I rode my normal 9K route through the River Valley. It was another fantastic day on the trails. The sun was shining and even on the way to work I wore short sleeves.
In
ESL class we are preparing for a tour of City Hall, so today`s lesson
included news articles about and interviews with the mayoral candidates.
Kerry Diotte got the raspberry for his comments about bike lanes and
cyclists and his failure to define his platform. The students were
impressed with 61-year-old Karen Leibovici's youthful good looks, but
decided that she, too, wasn't saying much of anything about her vision for the city. Curtis Penner was
judged handsome, and the students liked his stance on municipal parkland.
But -- there was a collective sigh from the women when I opened Don
Iveson's web page, and all the students were impressed with his comments about affordable housing and public transportation.
It was a fun
lesson that led to lively discussion about life in Edmonton -- the good,
the bad and the ugly. Public transit, they all agreed, is an ugly -- why does it take so
long to get anywhere by bus or train? The city's many parks were deemed a
good. Safety and the generally peaceful atmosphere were also goods. Dirty
streets (dust, gravel, debris) were a bad. I have to say, I was a little surprised. Although I hear repeatedly that the students are glad to live in Canada, Edmonton itself is not quite as highly rated.
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