The Pulse: Jan. 28, 2021

Legal transaction management hub dealcloser has secured a $1.75 million seed round from U.S.-based investment firm, Bryce Catalyst.

The company serves legal firms by automating and modernizing the deal-closing process to eliminate non-value-added tasks that can lead to error. The investment, which was announced on Jan. 26, will help the company scale up as it heads into 2021.

"We've proven now that dealcloser is a valuable product that people want and that we make an impact on the day-to-day working lives of lawyers, paralegals and assistants all over North America. With that foundation, the funds will be used to fuel growth. We'll be able to spend more on things like digital advertising to hiring more developers to turning around new features faster," Amir Reshef, CEO of dealcloser, told Taproot.

Investment firm Bryce Catalyst is managed by Bryce Partners and was formed in October 2020. Its co-founders, Cary Burch and Erik Baklid, have 60 years of experience combined working with global technology-based companies, and connections throughout the legal tech industry, said Reshef.

• The city said that taxpayers paid the full cost of the Walterdale Bridge, $155M, despite major delays in the project which resulted in fines for the contractor. Construction on the bridge started in 2013, and it opened in 2017.
• A new digital campaign called #ScienceUpFirst, co-founded by the University of Alberta's Timothy Caufield, aims to combat misinformation about COVID-19.
• A new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says that Alberta is "sitting on the most unspent federal emergency COVID-19 funds," according to Postmedia.
• Former city councillor Kim Krushell has announced she is running for mayor.
• The 2021 Canadian Birkebeiner ski race has been cancelled because of COVID-19. The event would have taken place over four days in mid-February at two sites in the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area.
• The Bachelorette is rumoured to be shooting its upcoming season at Jasper Park Lodge. If you have a booking between Feb. 23-April 29, it looks like you'll be rescheduled.

The city announced on Jan. 27 that it will not make any changes to current public health rules, instead allowing the province to take the lead as COVID-19 variants make their way into Alberta.

"The best way for these measures to come into effect is under provincial authority ... rather than municipality by municipality,” Mayor Don Iveson said.

"We're happy to provide input into those decisions and to support enforcement of whatever measures come in, but our strong first preference would continue to be for the Government of Alberta to make those decisions based on what powers it has and the information it has, which are both stronger than us.”

As of Jan. 25, Alberta Health Services (AHS) had detected five cases of the South African COVID-19 variant and 20 cases of the U.K. variant in the province. All were traced to international travel except for one, which the province suspects was transmitted within the community. Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro called this case "very concerning."

While some companies are booking out entire mountain resorts just to keep production rolling, theatres across the country remain closed. Even some online events have been cancelled after Ontario implemented restrictions on gathering for rehearsals.

But that hasn't stopped playwrights Daniel MacIvor and Matthew MacKenzie from busily planning a new, one-night-only YouTube adventure. The Situation We Find Ourselves in is This examines the legacy of beloved dramaturge Iris Turcott, a complicated and revered character of the Canadian theatre scene, who passed away in 2016. 

On this day in 1927, it was reported that the Edmonton Public School Board passed a motion expressing its support for the sterilization of the "mentally unfit."

The trustees quibbled with the wording of a resolution put forth by the United Farm Women of Alberta, but they voted unanimously in support of the principle.

The story attributes the following declaration to the trustees: "There is a certain amount of it (mental derangement or insanity) in the school system... and there should be some drastic method to cut it down to a minimum."

In 1928, the United Farmers of Alberta government went on to pass the Sexual Sterilization Act, the first eugenic sterilization law in Canada. It was "directed at individuals living in designated state institutions deemed to have undesirable traits," says the Eugenics Archive. The law remained on the books and enforced even after the horrors of the Holocaust and the thorough discrediting of the eugenics movement.

By the time the act was repealed in 1972, a total of 2,832 people had been sterilized with the Alberta Eugenics Board's approval. One of them was Leilani Muir, who successfully sued the Alberta government in 1996 and became a champion for human rights until she died in Devon in 2016.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse.

• Mitchell Art Gallery is displaying Dress & Escapism: Performance of Identity through Drag and Burlesque Costume, curated by Josée Chartrand and on view, virtually, Jan. 26-March 27.  Curator talks will stream on Feb. 9 and March 3.
• Tim Mikula's surrealist portraiture of provincial politicos from his controversial ABLegGiftShop is now on display at The Paint Spot through Feb. 6.
• Alberta Forest Products Association offers a delightful virtual forest tour through Alberta's treed zones, courtesy of tour guide Nathan Fillion.
• Metro Cinema is running a retrospective showcasing the films of visionary Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai until Feb. 19.