The Pulse: April 19, 2021

Will we act on climate change? That's the question we'll be exploring on April 22 at the next listening session for our People's Agenda project.

Join us at noon for another discussion to uncover what is important to you as we head towards the municipal election on Oct. 18. Please register here to attend.

The topic reflects the synthesis of a number of responses to our People's Agenda question related to the city's role in addressing climate change. For some, this is the only issue that matters, as it represents an existential threat; others prioritize other issues as well, but draw connections between climate change and transportation policy, infrastructure decisions, economic diversification, or social justice.

This listening session coincides with Covering Climate Now's Joint Coverage Week, a worldwide effort by journalists to pay concerted attention to the climate emergency. We live in a city that has declared a climate emergency, and we may have learned some lessons from our response to the pandemic. Now, in an election year, it's important to put this issue on the agenda for candidates running for mayor and council.

Host Chris Chang-Yen Phillips will discuss the topic with a guest to put the question into context. Then we'll head into discussion groups where you can share your thoughts on the matter.

If you can't make it, we will recap it on Friday, as we did last week on the question "Will we house everyone?"

For more context on how the climate emergency intersects with Edmonton, we're dedicating our weekly chart in the The Pulse to this topic. Here's what we've published so far:

• April 6: Slow greenhouse gas decline
• April 13: Projected emissions scenarios

Check The Pulse every Tuesday through April for more. And don't forget to sign up for the rest of our listening sessions:

• April 22: Will we act on climate change?
• April 29: Will we build our city intelligently?

• City councillors and Edmonton police have been making unscheduled visits to the temporary homeless shelter at the Edmonton Convention Centre, reports Postmedia after it obtained a letter addressed to Edmonton Police Commission chairwoman Micki Ruth from Mayor Don Iveson. In the letter, the mayor said he has “serious concerns” about the "tours."
• Mayor Don Iveson says the provinces reluctance to fund operations for five supportive-housing projects in the city could jeopardize funds the federal government has already committed to the project.
• Construction on Edmonton’s new Homes for Heroes village, a homeless veterans supportive housing project, is set to begin. The community of tiny homes should be open by October.
• "Demolition of the Northlands Coliseum should be prioritized as one of the first steps in the Exhibition Lands redevelopment, the City of Edmonton says while planning to move forward with its removal," reports the Edmonton Journal.
• Bishop Jane Alexander, who has been with the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton for the past 13 years, has announced her retirement and April 17 was her final day.
• Experts say West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in Canada, is a good example of a successful shopping center and that the "mall-as-entertainment blueprint" should be replicated in other places.

A new report suggests the City of Edmonton will receive $400 million less in provincial infrastructure funding than originally anticipated.

The Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) launched in 2007 to provide municipalities in Alberta with capital infrastructure funding. From 2007 to 2024, the City of Edmonton expected to receive nearly $4.2 billion from the MSI and its replacement programs, but now anticipates it will receive $3.8 billion, a gap of $400.2 million.

The original MSI program, which was extended from 2016 until the end of 2021, accounts for $60.2 million of that gap. The replacement programs, first the City Charter Fiscal Framework (CCFF) and later the Local Government Fiscal Framework (LGFF), account for the remaining $340 million.

Here are some of the notable agenda items coming before city council for the week of April 19-23:

• Administration recommends allocating $10.3 million from the COVID-19 funds within the Financial Stabilization Reserve to address "emerging priority items" including $1.3 million to support the rapid-flow vaccination site at the Edmonton EXPO Centre, $300,000 to maintain the public washroom attendance program at Louise McKinney Park, $100,000 to support the temporary patio initiative, and nearly $6 million over the next two years to add UV purification technology to the ETS and DATS fleets.
• The Spring 2021 Supplemental Operating Budget Adjustments outlines administration's strategy to achieve an overall tax change of 0% for 2021. Due to market fluctuations and the way the provincial education tax is collected, the required 2021 requisition is higher than anticipated. Administration proposes a further overall municipal tax decrease 0.3% ($5.3 million) which would be offset by higher than projected assessment growth and revenue ($5.7 million more than the approved budget) to keep the overall tax change for 2021 at 0%.
• Councillor Michael Walters is expected to make a motion supporting the effort to designate the North Saskatchewan River as a Canadian Heritage River, a program jointly administered by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments. Smoky Lake County is hosting a related survey asking for input on "the recreational, cultural and natural heritage of the North Saskatchewan River."

• Downtown Dining Week runs until April 25, with an array of multi-course menus available for takeout and outdoor dining.
• Check out Women in Big Data Edmonton's Glass Ceiling Series on April 20 at 12pm.
• The April Rainforest Connector on April 20 will focus on health analytics, with an emphasis on the innovation and work being done in Edmonton and Alberta by entrepreneurs and champions working in this field.
• The Alberta Blue Cross Wellness Summit will explore how mental health can impact and shape wellness in the workplace on April 21-22.
• Travel Alberta will look at how COVID-19 has redefined the experience economy on April 22 at 10am.