- The Edmonton Police Service announced that 35 officers will start wearing body cameras on July 10 as part of a six-month trial, which police said aims to increase accountability and reduce use of force. The 35 officers are from the Transit and Community Safety Teams, the Healthy Streets Operations Centre Community Safety Teams, and High-Risk Encampment Teams, which EPS said will provide a "broad snapshot" of police interactions in different settings. Police plan to try various technologies before choosing a vendor. The Alberta government announced in March that it would require all police services to use body cameras. Meanwhile, EPS confirmed its plan to install dash cameras on police vehicles is on hold after the idea was trialled in 2022.
- The city announced the launch of new Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Dashboard, which provides information on key trends and updates across seven pillars of action rooted in the city's Community Safety & Well Being Strategy. The dashboard will be updated quarterly and will "continue to evolve" as the city finalizes its CSWB Evaluation Framework later this year.
- Edmonton's downtown office vacancy rate is continuing to rise along with the rest of Canada. A new report from CBRE Canada notes the rate has increased to 24.1%, compared to the national average of 18.1%. Puneeta McBryan with the Downtown Business Association said more hybrid work means fewer business owners are renewing their leases, adding that council and residents will start "feeling the pain" of a deflated downtown as the city approaches peak office vacancy. She also suggested the city, province, and police are not doing enough to attract businesses back to the core and help downtown recover from the pandemic.
- Alberta had more interprovincial migration in the first three months of 2023 than any other province despite its higher-than-average unemployment rate and rising housing costs. The province attracted 15,786 residents from elsewhere in Canada, while British Columbia and Ontario saw net losses. While rental costs in Edmonton rose 11.3% from June 2022 to June 2023, housing is still more affordable than any other major Canadian city. Renting a two-bedroom apartment in Edmonton costs an average of $1,500 per month, less than half the average rent of two-bedroom apartment in Toronto or Vancouver.
- Sarah Carter, a professor in the University of Alberta's Department of History, Classics, and Religion, was appointed to the Order of Canada. "Her career as an educator, author, and scholar has helped shape our collective understanding of our past — particularly as it relates to the impact and importance of women and Indigenous people in the building of this country," said Annette Trimbee, president and vice-chancellor of MacEwan University, which awarded Carter an honorary doctorate in 2022.
- CBC News has retracted its reporting that alleged someone in the office of Premier Danielle Smith directly emailed Crown prosecutors about cases involving the Coutts border blockade. On July 5, an unsigned editor's note was added to the original story from Jan. 19, 2023, stating that "CBC News regrets reporting direct contact by email." Ethics commissioner Marguerite Trussler's report, released in May, found no evidence of emails between Smith's staff and Crown prosecutors, but did find that Smith contravened the Conflicts of Interest Act in an interaction with then-justice minister Tyler Shandro. In a tweet, Smith said that she and her office have been vindicated and that she considers the matter with CBC closed. Last month, the NDP requested the RCMP investigate Smith over potential violations of the Criminal Code, which were beyond the mandate of Trussler's investigation.
Headlines: July 6, 2023
By Kevin Holowack