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Headlines: Oct. 7, 2022

· The Pulse
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  • The United Conservative Party chose Danielle Smith as its new leader, making her Alberta's next premier. "I'm back!" she declared after winning the leadership race with 53.8% of the vote. About 85,000 votes were cast in the seven-candidate race. Edmonton's only UCP MLA, Labour Minister Kaycee Madu, backed Smith during the campaign.
  • Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and at least two councillors say they've received complaints about on-duty members of the Edmonton Police Service telling the public to lobby city council to increase police funding. "These allegations are unsettling," said John McDougall, chair of the Edmonton Police Commission, "and we will raise this matter with the police service to make clear this type of alleged conduct is not the commission's expectation." Spokespeople from EPS and the Edmonton Police Association said they weren't aware of the problem.
  • Sohi published his thoughts on the revised police funding formula, which council is scheduled to discuss again Oct. 7. "I want to see an amendment to the formula that allows for reductions when necessary," the mayor concluded, noting once again that the EPS is the most well-funded service per capita among jurisdictions studied by the city's administration.
  • The Edmonton Police Service is moving 62 officers from other units to frontline work and implementing a new 10-squad patrol model on Nov. 13 that will increase officer presence in all six policing zones. According to deputy chief Darren Derko, there is "no question that the community wants to see frontline policing be a bigger priority, even within a tough resource environment." The changes will result in "service implications" that may be noticed by the public.
  • The Edmonton Police Service has apologized for its use of DNA phenotyping in trying to identify a suspect in a sexual assault case. The police service paid Parabon NanoLabs $1,700 for a computer-generated composite image of a Black man based on unidentified DNA evidence and shared the image, resulting in widespread criticism and accusations of racism. Enyinnah Okere with EPS's community safety and well-being bureau said that he "prioritized the investigation" and pursuit of justice over potential harm to Black people. "This was not an acceptable trade-off and I apologize for this," he said.
  • Edmonton is the first Canadian city to join UNESCO's Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC), a collection of cities committed to excellence and learning for all. UNESCO's press release highlights the City of Learners initiative, which has been run by the Edmonton Public Library since 2013.
  • Hawrelak Park users lamented the three-year closure slated to begin next spring. Jesse Banford, the city's director of facility infrastructure delivery, said the long closure is because most underground utilities are at the end of their lifespan. The city had earlier rejected the plan of a 10-year phased project. Some former park events, including the Heritage Festival, are still deciding on a new location.
  • More than 500 Ukrainians are arriving in Alberta every week, as a second wave of people fleeing the war continues. According to Orysia Boychuk, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta Provincial Council, around 32% of them are going to Edmonton and 42% to Calgary. An estimated 10,500 Ukrainians have arrived since Russia's invasion in February.
  • The Edmonton Oilers have released Jake Virtanen after a brief tryout. Virtanen's contract with the Vancouver Canucks was bought out after he was accused of sexual assault, for which a B.C. Supreme Court jury later found him not guilty.