Powered Up | The energizing potential of Edmonton’s Expo bid

Will Edmonton’s 2017 Expo bid help the city – and the province – mature?

by Max Fawcett |  Illustration by Janice Kun

At Expo 67 in Montreal, the world was introduced to a new Canada, one with its own flag, its own national anthem and a growing sense of its own identity. Fifty years later, the organizers behind Edmonton’s Expo 2017 bid are hoping that they’ll get the chance to do the same thing, both for the province of Alberta and the country as a whole. But the stakes are higher this time around, because while Expo 67 was a showcase of what Canada was, Edmonton’s bid may represent Alberta’s best chance to show the world what it isn’t.

Corporate Ethics International’s controversial “Rethink Alberta” campaign was the most recent reminder that Alberta’s commitment to developing its oil sands resource has made it a target within the global community of environmentalists, the non-governmental organizations that speak on their behalf and the increasingly large percentage of the public that is swayed by the graphic messages and images proffered. While the oil sands are globally recognized as an increasingly valuable economic resource, the sophisticated campaigns of organizations like Corporate Ethics are eroding the confidence that investors, regulators and the general public have in the sector. The government of Alberta has tried to plug the wave of misinformation currently being disseminated, be it with the creation of pro-Alberta billboards or advertising campaigns in major American newspapers, but these efforts have had difficulty gaining traction.

The organizers of Edmonton’s Expo 2017 bid believe that the proposed theme, “Energy and Our Planet,” will help to remediate Alberta’s international reputation by offering a different story. Rather than the binary approach to energy supply that predominates today’s conversations – in which clean and renewable sources are on one side and dirty fossil fuels are on the other – Edmonton’s Expo organizing committee is hoping to host a more sophisticated discussion that focuses more on the balance that needs to be struck and how best to go about pursuing it.

Gerry Protti, a member of the committee, believes Alberta is the perfect place to have that discussion. “I think the theme’s perfect for Edmonton, for Alberta, and for Canada at this juncture in our development. We’re an energy supply country, we’re blessed with huge resources across this broad spectrum and we’re known as leaders in technology. We often don’t talk about it, but a lot of technological developments for energy supply have come out of Canada. It’s time we talked about it, and figured out what we need to do in the future to go forward.”

Protti, who was the founding president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and whose 35-year career in the industry included a term as the assistant deputy minister with Alberta Energy, believes that the global nature of an Expo makes it the ideal place to talk about an issue that has such obvious global dimensions. “The world needs energy,” he says. “It’s the critical input to growth and development. Every country, regardless of where they are on the economic spectrum, should be able to contribute to the discussion.”

He even hopes that the environmental groups that have been so outspokenly critical of Alberta’s energy policy to date take the opportunity to participate in the dialogue. “I’d like to see environmental groups involved, and contributing their perspective on the theme and what’s required,” Protti says. “Environmental groups see themselves as a critical part of the dialogue, so to be involved in something like this is an opportunity on a world stage to put their positions forward and their view points about the balance and what needs to occur. I think it would be their mistake not to be involved.”

Tony Franceschini, the chair of the bid committee, believes that hosting the debate over the future of energy policy will do far more than any public relations campaign ever could. “We can show how we can responsibly develop our energy resources, and I think in order to do that you need to show people close up,” Franceschini says. “You need that face time with them. You can’t just advertise.”

He’s quick to point out that organizers aren’t looking to use the Expo to market the oil sands, or to engage in an effort to obscure their negative effects. Instead, it’s about broadening the definition of energy and reinforcing the role that Alberta can play in its production, not just in exploiting the oil sands but in building the knowledge and expertise required to begin the transition towards a greater reliance on renewable resources. “Energy is a simple word, but it has a multitude of meanings,” he explains. “For us, we think of it in terms of the traditional challenges of supply and demand, but we’re also using it in the broader context of human energy. The fact that we can use both kinds of energy is important, because although the conventional carbon-based energy development is our short-term future, the human energy is the long term. By picking this theme, it allows us to bridge those two things.”

For Edmonton, hosting the Expo in 2017 would serve as a bridge of a different sort, between the past and the future. Mayor Stephen Mandel, for one, believes that a winning bid could do great things for his city. “An exposition helps all the energies of a city and a province coalesce, and put together a vision of what the city can be and what we’ve accomplished over the years. It’s a real catalyst for opportunity, and it’s an exciting opportunity.” David Emerson, the chair of the Premier’s Council for Economic Strategy, shares Mandel’s enthusiasm. “If you do things right, there is tremendous opportunity to brand the image of your community, your province and your city and that can carry over into all kinds of advantages to you. It can attract business, it can attract tourism and it can put you on the map in so many ways.”

That’s certainly been the case for the previous two Expos that have been held in Canada. The first, held in Montreal in 1967 on Canada’s 100th birthday, was widely regarded as the country’s official coming out party. The Montreal Star described the event as “the most staggering Canadian achievement since this vast land was finally linked by a transcontinental railway,” and alongside the introduction of a new national flag and a new national anthem it marked Canada’s international introduction as a country that was much more than just another former British colony.

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