- The city has activated its extreme weather response, as Edmonton is expected to see yet another cold snap in the coming days. The response includes extending overnight and day shelter admissions and expanding shuttle service to shelters.
- The city has launched the fourth round of capital grants from the Affordable Housing Investment Program, which offers up to 25% of construction costs for the building of non-market, multi-unit housing. The grant program is part of the city's $133 million Affordable Housing Investment Plan, which council approved in 2018. "It's impossible to thrive while worrying about having a roof over your head," said Christel Kjenner, director of affordable housing and homelessness at the City of Edmonton, in a press release. "This program not only helps struggling Edmontonians with safe, affordable and permanent housing, it leverages partnerships and expertise to make a difference throughout the city."
- The Edmonton Police Commission found that EPS Chief Dale McFee was justified in suspending whistleblower and former detective Dan Behiels. Last year, Behiels handed a USB stick with sensitive documents to a CBC reporter pertaining to the investigation into suspected criminal wrongdoings of well-known Edmonton landlord Abdullah Shah — the investigation came up with nothing, and Behiels has been suspended without pay since February 2021.
- University of Alberta-led research recommends changing how public transit is handled in Canada to make it more accessible to women, who make up the bulk of its user base. The research suggests that more work needs to be done to understand women's travel patterns, and that transit systems should hire more female employees.
- Alberta's top court dismissed the appeal of two Alberta harm reduction organizations trying to prevent a government change that would have required supervised consumption site clients to provide their personal healthcare numbers. The requirement was supposed to take effect this week, but the government has now delayed the change until April 1 to ensure service providers have time to comply with the Health Information Act.
- Alberta Council of Women's Shelters executive director Jan Reimer says it is still too difficult for people at risk of domestic violence to get access to their partners' criminal records using Claire's Law, despite the fact that it's supposed to be public information. "It's always up to the woman to keep herself safe," Reimer told CBC News. "And we really have not had large success in systems keeping women safe. [The systems] seem to be more often siding with the perpetrator, in protecting his privacy."
- Alberta cabinet minister Doug Schweitzer says he wants answers from fellow UCP MLA Grant Hunter who appeared at a protest against Canada's vaccine mandates for truckers at a blockade at the Canada-U.S. border this weekend. "I'm disappointed that Grant Hunter made the decision to go there and participate in that illegal blockade," Schweitzer said.
Headlines
By Doug Johnson