For Residents

Setting Our City's Program Priorities: What Will it Take?

Successful cities plan their spending in ways that create a prosperous, safe, and culturally rich home for their citizens. Edmonton has experienced rapid growth. This has created demands for new services and for more of the services we already have.

We can't meet all demands for all services.

Instead the city must agree on service priorities. Service priorities are areas of spending that make it to the top of the list.

What should our service priorities be in 2010 and 2011?

The answer requires us to ask ourselves what we as citizens value.

The Edmonton Issues Book:

The book given to Edmonton Citizen Panel members to kick start conversations about Edmonton's spending priorities
Focuses on three Approaches. They are not mutually exclusive. Rather they reflect different program priorities for our city.

Overview of the three approaches
Shows the three approaches the Citizen Panel will start discussions with. Gives examples of the values, benefits and concerns of each of them.

Approach 1

Accountability: Connecting Citizens and Government

Citizens have a right to information about services. They also need to offer their experience, insights, and informed opinions on decisions that increase or reduce those services. This approach argues for the following priorities:

Making services accessible and visible
Emphasizing informed dialogue between citizens and their elected representatives.
The need to recognize the responsibility all Edmontonians have to understand how we use services and how the need for services is determined.

Approach 2

Efficiency: Keep our city moving

Mobility supports everything we do. Moving from one place to another freely helps us achieve our social, economic, and cultural goals, as a society and individually. Yet the growth of our city is slowing down the movement of people and goods. Some people enjoy only limited access to employment, culture, and recreation.

Those who say mobility should be our priority suggest that:

Roads are used for moving goods
Public transit is used for moving people
Others suggest that as a winter city, Edmontonians need to rely on cars

Approach 3

Equality: Create a great place to live for all citizens

Liveable cities are inviting and welcoming. Some measures of liveability are:

Safety
Accessibility and use of recreational facilities
Attractiveness and maintenance of the city

Pride in Edmonton contributes positively to the reputation and reality of our city as a great place to live. People who support this approach say we should give priority to services that will improve the quality of life for all citizens.