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At the start of each new year, I often like to pick a quote that can serve as a mantra for the 365 days ahead.

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For 2026, I finally landed on a line from early 20th century author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who lived through the upheaval of the 1920s and ’30s.

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function,” he wrote in The Crack-Up. “One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”

That got me thinking about another line, this one from Premier Danielle Smith, who, six weeks ago, referred to our city as a “unique culture” that her party needed to better understand if they hoped for a political breakthrough.

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I’m not entirely sure she meant that as a compliment.

Sometimes “unique” refers to that which is truly original and beautiful, like the canals of Venice or an Alex Janvier art piece. Other times, it’s a falsely polite way to refer to someone you see as weird and difficult, like the guy in the back of the office who collects waterbeds and thinks his parakeet might be the reincarnation of Amy Winehouse.

Either way, if Smith and her party regard Edmonton as essentially hopeless to their cause and yet are still determined to win us over, perhaps it should inspire Edmontonians to act alike in approaching some of our own seemingly insurmountable hangups.

And fortunately, there are both positives and challenges on the horizon in 2026 that may help us do that.

For those of us who feel that construction season in Edmonton has become everything, everywhere, all at once, 2026 should provide some reward for our patience with the completion of several projects.

That includes the new Coronation Park recreation centre in just a couple of weeks from now, featuring a new indoor velodrome.

Over in the river valley, a major rehabilitation of Hawrelak Park that closed the entire venue for three years is also expected to wrap up in the coming months. Likewise, we should see the completion of the Winspear Centre addition in 2026, and, if we’re lucky, perhaps the Terwillegar Drive expansion project as well.

Unfortunately, other major projects in the works still have some time ahead of them. These include the west and south LRT extensions, the Yellowhead Trail conversion, and the ongoing bridge rehabilitation projects.

Sorry folks,

© Edmonton Journal