- The Edmonton Police Service confirmed that a partnership with the province to deploy 12 sheriffs to Edmonton's inner city to work alongside police officers has been extended to the end of 2023. A spokesperson for Alberta Justice said further decisions on the program will be made once a new cabinet is formed. The program, launched in February with an initial end date of May 31, is an initiative of the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force. The province issued a release in April saying the program had improved public safety through both greater enforcement and crime prevention. That month, police also released crime rate statistics suggesting violent crime rates increased across Edmonton in 2022, particularly in the downtown core, although some observers questioned the statistics, including the co-hosts of Taproot's civic affairs podcast. A similar program to deploy sheriffs to work with Calgary police, which also launched in February, ended in late May and is now being evaluated.
- The Hate Crimes and Violent Extremism Unit of the Edmonton Police Service announced on June 5 that it expanded its online crime reporting service to allow Edmontonians to report hate incidents without calling police or going to a police station. "Hate incidents" refer to non-criminal actions based on hate, bias, or prejudice toward an identifiable group and are distinct from "hate crimes," which should be reported over the phone. EPS acting inspector Michelle Greening said hate incidents often go unreported for various reasons, including victims not realizing the incident is reportable or feeling reluctant due to past negative experiences with police. EPS numbers show reported hate crimes and hate incidents in Edmonton both decreased between 2021 and 2022, from 109 and 208 to 83 and 172 respectively. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network has observed a massive disparity between the number of self-reported hate crimes and the number reported to police, with less than 1% of hate crimes reported to the General Social Survey captured in police statistics in 2019.
- CBC News obtained a redacted copy of a Correctional Service of Canada report into an altercation at the Edmonton Institution on Jan. 8, 2022, that resulted in two inmates hospitalized, one with life-altering injuries. The report found that the officers who fired a launcher and a rifle took action proportional to the situation. However, it found that two officers who struck an inmate repeatedly with a shield and deployed pepper spray engaged in an unnecessary use of force. The report also revealed that the relationship between inmates and officers became strained during the pandemic when many staff members were on sick leave, which led to officer fatigue and limits on inmates' time outside their cells. The prison says it has since taken corrective measures with the officers who used excessive force and adjusted its introductory firearms training manual. James Bloomfield with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said working conditions have improved since 2022 but that violence at the prison remains high.
- A new report by RE/MAX found that Edmonton's commercial real estate market experienced one of its strongest first quarters in 2023, a trend led by out-of-province investment in the industrial sector. Major investment announcements since September 2022 include a $1.6-billion hydrogen facility from Air Products and a plan from English Bay Blending and Fine Chocolates to relocate from British Columbia to Stony Plain. Scott Hughes, owner of RE/MAX Commercial Capital, said increased interest in the Edmonton region is a sign that financial challenges brought on by the pandemic are improving. Puneeta McBryan, executive director of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, suggested the trend is driven by the affordability of Edmonton's real estate compared to other major Canadian cities, adding Edmonton has a lot of underdeveloped land that will attract developers in the next five to 10 years.
- Edmonton-based Flair Airlines has the highest number of complaints per 100 flights of all major Canadian airlines, according to the Canadian Transportation Agency. From April 2022 to the end of March 2023, Flair received 15.3 complaints per 100 flights, compared to Sunwing at 13.8, Swoop at 13.2, and WestJet at 6.6.
- The Nature Conservancy of Canada announced a plan to raise $500 million by 2030 to conserve more than 5,000 square kilometres of prairie grasslands in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Prairie grasslands are considered one of the most endangered and least protected ecosystems in Canada, with only about 18% of the ecosystem remaining and a yearly loss of about 600 square kilometres.
Headlines: June 6, 2023
By Kevin Holowack