- City council defeated a motion from Coun. Anne Stevenson that would have cancelled plans to spend $26.5 million on an underground pedway as part of Qualico's planned Station Lands development. "I felt that the public benefit coming out of this deal wasn't high enough to warrant supporting the borrowing bylaw," Stevenson told her colleagues. Only two councillors — Michael Janz and Jo-Anne Wright — supported her motion. Council added the 103A Avenue Pedway to the Downtown CRL in August 2021, but it is still awaiting provincial approval.
- The city is concerned about water pooling on residential roads due to blocked drains. Andrew Grant, the city's supervisor of field operations, said crews were dealing with several areas where stacked windrows have inadvertently blocked drainage access, resulting in pooled water creating icy roads.
- Victor Cui has been named president and CEO of the Edmonton Elks. The University of Alberta alumnus is currently the CEO of International ONE Championship, a mixed martial arts program based in Singapore.
- On Wednesday, city council will consider a motion that could be the city's first step toward decriminalizing minor drug offences. Coun. Michael Janz, who put forward the motion, hopes that it will change how the city handles harm reduction and drug policy. Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has also said council should look at every option to help address the overdose crisis.
- Kids aged five to 11 in Alberta have the lowest vaccination rates in Canada — just 39.81% have received their first, doses compared to 47.44% in British Columbia, which has the second-lowest rate. According to a CBC News analysis, fewer than one in three kids are vaccinated against COVID-19 across much of the province.
- New data from WCB shows that COVID-19 is a large workplace hazard — there were 15,066 claims for WCB compensation for COVID-19 infection in the last two years. The Alberta Federation of Labour argues the data demonstrates that the UCP's response to the pandemic has fallen "tragically short."
- Adèle Kent, a retired Court of Queen's Bench justice, will investigate whether Justice Minister Kaycee Madu's phone call to Police Chief Dale McFee about a distracted driving ticket "constituted interference or an attempt to interfere with the administration of justice." Kent is expected to report her findings to the government by Feb. 15.
- Nesika Services, an Indigenous non-profit, is looking to buy the Trans Mountain Pipeline. The group is reaching out to all 129 communities that the federal government has identified as being impacted by the pipeline. The organization said it "is not backed by industry or affiliated with financial institutions or operating parties."
Headlines
By Mack Male and Doug Johnson and Madeleine Stout