The Pulse: June 23, 2021

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.

• An out-of-control wildfire in Yellowhead County, located just west of Edmonton, has forced the evacuation of residents living between Evansburg and Wildwood. Fire crews have been working late into the night to battle the blaze.
• Several events to honour the children who died at residential schools and those that survived the system are being planned for July 1 in Edmonton. Despite the calls to cancel Canada Day this year, Edmonton announced earlier this week that it would be hosting a fireworks display.
• Edmonton city council approved funding to extend the South LRT line from Century Park to the Heritage Valley Park and Ride. The 4.5-kilometre expansion will cost more than $1 billion and is dependent upon federal funding.
• Only two tickets were issued for illegal e-scooter use on Edmonton sidewalks during an enforcement blitz over the weekend — showing that compliance is improving.
• A new K-9 school in Keswick will be named after the late Joey Moss. Moss, who had Down syndrome, spent decades as a locker-room attendant for Edmonton's professional hockey and football teams and was a prolific inclusion champion.
• Titilope Sonuga was named Edmonton's ninth poet laureate. The 35-year-old Nigerian-Canadian is "a mesmerizing spoken word performer, playwright, actor and author of three collections of poetry," reports the Edmonton Journal.
• The motion to add questions about the draft curriculum and school funding to the municipal ballot was withdrawn by Edmonton Public School Board trustee Michael Janz on Tuesday.
• Albertans will still be required to wear masks in certain circumstances after July 1, said Dr. Deena Hinshaw on Tuesday. Masks will still be mandatory on transit, in ride-shares or taxis, and in hospitals.

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.