I Like It A Lot

I tend to be a bit of a disruptive thinker—one who has made it his life's quest to challenge the status quo. So when I start to see the bandwagons circle up against something, I tend to empathize with the protagonist—or underdog—and I usually come on strong with heavy defence. The “victim” might be Nickelback, a maligned reality TV show, some politician in his twilight sunny way days (whom BTW, we celebrated as a symbol of our country’s coolness only a few years ago), or that same politician’s 17-year old son who has decided to try out a career as an RnB singer. Whatever. They will all likely find an ally in me.

Xav Trudeau’s debut tune was destined to hit the brick wall of prejudice. And to be judged in ways that the Weeknd or Tate McRae wouldn’t be. Even Biebs and Drake would have an easier ride. Haters gonna hate, hate, hate.

But there is another side to all of this. Here’s what Richie Assaly of the Toronto Star had to say:

“No one will remember “Til The Nights Done” next year, or even next week. Musically, it is unremarkable. But as a cultural document it is significant — a reminder that the drab, ephemerality of Canadian culture can, in fact, be a bulwark against the dizzying extremism of American culture; that the mundane is sometimes better than chaos.”

So, while the song is not on heavy rotation on my Spotify, I agree with Assaly and I’m onboard.

As a nation, we’ve been learning a lot lately about what it feels like to be the underdog. It has caused us to unite, to remind ourselves (again) of who we really are, and to muster up the resolve to live another day against the existential threat posed by the orangutang knucklehead down south. Suddenly, a hockey game is not just a hockey game anymore and suddenly we’re taking a harder look at the provenance of every item we purchase at the grocery store. Our typical Canadian self-effacing, self-deprecating, selflessness is slowly transforming into a subtle, new-found confidence that we never really knew we had in us. We knew we were cool but we didn’t realize we were a little badass too.

As an Edmontonian, I feel like I’ve been defending my underdog city my whole life. Not only has Edmonton been misunderstood, it has actually been grossly misrepresented. It is not -40 for 6 months of the year as the tired trope goes. Not even close. Statistically, 2-3 weeks of -30 in a really bad year. Not much different from a lot of Canadian cities. It may surprise you to know that Edmonton is on the same latitude as Hamburg, Dublin, and Liverpool. None of which define themselves by their dreadful weather.

But “the weather” is the way we often define our city, to ourselves and to others. On road trips, on video chats, and in our daily conversations. As a result, it is how we are known. Not so deep down, we all know we are so much more. Yes, we have the gritty undertone of blue-collar pragmatism, coupled with the liberal-mindedness of a government town. However, we should remember that as a city of nearly 1.5 million people, we also deserve to embrace a certain cosmopolitan sass. We have it in us. We are one of Canada’s largest metropolitan regions and one of North America’s most important ones. Edmonton is a highly-educated, young city with remarkable diversity, strong support for arts and culture, and the means to do a lot of things a whole lot better than a whole lot of other places. We are a bubbling wellspring of opportunity.

We have a great cost of living. Is that by fortune or by design? The fact that statistics from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce indicate that Edmonton’s projected exposure to Trump’s impending tariffs is lower than many other major cities (including Calgary) leads me to believe that our defining gritty pragmatism (manifested as a diversified economy, for example) has been put to good stead. So, I’ll say it’s by design.

As you can probably tell, I like Edmonton a lot. Apparently, so do a lot of other people. Our population is growing at a rate of over 5% per year, well ahead of much more celebrated places like Vancouver and San Antonio, let alone those cities with major net migration losses—Portland, San Jose or even New York, LA, and Chicago.

Perhaps it’s time to bring a little of our newfound national pride home. I mean really close to home. Let’s look past the potholes and self-inflicted piss-takes that occupy our daily conversations. Past the place-branding petri dish experiments and political meddling trying to fix things mere mortals are better at fixing. Let’s grow up and just tell it like it is—to ourselves and to our colleagues and friends. That this is a truly remarkable place to live and work and all that is good here is only getting better. Let's seize the day in these days of madness. Let’s confidently set our intentions. We have earned the maturity to be seen as more than mundane, and to fiercely position ourselves as a bulwark against the chaos. Next time, maybe start with a simple introduction: I’m from Edmonton. I like it a lot.