“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does” - Margaret Mead

Tonight I was lucky to attend a special screening of the video, Edmonton 2030, produced by local civic leader Doug Goss. Goss is the perfect example of a civic leader who somehow channels his passion for Edmonton into real, tangible benefits for the City. In my mind he embodies the quote above, as a person who rises above the institutions and bureaucracies, creates the vision, then lets those same organizations share in the execution and accolades. His leadership on the production of this video is but one exampe. Goss was instrumental in the Heritage Hockey Classic, an event that was innovative and really put Edmonton on the map. He rocks. And we owe it to him to propel forward his vision for Edmonton by discussing and taking ownership of his newest idea.

The video screening tonight was not the first time the video had been played, and in fact it has been seen by thousands of school children across the capital region. But what I saw tonight was the next step in his plan to bring some of his vision to reality. In attendance tonight was Premier Stelmach, several MLA's, city councillor Don Iveson (most of the other councillors were out of town and the Mayor was in Ottawa supporting the Expo 2017 bid), post-secondary presidents and leaders, plus notable business leaders. I was there with a couple of my peers as Directors of the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation.

Goss doesn't have an infrastructure of people, budget or a mandate; other than in his own words to "create a consciousness" for the future vision of our City. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate the effort. Mostly we are a visual population. It's one thing to talk about the future, it's another to create simulated visuals and create a compelling story-line of what that might look like. The video was created by another Edmonton success, Aquila Productions.

There are so many topics addressed in the video that we need to be talking about if we want to be a world-class mid-sized city (the goal of the EEDC is to be a top-5 mid-size city in the World).

• A re-imagined downtown core with great pedestrian amenities
• Stunning, sustainable and inspirational architecture
• A river-valley that becomes part of our daily life, and respects it's uniqueness as an environmental gem
• Investment in our World-class educational institutions
• Fostering a knowledge economy development (by doing the above and creating a City where people who have the choice, want to live in)
• Linking all of this with urban transit solutions that work

I think we can do it, and this video hits on so many of the high-points of what makes Edmonton already very unique. A robust economy, political stability, superb education assets, billion dollar research investment, and an un-paralleled environmental policy and green space in our river valley.

Please, if you haven't, watch this video, put away many of the natural tendencies to say that we can't or shouldn't do it, and imagine what Edmonton could be in 20 years. I have, and I am a believer.