A series of 15 billboards touting Edmonton as a “City of Champions” began popping up through the city on Tuesday afternoon.
They’ve been bought through a group of volunteers, who are intent on preserving the slogan.
He said the Edmonton Oilers playoff run helped, but this campaign is as much about other aspects of life in Edmonton as it is with sports.
“It’s a big part of our past. It’s current and I hope it’s a big part of our future for the sake of the younger generations coming up,” Brooks said.
“It’s something to be proud of.”
READ MORE: Edmonton group pushes to have ‘City of Champions’ slogan resurrected
The Facebook page points to things Edmonton is proud of that has nothing to do with sports, like the region’s ethnic mix that’s celebrated with the Heritage Festival, the ribbon of green that is the river valley and how everyone took up the recycling program when landfill troubles loomed in 1998.
“The issue was, they shouldn’t have been taken down until they had something to replace them with.”
READ MORE: ‘City of Champions’ being removed from Edmonton welcome signs
Brooks said they’ll gauge public opinion through the end of the month and collect other examples of why the slogan still fits Edmonton. If they’re wrong and the slogan isn’t as fitting as the group thinks it is, “it’ll die a natural death.”
The issue will be before city council on May 30.