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Edmonton’s private gondola project is now mired in politics and bureaucratic uncertainty, at risk of fizzling out entirely. That calls for soul searching.

When Amber and Gary Poliquin first won The Edmonton Project ideas competition with a gondola from downtown, through Rossdale to Whyte Avenue, reaction was swift, often angry and highly critical.

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First the two got ridiculed on social media. Then grilled by council in June before it grudgingly approved the next step: asking staff to see if the private sector would pay for a feasibility study and what benefit a gondola would give to redevelopment in Rossdale.

It was painful; not council’s finest hour — it’s not like they were being asked to foot the bill. And all the Poliquins did to deserve that was volunteer an idea and take time off work to share it.

We should be thanking them for contributing, not making life harder.

So how did the gondola get stuck? Let’s review. After the idea won The Edmonton Project last spring, a group of private businessmen and developers, including EllisDon, came together to explore it. It’s now called Prairie Sky Gondola.