The Pulse: Oct. 4, 2021

Advance polls open Oct. 4 — if you're voting early, you might want to take the Taproot Survey first to see which candidates for mayor and council align best with you.

Episode 149 of Speaking Municipally took a closer look at a few of the survey questions related to financial decisions.

Not a single candidate chose "City council hasn't been willing to raise taxes enough" when asked What do you think the city's main fiscal challenge is?.

Twenty of the candidates chose "The city has limited ability to raise revenues," and eight chose "The city spends too much." But by far the most popular answer, with 34 responses, was "The city spends its resources inefficiently."

"Progressive or conservative, spendy or not spendy, everyone is going to say, 'I want more value for taxes and I want to find efficiencies'," podcast co-host Troy Pavlek said, noting that the candidates seemed to be unaware of the Council's 2% initiative to continuously find ways to economize.

Property taxes provide roughly 57% of the city's $3 billion in revenue each year. Municipalities are not allowed to run deficits, which means that beyond raising taxes, city council must generally focus on managing expenses, by spending less or trying to find efficiencies. That latter option can be a bit of an escape hatch when one is campaigning for office, said co-host Mack Male.

"We tried really hard... to not have any sort of wishful-thinking responses," he said. "The response that we've highlighted here — 'The city spends its resources inefficiently' — is probably the most wishful-thinking response on the whole survey. You might believe that, but show me. Where do you think they actually spend it inefficiently?"

• Advance polling for Edmonton's municipal election begins Monday. The 12 advance voting stations will be open from Oct. 4-13 from 1-7pm. Election day is Monday, Oct. 18.
• A local developer has purchased the four University of Alberta ring houses — saving them from demolition. Primavera Development Group will relocate the buildings and use them to create new community arts hub.
• Chinese community leaders in Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto are calling for a national strategy to rebuild Chinatowns across the country. Edmonton's Chinatown lost 30% of its businesses over the past 18 months. The pandemic also slowed efforts by the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton to rejuvenate the community.
• Edmonton Oilers forward Josh Archibald is out of the lineup indefinitely after being diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, likely caused by having COVID over the summer. Archibald made headlines last month for being the only unvaccinated player on the Oilers lineup. Meanwhile, defenceman Duncan Keith said he felt pressured by National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) to get a vaccination.
• A change to how gaming revenues are dispersed could cut community leagues budget's by millions of dollars, according to a letter from the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues and its Calgary counterpart. This could affect programming and infrastructure in both cities. Edmonton and Calgary's 302 community leagues have built and maintained more than $750 million in community-based infrastructure.
• A researcher from the University of Alberta wants to encourage businesses and educational institutes to do more to tackle poverty. Maria Mayan, a School of Public Health professor, is hosting a lecture on Monday on inclusive economic approaches. Her research has found that one in 10 Edmontonians, nearly 120,000 people, experience poverty.
• Eight to 10 military nurses will arrive in Alberta on Monday. They will likely be deployed to Edmonton, while the Red Cross and Newfoundland teams will likely travel to Red Deer and Fort McMurray. Health-care professionals welcomed the reinforcements, but said a fire break was still necessary to stop community transmission of COVID-19.
• Albertans can now download a QR code showing their COVID-19 vaccination status. However, the app to scan the codes, called the AB COVID Records Verifier app, will only be launched in few weeks. The province also has no plans to replace paper records, which are easily falsified.

• The AWE Awards Virtual Celebration will celebrate Jennifer Carlson, CEO of Baby Gourmet Foods, as this year's recipient of the Celebration of Achievement Award on Oct. 5. The annual award pays tribute to "an exceptional woman entrepreneur who has built a business in Alberta with a significant impact on the economy and the community."
• Career Fair Canada will host a career fair and training expo on Oct. 6. Exhibitors include the Alberta Business and Health Institute, H&R Block, Territorial Electric, and many more.
• The Edmonton Public Library will present a free virtual conversation with mayoral candidates on Oct. 6.
• DARK returns to haunt Edmonton's river valley for its fourth year starting on Oct. 7. A list of featured frightening events and food trucks is available on the Fort Edmonton Park website.

Photo: Autumn has painted Edmonton's nooks and crannies shades of red, yellow, and green. (Daniel Belland/Instagram)