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· The Pulse
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  • Mayor Amarjeet Sohi is once again calling on the provincial government to fund 453 units of permanent supportive housing that are slated to open within the next year. "Unfortunately to this date, we haven't heard any confirmed support from the province but I'm optimistic that our last meeting with the ministers and the premier was very positive," Sohi said. He also suggested the city isn't receiving its fair share of funding from the province. "We are getting far less money to end houselessness in Edmonton compared to other cities in Alberta, particularly compared to Calgary," he said.
  • Coun. Michael Janz posted a series of tweets apologizing for retweeting a now-deleted tweet that used the term "pig" to refer to a police officer. "I don't use the word pig. I didn't see the word. It was a careless tweet and a tiny little oversight," Janz told Postmedia. "It was just a careless mistake."
  • City council will vote next week on a recommendation from the community and public services committee to use $4.7 million from the financial stabilization reserve to improve the snow and ice control program for the rest of 2022. Coun. Tim Cartmell said council will need to do more at budget time later this year. "Essentially this budget has been frozen for many years while our city has grown around us," he said.
  • City council's community and public services committee voted to refer proposed amendments to the vehicle for hire bylaw back to administration to "set out the exact fares to be charged by taxis and accessible taxis, including the proposed surcharge." Administration had proposed an optional 13.29% fuel surcharge to base taxi fares, which have not been reviewed since 2007.
  • This year's seven inductees to the Alberta Order of Excellence include two Edmontonians: Edmonton Sun columnist Cam Tait, who is also a comedian and author; and Maureen Bianchini Purvis, founder of the veterans non-profit No Stone Left Alone. An investiture ceremony is set for October.
  • The Edmonton International Street Performers Festival and the Works Art and Design Festival will be taking place simultaneously in Churchill Square from July 8 to July 13, featuring 17 exhibits and 35 performance groups, organizers announced.
  • The Edmonton Arts Council is partnering with the City of Edmonton to present "Green Shack Shows" throughout July and August. Performances run five days a week with one at 11:30am and another at 2:30pm.
  • Edmonton triathlete Paula Findlay is coming to town in July to participate in the Professional Triathletes Organisation's world ranking for the Canadian Open, which will see 17 of the world's top female triathletes competing in Hawrelak Park for a $1-million first-place prize.
  • CBC Edmonton's Slumtown podcast is returning this summer to continue investigating problem properties in the city. The show's original run in 2019 focused on notorious landlord Abdullah Shah who was murdered last March, but it was criticized by Edmonton-Highlands-Norwood MLA Janis Irwin for failing to address issues of affordable housing, addiction, and mental health.
  • Alberta ended the 2021-2022 fiscal year with a $3.9 billion surplus largely thanks to high oil prices, which brought in a record-breaking $16.17 billion in revenue from non-renewable energy sources. Finance Minister Jason Nixon said the first surplus in seven years will fund "affordability measures" in addition to already announced moves like suspending the provincial fuel tax and giving Albertans a $50 utility bill rebate starting July, CTV reports. The fiscal year ended March 31.