The Pulse: March 18, 2021

The federal government has pledged $24.8 million to cover the capital costs of four housing projects in Edmonton, through the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation's (CHMC) rapid housing initiative.

Ahmed Hussen, Canada's minister of families, children, and social development, said the projects will address the increased risk of homelessness in Edmonton due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among seniors and Indigenous people.

"This pandemic has underscored and made ... existing housing challenges (worse)," Hussen said in an announcement on March 17. "Those who are at increased risk of experiencing homelessness will soon have a new place to call home."

The projects include 130 units of supportive housing, spread out over three new buildings in Inglewood, Terrace Heights, and Westmount. The properties will be owned by the City of Edmonton, and operated by Homeward Trust.

Mayor Don Iveson said the projects will aim to help Indigenous Edmontonians in particular, who he said are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than non-Indigenous Edmontonians.

According to 2018 data collected by Homeward Trust, 62% of Edmontonians experiencing homelessness identified as Indigenous, compared to 6% of the general population.

Susan McGee, CEO of Homeward Trust, said the projects are "critical," in helping the organization meet its goal of ending chronic homelessness by 2022.

• City council has unanimously rejected Trinity Funeral Home's proposal for a new crematorium in central Edmonton. Residents were concerned about smoke from the facility, and more than 20 people showed up at a virtual public hearing to express their concerns.
• A Leduc school stabbing victim is being remembered "as talented artist who loved trains," reports CBC News. Jennifer Winkler died on March 15 after being stabbed in a classroom at Christ the King high school.
• Nominations are now open for MacEwan University’s first honorary doctorate. “With our 50th anniversary approaching, it is the perfect moment in our history to add this new tradition that helps us to define and celebrate our values,” says Dr. Annette Trimbee, president and vice-chancellor. The deadline to nominate someone to receive an honorary doctorate at the 2021 spring convocation is April 18.
• GraceLife Church pastor James Coates is expected to be released in the coming days, after Crown prosecutors dropped all of his charges except for one.
• A new documentary called Snow Warrior captures the stories of Edmonton's downtown bike couriers.

After distributing $1.25 million to 47 arts, culture, and charitable organizations in 2020, EPCOR announced this week that it will bump up its COVID-inspired fund by an additional $1 million as a direct response to community need. 

With more than 400 artists employed and at least 100 new works produced in the past year, the fund has been an important and responsive lifeline for creatives in the city during the pandemic. 

“EPCOR’s financial support over the past year has allowed us to find new and innovative ways to continue doing what we do best – connect audiences and artists,” said Megan Dart, interim executive director of Edmonton Fringe Theatre Adventures.

On this day in 1941, Edmonton's medical health officer was in the newspaper expressing concern about traffic fatalities.

Dr. G.M. Little was worried about 11 traffic deaths in 1940, "the biggest total of the past 10 years." The number is indeed alarming, especially considering that Edmonton's population was about 92,000 at the time. We now have more than 10 times as many people living here, and we registered 14 traffic fatalities in 2019.

The goal is to get to zero, of course, and to that end, Vision Zero will soon roll out its Street Labs program, inviting community-led ideas this spring for making residential streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

It's interesting to note that Little urged both motorists and pedestrians to "use 'responsible behavior' in an earnest effort to cut down the annual death toll," showing that the often criticized tendency to assign equal responsibility to both parties goes back many decades.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse — follow @VintageEdmonton for daily ephemera via Twitter.