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Headlines: March 6, 2025

· The Pulse
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  • Edmonton Public School Board trustees are facing heavier workloads after Ward C trustee Marcia Hole resigned on Feb. 28, citing a difficult political environment. Hole's departure follows Ward D trustee Trisha Estabrooks's resignation in January to join the support worker strike, while Ward H has been vacant since Nathan Ip was elected MLA in 2023. While higher education funding in the provincial budget is welcome, more is needed to keep up with high enrolment growth, board chair Julie Kusiek said. The division is also dealing with a ministerial order to make efforts to provide in-person learning options to all students during the support worker strike.
  • Edmonton city council's executive committee discussed the option to extend the Downtown Community Revitalization Levy by 10 years, which would allow millions of dollars to go toward a deal with Oilers Entertainment Group and the Alberta government for several large-scale downtown projects, plus open up funding for downtown housing, Jasper Avenue upgrades, and other "catalyst" projects. Coun. Aaron Paquette questioned the pressure on council to give public money to private projects, while Coun. Jo-Anne Wright questioned the public benefit of OEG's event park and whether OEG would provide affordable housing. Business interest groups BILD Edmonton Metro, NAIOP, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and the Edmonton Downtown Business Association generally supported expanding the downtown CRL, Postmedia reported.
  • The Theatre Network, which owns the Roxy Theatre in Edmonton, lost a court application to access a neighbouring building for the purpose of finishing the theatre's south wall. The theatre, which reopened in 2022 after a 2015 fire, has an unfinished wall, which the Theatre Network said "poses significant hazards." A judge dismissed the application for an easement, saying he doesn't believe the wall poses serious safety concerns and that there is no legal basis to compel CSIC Services, which owns the neighbouring building, to provide access.
  • The Edmonton Arts Council is selling limited-edition merchandise featuring Edmonton Transit Service and other Edmonton-themed designs, including T-shirts, socks, mugs, and tote bags. Stock is limited, with about 100 T-shirts left as of March 5. The merchandise is for sale at Edmonton Arts Council Shop & Services.
  • Shum Shabat Yousouf, former director of Contentment Social Services, was charged with one count each of fraud and theft for using her position to access peoples' bank accounts and take money without consent, police said in a release. Contentment Social Services, which made headlines last year for moving vulnerable clients into hotel rooms, is also being sued by the province for $140,000 in losses and damages. Police say allegations against Yousouf date back to December 2023, and there may be more victims.
  • An RCMP officer with the Fort Saskatchewan detachment was charged with assault causing bodily harm after allegedly punching a woman he arrested during a mental health call on March 14, 2024. In a statement, the RCMP said the officer arrested a suicidal person under the Mental Health Act and "delivered a strike," sending the individual to the hospital for treatment. Const. Justin Forster is scheduled to appear in court April 3, the RCMP said. He is currently assigned to administrative duties.
  • Richard S. Sutton, a University of Alberta professor and scientific advisor at Amii, and his collaborator Andrew Barto received the prestigious A.M. Turing Award from the Association of Computing Machinery, which is known as the "Nobel Prize in computing." Sutton and Barto were recognized for their foundational research on reinforcement learning, an approach that is somewhat "at odds" with the theories behind large language models (LLMs) being built by big tech companies, The Logic reported.
  • Edmonton Global said its Regional Tariff Ad Hoc Working Group, created last month, is planning to launch a Regional Tariff Impact Hub to help businesses navigate challenges in real time. The online portal will provide updates, resources, and a way for companies to report how they are being affected, Edmonton Global said.
  • The University of Alberta Pandas hockey team has secured a spot in the 2025 Canada West Final, happening March 6-8 at the University of British Columbia. The Pandas and the UBC Thunderbirds are facing off in the finals for the third time in the past five seasons. The team's latest overtime win over Mount Royal also earned it a spot in the 2025 U SPORTS Championship, happening March 20-23 in Waterloo.
  • The Edmonton Oilers announced rookie forward Matthew Savoie was sent back to the Bakersfield Condors following a 6-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, although head coach Kris Knoblauch said the decision isn't related to Savoie's performance.
  • In response to U.S. tariffs, Premier Danielle Smith said the Alberta government and municipalities will avoid buying U.S. goods and services, but it's unclear if provincial entities will be banned from buying such goods, CBC reported. Smith also said she would direct Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis to stop buying American alcohol and VLTs, ask grocers and retailers to stock from countries other than the U.S., run a "substantial advertising campaign" encouraging consumers to buy local, and work to increase interprovincial trade. However, Smith said she will not reduce or add tariffs to oil and gas exports, but instead double oil production and look to export it elsewhere.