroom.”
Susan Medlan Moore, west end resident
“(It’s) frustrating to see the school zone signs going up, only to be taken down a few months later and replaced. I have to wonder how much labour and time and expense was spent doing that.”
Harold Hoffmann, Pleasantview resident
“We are hearing from many of our customers that they are looking at not only leaving Edmonton, but looking at leaving the province of Alberta altogether.”
—Norm Hanson, engineer and business owner
“We’re always talking about Edmonton being a winter city. A bike skills park can be used all year round.”
Bonita Lehman, in favour of bike skills park in Queen Elizabeth Park
“We need these facilities as much as any other Edmontonian.”
Linda Sherman, of the Hamptons Community League, in favour of building the Lewis Farms recreation centre