The Pulse: March 25, 2021

The pandemic has made it clear that artists need a guaranteed basic income, and so do many other Canadians, the head of the Edmonton Arts Council says.

EAC executive director Sanjay Shahani was one of five signatories to an open letter published in the Globe and Mail last weekend making the case for a Basic Income Guarantee for artists following COVID-19's financial gutting of the arts sector.

"The whole nature of the financial situation for artists is not a new thing, we've had that for decades," Shahani told Taproot. "But during the pandemic, the precarious nature of work for artists and gig workers has been highlighted." He added that many artists are educators, and though they may have decades of experience and credentials behind them, their employment circumstances often don't reflect that.

"It's a highly specialized profession. They are artists, they are creative people, but they're also knowledge workers. They're often holding up fine arts and performing arts programs in post-secondary institutions, but the employment situation remains precarious."

In addition to Shahani, leaders of the Toronto Arts Council, Conseil des Arts de Montréal, Winnipeg Arts Council, and Calgary Arts Development signed the letter.

• The City of Edmonton has set up a transit safety oversight committee and a response plan for encampments after criticism of the way officials treated homeless people during the extreme weather response in February. The reports in response to an inquiry from Mayor Don Iveson did not adequately address the lack of empathy and compassion, community advocate Rob Houle said. "I am appalled by the content of the reports," he said in the Edmonton Journal. "I am appalled by the approach of administration to this issue."
• With variant cases of COVID-19 reaching another record high in Alberta — including community spread of the Brazil variants — the province may need to consider more restrictions, Dr. Deena Hinshaw said during her briefing on Wednesday. "If spread escalates, if we're seeing the spread and the transmission of our cases, and particularly variant cases, continuing to rise, it may be possible — it may be necessary — to bring in additional restrictions," she said.
• Alberta's tech firms attracted $455M in venture capital last year, says a year-in-review report released by the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. That record high included the $76 million raised by Edmonton's Jobber, CBC noted.
• Soccer star Alphonso Davies has been named a global goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Bayern Munich player was born in a refugee camp in Ghana and grew up in Edmonton.
• Former family doctor Vincenzo Visconti was sentenced to house arrest on Wednesday after pleading guilty to billing thousands of dollars for house calls he never made.

Buying and selling fireworks will remain relatively easy in Edmonton after councillors rejected a recommendation from Fire Rescue Services to tighten the rules.

City council's community and public services committee decided on March 24 not to amend the fireworks bylaw to require vendors to have a permit.

Joe Zatylny, chief of Fire Rescue Services, said the permit requirement would have ensured that vendors adhere to federal regulations, which include storage and packaging standards, a requirement that businesses display safety instructions, and assurance that customers are at least 18.

"Without a vendor permit, administration has no enforcement abilities," Zatylny said. "It will open the door for more vendors without experience or safety knowledge of fireworks."

John Adria, owner of Uncle John's Fireworks, said fireworks vendors already abide by the rules, and the rule changes will only impede businesses.

“We provide safety information to all our customers, but Edmonton’s new regulations will harm the same businesses that have been a key part of consumer fireworks safety,” he said.

Ron Schnitzler, CEO of Discount Flags Ltd., agreed. "(Safety) should be on the sole person shooting the fireworks, and not on the retailer," he said.

Edmonton is currently the only city in Alberta that allows the sale of consumer fireworks, and one of few municipalities that does not require a vendor permit.

On this day in 1952, some were less than enthused about space scientists picking apart one of planet Earth’s most spectacular sights, the local paper suggested.

Auroras like the Northern Lights have fascinated people for thousands of years. And for long as we’ve enjoyed them, we’ve tried to explain them. Were they the trail of the Roman goddess of the dawn? Light glinting off the armour of Norse valkyries? Or sparks caused by a fiery fox racing across the landscape?

In the 1950s, astronomers eventually solved the mystery — the sun sometimes shot-puts charged electrons our way, where they mingle with gases in our atmosphere and put on a spectacular light show. It’s a pretty stellar explanation. But not everyone was keen on having the magic of the Northern Lights explained away.

“How horribly dull that sounds, in contrast to the visual beauty of the colored lights that dance, and — as some stoutly maintain — rustle, against the backdrop of starlit sky,” read a lament published in an Edmonton paper in 1952.

Almost 70 years after this particular complaint was published, Edmontonians are still looking up for a glimpse of those coloured lights, often using the University of Alberta’s AuroraWatch as their guide. And whether you’re the type that loves knowing that the Northern Lights are caused by a “celestial hailstorm,” or you still like holding onto the mystery, now is a great time to see them. September to April is prime showtime in Alberta.

Written by Scott Lilwall, based on a clipping found on Vintage Edmonton, a look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse — follow @VintageEdmonton for daily ephemera via Twitter.

• Chinook Series heads into the first weekend of #2hotweeks of cutting-edge performance. Much of the program is on demand, but live-streamed offerings this weekend include Moon Speakers on March 27 and Nuestras Voces/Nossas Vozes on Sunday.
• Downtown Spark brings an immersive installation called wâpos, designed by Jason Carter, to Beaver Hills House Park. It will be at the park at 10440 Jasper Ave. until April 3.
• A Taste of Al Fresco invites you to come chill along 104th Street from Jasper Avenue to the Mercer Tavern on 104th Avenue. It includes patio dining, pop-up art displays, window concerts, and self-guided walking tours.
• Now Hear This Festival concludes its spring equinox edition, streaming rebecca bruton guitar improvisations on March 26 and an audiovisual performance called flavopunKaventure by Instant Places on March 27.