CanPol - Alberta edition

[Asher]

Not at all, I was never at all in favour of the Expo when Calgary was running for it either. It's a tremendous waste of money.

[notyoueither]

I think this is a win-win.

We get some investment back from Ottawa, and we annoy people who identify with Calgary.

Additionally, a large part of the price tag would be left over as infrastructure for the UofA.

It's a win-win-win.

[Asher]

You can't annoy Calgary with this. The Olympics are always way bigger than a stupid expo.

Calgary knows Edmonton is just trying to compensate, and it's pretty pathetic.

The whole expo bid is just an obvious vehicle to direct federal and provincial funding into building **** in Edmonton no one cares about. It's ridiculous.

[notyoueither]

The winter Olympics really are not that consequential. Sure, it's nice to get some good curling and some high level hockey in, but who really cares about those?

Drunk Canadian curlers and overly nationalistic Euro hockey fans. That's who.

[Asher]

We both know the Winter Olympics are much bigger deals than mini-expos.

[notyoueither]

Sorry. Allow me to correct myself.

There are some drunk Scottish curlers as well.

[notyoueither]

1.6 million tickets for Vancouver 2010.

Even with your assumption of 2 million Expo visitors being locals, I don't see the winter Olympics as being a larger event.

The winter Olympics are certainly much larger as a TV spectacle, and especially so if the US men's hockey team gets close to beating the Canadians or the Russians in the medal round, or play for gold.

The point of this Expo is not entertainment though. It is PR for the oil sands. That would be why the province and feds are interested in it.

[notyoueither]

There are trillions of dollars on the line.

[Asher]

1.6 million tickets for Vancouver 2010.

Even with your assumption of 2 million Expo visitors being locals, I don't see the winter Olympics as being a larger event.

It's not about ticket revenue. That's a small drop in the bucket.

It's actually a massive PR move -- the locale is showcased daily across the world. The support network -- families, athletes, media, and people attending are all massive and provide huge boosts to the local economy. The revenue from ticket sales are a tiny portion of the benefits of the olympics.

The problem with the Expos is they don't get TV coverage. They're barely mentioned in newspapers. Nobody cares what the "message" is, and they certainly won't change well-entrenched opinions of a country or its issues because of a singing and dancing mascot and some new arenas.

The expos are small-time. They happen over long periods of time and receive minimal media attention, especially smalltime expos like the one Edmonton is proposing. I'm sure it'd boost tourism in Edmonton briefly during the Expos run, but to think it's anywhere NEAR the magnitude of an Olympic games host city is ridiculous.

The point of this Expo is not entertainment though. It is PR for the oil sands. That would be why the province and feds are interested in it.

For it to be PR it needs to get coverage. It won't. Expos just don't. They're not exciting.

[notyoueither]

They are not exciting for the masses in Harlem or Brixton, I agree.

They are more cerebral affairs. They have themes, and they promote exposure for the issues related to the themes.

This one even offers to be controversial. I am sure Greenpeace and their fellow travellers will help draw attention to the show on energy in the heart of Moria. How could they resist?

[Asher]

Yes, that'd be great PR for Edmonton.

Greenpeace drawing attention to the environmental problems with Alberta energy on the international news story.

[notyoueither]

It's actually a massive PR move -- the locale is showcased daily across the world.

A very small part of the world.

The winter Olympics are really not a huge deal as these things go.

[Asher]

It's actually a massive PR move -- the locale is showcased daily across the world.

A very small part of the world.

The winter Olympics are really not a huge deal as these things go.

They still get huge ratings around the world, even if they're not as off-the-charts as the summers.

Many thousands of orders of magnitude of more coverage than mini-Expos, in any case.

[notyoueither]

Yes, that'd be great PR for Edmonton.

Greenpeace drawing attention to the environmental problems with Alberta energy on the international news story.

That's part of the consideration whether to move ahead or not.

Is carbon capture a pipe dream? Are we serious about nuclear? Do we want to promote wind, unconventional hydro, solar, geothermal, etc?

Oil sands in Alberta could actually be cleaner than convential oil in third world locales, but not many people are aware of that.

[notyoueither]

They still get huge ratings around the world, even if they're not as off-the-charts as the summers.

Many thousands of orders of magnitude of more coverage than mini-Expos, in any case.

For people who don't count unless they get called by the local polling company.

People do not turn off the Olympics and think about how to make a better gasket, or about energy.

Visitors and those consuming media coverage for the proposed Expo would be exposed to the reality of the oil sands, not just the Greenpeace flyer.