- Edmonton city council approved $8.3 million in grants through the Indigenous Housing Grant Stream of the Affordable Housing Investment Program (AHIP), which will help fund 93 affordable housing units. The stream was introduced in 2023 to encourage more Indigenous-led affordable housing. Earlier this year, council approved $19.2 million in AHIP funding, which will support the creation of 275 new affordable housing units and 22 rehabilitated units. Taproot's Housing Complex series explored ways city council can and can't improve the housing system.
- Boyle Street Community Services has dropped its application to develop a health hub in Edmonton's Strathcona neighborhood after failing to secure permits and funding from the provincial government. The proposed facility, which included harm reduction and mental health services, faced mixed reactions from the community, with some residents citing safety concerns and others emphasizing the urgent need for local support.
- Edmonton Public School Board trustees voted 5-2 against requiring candidates in the next municipal election to do criminal record checks. In October, Edmonton city council also voted against the requirement. The Alberta government's recent changes to local elections legislation include giving municipalities and school boards the option of requiring criminal record checks.
- Edmonton Heritage Council executive director David Ridley published a blog post looking back on the year's accomplishments, including new stories on the Edmonton City as Museum Project website, a new grant application portal, and the addition of 46 stories from First Nations, Métis, and Inuit storytellers to the Commonwealth Walkway project. "Future initiatives will focus on making heritage more inclusive, interactive, and relevant to all Edmontonians," Ridley wrote.
- The City of Edmonton will continue running its Civic Youth Fellowship from 2025 to 2030 thanks to a partnership with Canadian Race Relations Foundation and IslamicFamily. The partners are contributing a combined $250,000 to the program, which the City will match to create at least 13 paid 10-week fellowship positions. The program provides opportunities for youth and young adults to work on capstone projects that are aligned with the City's anti-racism and reconciliation plans.
- The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has completed its investigation into the case of a man who was killed by a stray bullet while inside his apartment in 2022 as three Edmonton Police Service officers tried to arrest a robbery suspect outside. The investigation found the suspect pointed a gun at the officers, which was later determined to be a BB gun. The suspect was shot 12 times, while several bullets entered the apartment where the man inside was struck in the chest, but it's unclear which gun fired the round. Investigators concluded the officers' use of force was reasonable and proportionate.
- Common Ground, a project led by University of Alberta professor Jared Wesley that aims to help Albertans overcome political divides, has released an online toolkit to help navigate political polarization. The toolkit contains a "common lexicon of political behaviour" and will also have interactive games in coming weeks. Wesley spoke to The Gateway about the goals of the Common Ground initiative.
- Alberta's privacy commissioner is investigating the provincial government's refusal to release pension plan survey data after multiple Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requests. The government launched the survey in September 2023, the same day a provincial report said that Alberta is entitled to 53% of Canada Pension Plan assets. The multiple-choice section of the survey provided no way to express opposition to leaving the CPP, and the parts of the open-question section that have been made public were heavily redacted, Postmedia reported.
- Celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary says he plans to build the world's largest AI data centre in northern Alberta. The centre, dubbed "Wonder Valley," will be built near Grande Prairie in the District of Greenview, which is partnering with his company O'Leary Ventures to buy and develop thousands of acres. In an interview with CBC News, O'Leary said people "should be very skeptical" but "they should just watch, because we'll be very transparent as we develop this."
Headlines: Dec. 12, 2024
By Kevin Holowack