Voters told Taproot they want the next council to fix the relationship with the province

The growing responses to Taproot's listening work in the lead up to the municipal election on Oct. 20 reveal that voters are unsatisfied with the relationship between city council and the Alberta government, and they expect the next council to do better.

Earlier this year, Taproot launched our listening campaign at several in-person and virtual events, and we posted a 2025 election question on our site. We have been gathering responses ever since, and at last count, more than 900 people have provided them. The listening was built around a simple question: "What issues do you care about as you consider who to vote for in the 2025 municipal election, and why?"

Almost 100 people answered this by saying the city needs a council that can get more support from the province. The overwhelming majority of these respondents criticized the United Conservative Party government for its role in the relationship, using terms such as "interfering," "intervening," "meddling," "overreaching," "encroaching," or "intruding" when pointing to things like bike lanes and the election process.

"While, constitutionally, municipalities are creatures of the provincial government, there is a lot to be said about staying in your own lane and working collaboratively together," one respondent said. "The province has gutted municipalities' control on many fronts: Photo radar, speeding, policing, appointments to the police commission, political parties, spending at the municipal level, and so on."

A few respondents said the city should butt out of work that's a provincial responsibility, though far more said Edmonton's city council must step up if the province doesn't. "I want a candidate that doesn't get too tangled up in municipal jurisdiction, and invests in housing and other solutions despite it being a provincial responsibility," one respondent said.

Many said the province has not done enough for Edmonton when it comes to money or action to tend to health, homelessness, and housing. "Homelessness is a big issue that needs to be addressed. It falls under (provincial jurisdiction), but the cities are stuck with it," one person said.

A small group of respondents said the current council has not been diplomatic enough with the province. "The tone taken by the current council has been combative and childish," one said. Most others said the next council should unapologetically advocate for the city's best interests, however.

Regardless of their stance on who needs to do better in the relationship, the vast majority expressed fatigue with the relationship not working for Edmonton. Many told us they just want the perceived adversarial dynamic to end. "I really wish the provincial and municipal governments would stop blaming each other and finally agree to work together on long-term solutions, including to address the root cause of houselessness and addiction," one said.

One person wondered what would happen if the next council pursued a short wish list from the province. "What are the top three concerns the candidates would communicate to the provincial government, and what are the candidates' proposed solutions?" they asked.

Taproot has worked to explain some of the key points in city council's relationship with the province since being elected in 2021.

Election changes

Bill 20 is part of the UCP government's work to change the Municipal Government Act and the Local Authorities Election Act. Voted into law in 2024, the bill enables political parties and slates for Edmonton and Calgary, mandates municipalities to conduct manual vote counts, and adds a new deadline for interim campaign finance disclosures.

The government passed its bill after its own survey showed that more than 70% of respondents were against adding parties to ballots. Alberta Municipalities vocally opposed the addition of parties, and so did both Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

Mandate letters

Devin Dreeshen, the minister responsible for transportation, said this summer that he wants cities like Edmonton and Calgary to claw back plans for bike lanes that their councils have already approved.

On Sept. 22, Premier Danielle Smith's mandate letter to Dreeshen instructed him to work with the City of Edmonton to build an LRT connection to Edmonton International Airport. The airport connection is not part of the city's approved LRT work.

A mandate letter Smith gave to Dan Williams, the minister in charge of municipal affairs, said Williams should insert himself into municipal governance, including how much officials are paid, council decisions that affect spending, and to ensure "taxpayer dollars are being respected."

Data debate

Taproot learned that Alberta's government told Homeward Trust Edmonton to remove data on shelter capacity for the unhoused population from its website in January 2024. The number of shelter spaces reported by the UCP at the time was contested by Postmedia reporting. Jason Nixon, the minister responsible for housing and homelessness, said Homeward Trust's numbers were wrong, despite the agency's comment to Taproot that it used data supplied by the government.

Intervention while in session

In 2022, as Edmonton's city council debated its own municipal face-mask bylaw, the UCP government announced that it was making the city's existing bylaw illegal. Council learned about this decision in real time, during its own meeting about something it now, apparently, could only eliminate rather than continue.

Having processed the development and what it meant for council's own authority, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi offered some rare candid thoughts. "We are … treated like kids by the province," he said. "It's a really sad day."

No new hospital

Though city council's relationship with the province has less to do with how many hospitals we have than do other factors, many nonetheless point this out as a grievance that underlines how the province mistreats Edmonton.

In 2024, the UCP government slashed funds for a new hospital in Edmonton that the previous NDP government had promised back in 2017. The South Edmonton Hospital project was paused to consider broader health needs in Edmonton, the government said at the time. The province had already spent $69 million of a projected $5 billion total project cost at the time.

The last hospital for adults that the province built in Edmonton was Grey Nuns Community Hospital, which was opened back in 1988. The Peter Lougheed Centre hospital opened in Calgary that same year. Since then, Calgary has seen the South Health Campus open in 2012, and the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in 2024.

Over to you

For more on Edmonton's 2025 municipal election — from where candidates stand to voting info — visit edmonton.taproot.vote. There you can complete the Taproot Edmonton Survey and immediately see which candidates for mayor and council in your ward align with your views.