Though poverty hasn't ended, the City of Edmonton is nonetheless slowly retiring EndPovertyEdmonton by throttling down the money it provides, said the hosts of Episode 253 of Speaking Municipally.
"One of the specific ways (council has) cut back is $600,000 to EndPovertyEdmonton this year, ramping further and further down until EndPoverty is completely out of city-funded money (in 2027)," co-host Troy Pavlek said. "This is a kind way of saying the city has completely shuttered EndPovertyEdmonton as an organization."
The delayed news that the city quietly decided to cut the organization's funding in a December meeting arrived at the same time as news that Erick Ambtman, EndPovertyEdmonton's former executive director, has left. "How — cloak and dagger," Ambtman told Postmedia after the city's decision made news in February. "I was hurt (by the decision), and then angry, because I just thought this is a really poor decision, and the manner in which it's been done is even worse."
Hear more on the end of EndPovertyEdmonton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's housing announcement, reflections on a slow week at council, what a national urban park could mean, labour actions by city staff, and how organic waste is managed in the March 1 episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast.
Photo: Former Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson addresses journalists in 2014 when EndPovertyEdmonton was established. (Mack Male/Flickr)