- Dozens of displaced Ukrainians arrived in Edmonton on a flight from Poland arranged by former MLA Thomas Lukaszuk and former premier Ed Stelmach. The flight will head back to Warsaw with humanitarian aid supplies that will be trucked into Ukraine. Meanwhile, Firefighter Aid Ukraine organized the delivery of 14 tons of rescue equipment, continuing a decade of donations for the organization but the first under a full-scale invasion.
- The City of Edmonton is inviting residents to provide input on three alley renewal projects. The Hairsine renewal is gathering information in part by inviting residents to participate in a self-guided "treasure quest," while the projects in Crawford Plains, Daly Grove, and Pollard Meadows and Rideau Park and Royal Gardens invite residents to share their feedback through an online form. The city is also asking residents to participate in a survey about the design of the proposed Edmonton-Strathcona County Footbridge and its surrounding areas.
- Alberta Avenue-area business owners, including Aminata Fofana of Aminata's Hair Braiding and Beauty Supply, are working with the Alberta Avenue Business Association to raise public awareness of construction projects hurting business in the neighbourhood, Edify reports. Businesses have invited Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador and Mayor Amarjeet Sohi to meet with them in coming weeks. Current bylaws don't allow for compensation for lost business, EPCOR told Edify.
- Water bills from EPCOR will go up slightly as of April 1, increasing by about 4% for residential customers and about 8% for commercial ones. The hike would have been higher if not for a one-time discount to keep rates low as customers recover from the pandemic. "We can't do that forever, I'll be honest," spokesman Martin Kennedy told Postmedia.
- Alyssa Miller, co-founder of the outreach group Boots on Ground, is among several advocates critical of the city's decision to close public washrooms in 16 of 18 transit centres and LRT stations, a decision advised by the council-approved Transit Safety and Security plan in response to drug overdoses in those spaces. "It's not addressing the core need," she told Postmedia, "the core needs (being) more safe consumption spaces, including for inhalation because we have nothing for inhalation. We need more shelter spots, and we have a dire lack of inclusive supportive accessible housing." The city is currently determining the locations for 10 mobile washrooms, which will be set up for six months starting May 1.
- Wonder Harbour Comics at 105 Street and 105 Avenue has closed after it was targeted twice by arsonists within eight days, suffering damages worth around $450,000. Owner Vincent Joyall has created a GoFundMe campaign.
- The Government of Alberta is introducing a motion to call on the federal government to cancel the carbon tax increase scheduled to take effect April 1. According to Bank of Canada numbers cited by the province, the scheduled increase to $50/tonne will increase inflation by about 0.5% at a time when inflation is at its highest in 30 years. In 2021, the Alberta government lost a legal battle against federal carbon tax law and the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional. If the new motion passes, Premier Jason Kenney says the aim is only to send a "clear message" to the federal government about the threat of inflation, Postmedia reports.
Headlines
By Karen Unland and Kevin Holowack