The Pulse: June 23, 2021

Here's what you need to know about Edmonton today.

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Essentials

  • 24°C: Sunny. Wind becoming northwest 20 km/h in the morning. High 24. (forecast)
  • Oct. 1-3: William Shatner will return to the Edmonton Expo this fall. (details)
  • 63: Edmonton Elks' offensive lineman Derek Dennis announced that he won't be playing football this season, citing family reasons. (details)
  • 62%: Alberta's big cities are driving vaccination rates. Only 62% of people aged over 12 who live outside Calgary and Edmonton had received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of Sunday. (details)

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson

Edmonton mask bylaw remains in place for now as other municipalities consider repealing


By Jackson Spring in the Regional Roundup

The provincial government has said it will remove its mandatory mask requirement on July 1, leaving municipalities to decide whether to lift local rules that require face coverings in indoor public spaces.

Edmonton city council voted on a bylaw amendment to suspend its local mask requirements per a recommendation from administration on June 22. Though the amendment passed two readings by a narrow margin, unanimous consent was required to give the bylaw a third reading, which Coun. Aaron Paquette voted against.

A motion from Coun. Jon Dziadyk to hold a special city council meeting on June 25 to vote on a third reading passed 10-2. If the bylaw amendment passes, local mask requirements will be lifted on July 1, in conjunction with the province.

The provincial mask requirements, which were instituted last December, are being lifted as part of Stage 3 of the province's reopening plan, which is scheduled for two weeks after 70% of Albertans aged 12 and up receive at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. On June 18, Premier Jason Kenney said this target was hit in time for Canada Day.

Last summer and fall, many Edmonton-area municipalities instituted temporary face coverings bylaws in absence of provincial rules. At the time, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson expressed dissatisfaction that the province was merely recommending the use of masks in public spaces, and said "mandating face coverings is an important step to protecting Edmontonians."

Many municipalities decided to coordinate their mask requirements to prevent people from travelling between them to avoid the rules.

"A unified regional approach is required to ensure public health measures are implemented effectively," said a Strathcona County press release from Oct. 5.

Now as COVID-19 case numbers in the province continue to fall and vaccination rates continue to rise, local leaders are considering following the province's lead and removing their face coverings bylaws, if they haven't already expired.

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Headlines


By Michelle Ferguson

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Alberta Enterprise Corporation invests $5M to grow the province's life sciences sector

Alberta Enterprise Corporation invests $5M to grow the province's life sciences sector


By Hiba Kamal-Choufi in the Health Innovation Roundup

Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC) announced that it has invested $5 million in Amplitude Venture Capital's precision medicine fund to boost the growth of the health innovation industry in the province.

"We haven't had a fund that is focused solely on the life sciences sector. This is our first investment that we've done in a dedicated life science fund," said Alberta Enterprise Corporation CEO Kristina Williams, indicating that the investment is an exciting opportunity for Edmonton in particular.

"We see Edmonton being very strong on the life sciences side combined with artificial intelligence and machine learning," Williams told Taproot.

She said having an AI centre like the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) in addition to the University of Alberta is an incredibly strong testament to the strength of the city's innovation ecosystem.

According to Williams, the life sciences sector in Alberta represents more than 10% of the province's technology community and the investment will create more access to specialized expertise, networks and capital for startups focused in the life sciences sectors.

Amplitude's fund is focused on precision medicine, which is a growing approach to health and it focuses on using technology and artificial intelligence to achieve more precise health outcomes.

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