Mayors Naheed Nenshi, Don Iveson take questions on CBC radio

Albertans asked the mayors of the province's two biggest cities some questions on alberta@noon today. Here is a recap of their best quotes.

CBC News · Posted: Apr 16, 2015 1:51 PM EDT | Last Updated: April 17, 2015

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson joined host Donna McElligott on alberta@noon Thursday over the lunch hour.

Albertans asked the mayors some questions. Here are some of their most memorable answers:

Nenshi

On watching the playoffs: "Enjoy the game in community. Watch it in your neighbourhood, watch with it with your friends," he said. "As the weather continues to be nice, haul the TV onto the lawn and have a block party."
On education funding: "A well-funded, decent system of universal public education where every kid has the opportunity to have an outstanding education for free ... is fundamental to our democracy and our community, and not enough people are saying that."
"Is Bubbles his first name or his last name?" said Nenshi when asked about the character from Trailer Park Boys criticizing Calgary for its plan to close Midfield Mobile Park. "I'm just not 100 per cent convinced that Mr. Bubbles knows the full back story."
On synchronizing traffic lights in Calgary: "Ah, this is the eternal question," said Nenshi. "I always say that for those who don't believe that the synchronization works, think back to the time after the flood when we actually lost our traffic management centre and you saw the traffic lights losing a couple of seconds everyday because the synchronization actually has to be constant."

On pollution in Edmonton: "More than 80 per cent electricity comes from coal-fired generation and that may work for today, may have worked for the last 50 years, but it's not going to work forever in the future if one of the unintended consequences of that is serious air quality issues."
On allowing back lane restaurants on Whyte Avenue: "I'm aware of some examples of that in other cities that have been phenomenally successful. I'd be very open to looking at that," said Iveson. "I think it would add real vibrancy to the area."
On no longer allowing the homeless to sleep in the Edmonton Public Library: "The library cannot be the day shelter of last resort. That's just one more download on the city, one more failure to address to some of the deep social challenges."

Follow along with the conversation in our live blog: