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Tim Querengesser

Managing Editor

He/Him
Tim is the managing editor of Taproot. He has worked with words and stories for more than 20 years, sometimes as a reporter, sometimes as a magazine writer, sometimes as an editor, sometimes as a documentary writer, sometimes as a book ghostwriter. Tim completed journalism school at Carleton and earned a master's degree from Trent, both in Ontario, where he's originally from. Tim, his wife and his young son live in Bonnie Doon, and enjoy exploring cities, riding their bikes, and (currently) playing with toy excavators.

Recent work by Tim

A St. Albert bus and a Strathcona County bus are parked on an Edmonton street.
podcast region

Why province's cut to EMRB could create an unlucky 13

The recent United Conservative Party government decision to cut the province's contributions to the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board has created uncertainties that the region's 13 municipalities will be forced to solve, Mack Male said on Episode 287 of Speaking Municipally.

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A photo of a person in a blue suit.
podcast city council

Cartmell's campaign launch shows Bill 20 is down to party

The financial strategies that Bill 20 incentivizes for Edmonton's October 2025 municipal election were on full display last week when Coun. Tim Cartmell launched his campaign for mayor, and added that he's creating a party, Speaking Municipally co-host Troy Pavlek said.

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A child unsuccessfully presses a button to open a shelter door along the Valley Line Southeast.
podcast transit

Podcast examines the case of the disappearing LRT shelter doors

Door designs for the year-old Valley Line Southeast, which date back to the project's planning stage more than a decade ago, did not account for a rise in social disorder seen in 2024, the head of Edmonton Transit Service told Taproot.

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A photo of a colourful doormat that has the word "Home" on it.
housing

Home truths: In Edmonton's housing system, some win, some lose, and many feel conflicted

Taproot presents a special project exploring what works, what doesn't, and what can be done to improve Edmonton's housing ecosystem as we head into the 2025 municipal election. There are no simple solutions to the problems of a complex system that hurts some and rewards others. But the path toward improvement begins with a common understanding of the issues.

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Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi with a serious look in a file photo from 2021.
city council podcast

Podcast minds the gap in Edmonton's finances

A report to city council's executive committee, outlining a roughly $60-million hole in the books, offers council a true deficit of options, said the co-hosts of Episode 280 of Speaking Municipally.

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A photograph of an older building at the University of Alberta.
education post-secondary

Provincial Priorities Act could hurt Alberta's priorities, says academic

An Edmonton political scientist who researches the idea of the 'typical' Albertan said this research, as well as the complexities of academic funding, point to a potential for the United Conservative Party government's Provincial Priorities Act to hurt not only researchers but the provincial economy.

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A picture of the fare payment area at an underground LRT station in Edmonton.
podcast city council

Fare gate pilot could fail, podcast hosts suggest

A two-year pilot project that will cost more than $7 million to install and staff 30 fare gates at two stations on the Capital Line LRT system to increase perceptions of safety could be a waste of money, the co-hosts of Episode 277 of Speaking Municipally suggested.

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A person speaks at a microphone in front of an art-covered background
podcast city council

How Andrew Knack intends to remain a force in the 2025 election

The perennially optimistic Coun. Andrew Knack, known for thanking all who engage him, even if it's to tell him he's wrong, has planned how to remain at work during and after the 2025 election, the first municipal poll since 2007 that he won't run in.

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A photo of Coun. Aaron Paquette
podcast city council

Podcasters consider councillor conduct and new revenue ideas

The confrontation between councillors Tim Cartmell and Aaron Paquette at last week's utility committee meeting caught the ear of the co-hosts of Episode 275 of Speaking Municipally, Taproot's municipal affairs podcast. But it wasn't so much the tension itself as what could potentially be fuelling it that made the exchange so intriguing for the co-hosts.

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