- City council has decided to keep the current transit cash fare of $3.50 in place until at least next February. It was considering a 25% increase but decided against the move until the new smart fare options are available to Edmontonians.
- The city has agreed to spend $12 million in 2021 on COVID-19 initiatives to help Edmonton deal with the pandemic. "The funding includes tax relief for businesses in 13 areas of the city and $1.3 million to support vaccination operations at the EXPO Centre," reported CBC News. The city will also make it easier for Edmontonians to pay property taxes during the pandemic.
- Edmonton International Airport is the first airport in the world to sign The Climate Pledge, it announced on April 21. Signatories agree to be carbon neutral by 2040. EIA said approximately 70% of its carbon emissions are related to electricity usage.
- Earlier this week, city council approved the revised Community Energy Transition Strategy which features targets aligned with the Paris Agreement. The strategy “is a jobs, public health and quality of life plan, as much as it is a climate response,” said Mayor Don Iveson.
- Albertans will now get three hours of paid leave to get a COVID-19 vaccine. MLAs sped through three readings in the legislature in the evening on April 21.
- Close to 40 members of the University of Alberta's science faculty are calling on UCP MLAs "to support the private members' bill that would ban coal strip mining on Alberta's eastern slopes." Read their letter to the government here.
Headlines
By Emily Rendell-Watson and Mack Male