WATCH ABOVE: City councillors are once again debating the welcome signs that greet people coming into the city – along with the city’s branding. Vinesh Pratap explains.
EDMONTON — City councillors were once again debating Edmonton’s welcome signs Monday, with one councillor requesting the ‘City of Champions’ slogan be removed.
Michael Oshry said he’ll introduce a motion next week asking that the much-talked-about slogan be taken down.
Last September, Oshry submitted a notice of motion to have city administration look at changing the signs that welcome people into Edmonton.
“I think it’s time for a refresh and it’s time to update the city’s brand, and this is part of the city’s brand. I think it’s something that we need to get on,” he said at the time.
“I’m not convinced that these have to be elaborate, expensive, signs, it’s more about updating the brand,” he explained. “It could be something simple, it could be elaborate – that’s something that we’ll need to decide but again, the city is just sort of moving forward and we need to update it.”
POLL: Should we update the Welcome to Edmonton signs?
He was eager to hear from Edmontonians on the topic, which has always sparked lively discussion.
In a Global News online poll posted in September, 921 people responded. Fifty-four per cent said ‘yes! Some new, modern signs would be great!’ while 24 per cent felt ‘we should update the signs, but KEEP the slogan!’ Meanwhile, 21 per cent said ‘no – leave them as they are.’
Monday’s discussion expanded to include talk about branding the city and how to promote Edmonton outside the city, province and country.
The origin of the slogan has also been the source of much discussion.
On Monday, the president of the Downtown Edmonton Community League sent a tweet hoping to put the question to rest. His message links to an 1984 article by Bob Hughes in the Regina Leader-Post, which says Edmonton began calling itself the City of Champions after the 1978 Commonwealth Games.
READ MORE: Welcome to Edmonton signs targeted by vandals
In October 2013, a number of Edmonton’s welcome signs were vandalized.
The ‘City of Champions’ slogan was covered up on six city signs; ‘Suck it Calgary,’ ‘City of Speed Traps’ and ‘Road Construction City’ were among the new slogans. City crews were called out to clean up the signs.
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