- Mayor Amarjeet Sohi announced the High Level Bridge would be lit yellow and blue in solidarity with Ukraine. "I am extending my support and deepest sympathies to all Ukrainian-Edmontonians who are affected by this unprovoked invasion of their homeland. We stand with Ukraine," he tweeted. According to the provincial government, more than 345,000 Albertans have Ukrainian heritage. "Edmonton has a large Ukrainian-Canadian population and a large population of new Ukrainian-Canadians, so this is very real and very raw for them," said Father Cornell Zubritsky of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist church in central Edmonton.
- Edmonton police shot and killed a suspected armed robber and an innocent victim in a nearby apartment suite. Chief Dale McFee would not speculate about how the man — the resident manager of the Metro 105 Apartments — was shot. "I would be guessing. There's so many things that could have happened," McFee said in a press conference. "I don't think it's fair to put that speculation right now." The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) has taken over the investigation.
- City council has approved $3.9 million for a three-year pilot to expand the Community Outreach Transit Team which launched in September 2021 as a partnership between the city and Bent Arrow. The expanded COTT program adds the Edmonton Police Service to form "a unified, shared command and dispatch system."
- City council has approved $16.77 million in grant funding as part of the third round of the Affordable Housing Investment Program to help create 265 new and 300 rehabilitated affordable housing units. "Affordable housing fills a broad spectrum of needs, but it's ultimately about making sure people have safety and stability," said Christel Kjenner, director of affordable housing and homelessness. Kjenner spoke about the need for affordable housing in Episode 154 of Speaking Municipally last November.
- The purchase of the Boyle Street Community Services building near Rogers Place by the Oilers Entertainment Group highlights "the gentrification of the Ice District and the continued displacement of a homeless community that is more than half Indigenous and highly concentrated in the same neighbourhood," writes Omar Mosleh in a feature for the Toronto Star.
- At the end of the academic year, Edmonton Catholic Schools will close St. Basil Catholic School in north-central Edmonton due to falling enrollment in its Polish bilingual program. The school also has "substantial" transportation and operating deficits, according to the school board. The closure will affect 192 students and is estimated to save ECSD about $989,000 annually.
- A more transmissible Omicron subvariant is emerging in Alberta. Provincial labs report that 8-15% of daily recorded COVID-19 cases identified have come back positive for BA.2. These numbers only reflect PCR tests, which are inaccessible to the majority of people.
Headlines
By Mack Male and Doug Johnson