When City Council held a special meeting October 23rd to discuss the Shaw strike, they squandered an opportunity to act decisively and responsibly. Instead of admitting that their appointees are deliberately and contemptuously bargaining in bad faith and dead set on continuing to do so, council voted 6 to 7 to duck their responsibilities and allow the EDE to carry on the farce.

Mayor Smith, who sits on the Board of Directors of EDE, and our elected City Councilors should be reminded that the Shaw Centre was paid for by the taxpayers who elected them. It is we the taxpayers, not EDE, who own the centre and it is our elected representatives who are ultimately responsible for everything that happens there.

Since it is City Council that appointed the EDE officials, and since those officials have failed miserably in there responsibility to deal fairly with Shaw Centre employees, City Council has a duty to take that responsibility away from them and turn it over to an authority willing and capable of resolving this shameful and unnecessary dispute.

If Mayor Smith and City Council continue their dereliction of duty, the Shaw Centre may become known as the "Shame Centre" and Edmonton’s image will be blackened in the process.

It’s time for the City to decide who’s the monkey and who’s the organ grinder – EDE or Council.

Dave Werlin