The Pulse: June 17, 2021

While the month of June marks Indigenous History Month, a number of screenings and other celebrations across the country are planned around June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day.

In Edmonton, the Thousand Faces Festival will present a broadcast of Rocko and Nakota: Tales From the Land, written and performed by Anishinaabe playwright Josh Languedoc. The play, which will be streamed to classrooms across the province and for the public on Facebook Live, follows 11-year-old Nakota and his grandfather, Rocko (Languedoc plays both characters), sharing Indigenous tales and lore.

"I am honoured to be presenting my solo show on National Indigenous Peoples Day," says Languedoc, who is currently a masters candidate in the University of Alberta's theatre practices program. "It is important that my people have a place in the landscape of theatre and I am happy to honour my community and my ancestors by sharing this story."

After touring the show across Canada for two years, L'UniThéâtre also recently commissioned a French translation of the play, a reading of which will be streamed for free on June 26.

A full day of arts and entertainment is planned at the Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market on June 19 care of the Indigenous Artist Market Collective, including performances and sales by local artists, and live street art with Lance Cardinal (plus food trucks!). The Edmonton Indigenous People's Festival is also going live online from 6-8pm with musical performances, cultural demonstrations, and a special message from Edmonton Oilers player Ethan Bear.

• Police believe the swastika on the Baitul Hadi Mosque in Ottewell could have been placed as early as April, when two other similar incidents were reported in the neighbourhood. The graffiti is only visible from an alley and could easily have been missed said mosque president Humayun Ahmed.
• Edmonton police are asking motorcycle drivers to 'take it to the track' amid an increase in collisions. There were 119 crashes involving motorcycles last year, including 67 injuries and three fatalities.
• Approximately 30 businesses in Chinatown were forced to permanently shut their doors due to the pandemic, reports Global News. Meanwhile, some Edmonton business owners are wondering when they'll receive the financial assistance announced by the province months ago.
• The MAC Islamic Centre in west Edmonton will host a first-dose vaccination drive this weekend. As many as 1,200 appointments are available to be booked through AHS.
• The Oliver Outdoor Pool has re-opened after three years of being closed for repairs. The pool is almost 100 years old.
• The Royal Alberta Museum re-opened on Wednesday with two new exhibits. The museum has been closed since December due to COVID-19 restrictions.
• To encourage Albertans to get a second dose, the province has added 40 travel prizes to its COVID-19 vaccine lottery, including a week-long stay at a resort in Mexico.
• Premier Jason Kenney is denying he supported a ban on niqabs while serving as federal minister of citizenship and immigration. Earlier this week, Conservative MP Tim Uppal, who represents Edmonton Mill Woods, apologized for supporting the ban — recognizing that it caused Islamophobia.

Every week in the lead up to Edmonton's municipal election on Oct. 18, we're rounding up the news and announcements you need to know to stay informed.

• Following the terrorist attack against the Afzaal family in London, Ont. and another violent assault on a Black Muslim woman in Edmonton, mayoral candidate Amarjeet Sohi hosted a roundtable to discuss "the lived reality of racism and hate in this city." Panelists Dunia Nur, Irfan Chaudhry, Lloyd Cardinal, and Nathan Ip joined Sohi to review "policy solutions that will make this city safer for everyone."
• Michael Oshry pledged to bring West Rossdale "back to life" if he's elected mayor. Oshry says he intends to "achieve significant redevelopment" of the area over the next five years, while "honouring its rich Indigenous history."
• The city announced that advance voting will take place Oct. 4-13 from 1-7pm. The number of voting stations will be doubled and voters are "encouraged to vote in advance to avoid the busy crowds on election day." Mail-in ballot registration opens on Aug. 1 for those unable to vote in person.
• Edmonton integrity commissioner Jamie Pytel found Mike Nickel should be "reprimanded and censured" for a series of code of conduct violations including social media posts.
• Keith Gerein, a columnist with the Edmonton Journal, published his mayoral candidate feature on Mike Nickel this week. In the piece, Gerein referred to Nickel's controversial behaviour, writing that his "pugilistic behavior has become part of his election strategy."

A list of all of the candidates who have announced they are running in the Edmonton municipal election is available here.

What key issue do you want the candidates to be talking about as they compete for your votes? Add your voice to the People's Agenda.

On this day in 1948, Whyte Avenue was undergoing a boom in business.

The new construction was a sign that South Edmonton, as the area was called then, was growing into a "business and industrial centre important to the economy of Edmonton and the entire province," wrote the Edmonton Journal.

The article lists dozens of new and planned businesses for the area — car dealerships, photography studios and banks among them, as well as St. Anthony's Church.

Whyte Avenue has a long history of commercial development, one that started long before it was a part of Edmonton. When the Calgary and Edmonton Railway was established in 1891, a small community sprang up around where the rail line terminated just south of the river. That community would grow into the city of Strathcona, and Whyte Avenue served as its main street. The area grew rapidly and the businesses along Whyte served both local residents and gold-seekers who stopped in before continuing north. Strathcona went from a hamlet to a town and then into a city, becoming somewhat of a rival to the larger Edmonton across the river. By the 1910s, the two cities became more entangled and in 1912, Strathcona and Edmonton amalgamated. Whyte Avenue lost its main street status but picked up the designation of 82nd Avenue.

Over the next couple of decades, the area around Whyte grew into a popular residential neighbourhood consisting of mostly single-family homes. The commercial boom in the late 1940s continued into the next decade. That, combined with an expansion at the nearby University of Alberta campus, led to changes in the area around Whyte. More businesses and apartment buildings began to spring up and the desire to preserve the area's unique character and historic buildings grew.

That unique character became stronger in the 1980s and 1990s, as Whyte Avenue grew into a more entertainment-focused area and a hub for many of the city's festivals. In 2007, the province designated Whyte Avenue and the area around it as a provincial historic area, preserving many of its century-old businesses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Whyte Avenue hard and now the street is beginning to open up. When it does reopen, it will be with wider sidewalks and more sitting areas to promote social distancing.

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

• Common Ground Arts Society and Major Matt Mason Collective are presenting the world premiere of NIGHT by Geoffrey Simon Brown, where audience members will be invited to a secret performance location and can tune in via their car radio to experience the play. Performances are at 10pm on select dates from June 17-26.
• Ruth B. will deliver livestream concerts on June 17-18 featuring her new album, Moments in Between.
• BOM YEG (Black-Owned Market Edmonton) will provide an afternoon of cultural experiences with an Afro-fusion dance workshop and an Ethiopian and Eritrean cultural coffee ceremony in McDougall Park on June 19.
• Whyte Avenue Art Walk runs every Friday to Sunday in the Army and Navy building on Whyte Avenue through Aug. 1.