Edmonton mayor, Bill Smith, talks of partnership with Spokane- Both can benefit

Little wonder Bill Smith has triumphed in three elections for mayor of Edmonton, Alberta. His honor could charm the kilt off a clansman, and he showed his touch last week in Spokane.

Bert Caldwell
The Spokesman-Review

Smith was endlessly engaging while talking up the virtues of Alberta’s capital, or praising the reception prepared for his first visit to Spokane in 30 years.

There may be an international border between the two cities, but you would not know it listening to Smith, whose group also included members of the KSPS-TV board of directors from Edmonton and Calgary.

It was a fateful meeting of that board two years ago that brought Smith to Spokane.

Smith said the group was meeting in a room adjacent to his office on Sept. 11. He and the members watched the terrorist attacks unfold on his office television. It was KSPS that sponsored his visit.

"When bad things happen some good things can come out of it," he said.

Edmonton is Canada’s fifth-largest city, with just less than one million in the metropolitan area. Natural resources have always been an economic mainstay, and the city is flourishing as the province develops tar sand deposits holding oil reserves greater than those of Saudi Arabia. While major international and domestic oil companies pour billions into tar sand projects, Smith said there is plenty of opportunity for medium and small companies not only at those projects, but in new diamond mines as well. (Don’t you just hate it when someone has oil and diamonds. Talk about an embarrassment of riches).

Smith also suggested mutual efforts to promote tourism between the cities. Edmonton marks its centennial next year, he noted, and hosts the World Master Games in 2005. Apparently, they have some big mall up there, too.

To boost Spokane, the former player on the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League said he would encourage the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames to hold an exhibition hockey game in Veterans Memorial Arena, which he described as fantastic.

During a rapid-fire briefing on economic initiatives in the Spokane area, Smith said there may be opportunities for cooperation among biomedical companies in the two cities. He shared the laments of Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute officials who find it difficult to oust small businesses unready to leave the incubator nest.

Like Spokane officials frustrated in their efforts to annex areas for potential industrial development, Smith told a KSPS audience he is trying to get suburban communities to share tax wealth created by manufacturing plants just beyond his jurisdiction.

His new project is "garbage university," a global center for exploring ways of handling waste, be it compost or computers. Investment could eventually reach $200 million, he said.

Spokane City Council member Dennis Hession said Smith was obviously promoting Edmonton, but seemed sincere about his desire to make Spokane shine more brightly as well.

Local companies at least know they can call Smith’s office and get help making the contacts they need to do business in Edmonton, he said.

Establishing trade partners has been a consistent theme of Smith’s, he said.

The biggest near-term winner from Smith’s visit could be Itronix. After vice president Matthew Gerber completed his presentation on the virtues of the company’s rugged computers, Smith asked for a copy of the PowerPoint presentation to take back to police and fire departments around Edmonton.

"You might be able to save me $20 million to $30 million a year," he said.

Smith was a breath of fresh air, and he may have seen more of Spokane than any recent mayor of Seattle. If sincere about his pledge to follow through on some of the ideas that resulted from his visit, Spokane will be much the better for his over-nighter.

Maybe Spokane should adjust the axis of "between" status from east-west to north-south, and become the biggest (U.S.) city between Edmonton and Salt Lake City.

"I see this as the beginning of a very long relationship," Smith said. "I’m going to work hard to keep this spark alive."

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