The Pulse: Feb. 14, 2022

City council is looking at increasing its influence on the Edmonton Police Commission at a time when the commission and the Edmonton Police Service that it oversees are under increased scrutiny for the way the law has been enforced during the convoy protests.

At the Feb. 9 city council meeting, Coun. Erin Rutherford put forward a motion to ask administration to come back to council on March 14 with amendments to the police commission bylaw to increase the number of commissioners from 11 to 12.

"As we've learned, and through this discussion on police safety, we've learned how important the appointments are, so if we have the ability to have an additional appointee for the police commission, I think it's prudent to do that," Rutherford said while introducing the motion in the Feb. 9 city council meeting.

When it comes to the police, she said on Instagram, council has just two leverage points: budget and appointments to the police commission: "Adding an additional voice at the table is a small step that can lead to bigger impacts!"

Many Edmontonians appear to be looking for some kind of impact after events on Feb. 12, where it appeared that police were more intent on shutting down a counter-protest on River Valley Road, which tried to prevent participants in the anti-restrictions convoy from reaching downtown, than they were on enforcing a court injunction prohibiting frequent or sustained horn-honking within city limits.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi tweeted that he was "disappointed to hear unruly protests taking place again" and has heard concerns about enforcement, adding that he can't direct police but has reached out to the chair of the police commission. A number of councillors — Ashley Salvador, Andrew Knack, and Michael Janz — went further, encouraging Edmontonians to register to speak at the next Police Commission meeting on Feb. 17.

The EPS said on Saturday that it had issued 10 tickets and will mail about 60 more, noting that nine were related to noise.

Episode 166 of Speaking Municipally took an interest in Rutherford's motion, noting that the police budget will be the "tentpole debate in the next four-year budget cycle," as co-host Troy Pavlek put it.

• The City of Edmonton was granted a temporary injunction on Friday to help it deal with noise caused by the vehicles participating in the protests against COVID-19 restrictions. The injunction compels organizers and participants to stop honking their horns, using airhorns, and making other noise within the city — it is in effect until March 4.
• Council voted 9-4 on Feb. 11 to accept administration's recommendation against introducing a municipal vaccine passport program. City Manager Andre Corbould said such a program would be difficult to enforce, and told council the city's 13 business improvement areas were unified against the idea.
• Edmonton police are reviewing a video of Const. Elena Golysheva reportedly praising the Truckers for Freedom protests. In the video, the officer allegedly expressed support for the convoy and said that she would not follow some orders.
• Edmontonians are turning to private companies to remove the windrows in front of their homes. Darren Chambers, a Bobcat operator who does snow removal in the winter, said he is getting 20 requests for windrow removal each week — before, he would see this number per winter.
• The Mustard Seed is looking for walkers — teams and individuals — for the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser. This year the event is digital, but it still aims to raise $140,000 for the organization's operations.
• St. Albert's Dean Anderson rode a distance equal to the height of Mount Everest on his bike to raise money for Edmonton's Food Bank in a challenge known as 'Everesting'. He rode over the same hill around 250 times — for a total distance of around 8,849 metres — non-stop starting on Friday.
• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi is one of several voices asking for the province to release the data it used to decide on ending some of its COVID-19 safety protocols. Edmonton Public School Board chair Trisha Estabrooks is another. "That, to me, is critical data that needs to be shared publicly," she said.
• As of Feb. 10, 90% of Albertans aged 12 and older have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 86.3% of Albertans aged 12 and older have now received two doses. More than 226,400 doses have been administered to children aged five to 11.

It's a committee week at city hall. Community and public services committee meets on Feb. 14, urban planning committee is on Feb. 15, and executive committee will meet on Feb. 16. Here are some of the key items scheduled to be considered:

• The community and public services committee will review the proposed Anti-Racism Strategy and vote on whether to recommend it to city council for approval. The strategy, which originated from a motion by Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, will aim to support "the equity of racialized communities in Edmonton, structural changes within the City of Edmonton administration, as well as the development of an implementation and financing plan to activate the strategy."
• Urban planning committee will hear about mass transit planning for a city population of 1.25 million, and how that will be implemented. The recommendations include a change to future LRT expansion that would prioritize expansion of the Metro Line LRT to the south rather than the north.
• Executive committee is asked to approve $16.8 million in Affordable Housing Investment Program grants. The funding aims to incentivize affordable housing development to hit the goal of 2,500 units across the city between 2019 and 2022.

This week's calendar includes health-tech and cleantech, legal approaches to both AI and the North Saskatchewan River, a chance to get your taxes done and another to show off your collection, plus a Q&A with the mayor.

• Feb. 15: Edmonton Business Association AGM and keynote with Mayor Amarjeet Sohi
• Feb. 15: Bringing Value for Entrepreneurs through Collaborations: Health and Tech, a Rainforest Connector event
• Feb. 15: Low Income Community Tax Clinic at the Africa Centre
• Feb. 15-16: Artificial Intelligence and the Law: Myths & Reality
• Feb. 16: Law's Relationship with the North Saskatchewan River
• Feb. 17: EPL Show & Tell: Collections
• Feb. 17: Top 20 Pitch Night at the Cleantech Investment Summit

Photo: Mayor Amarjeet Sohi is slated to give the keynote at the Edmonton Business Association meeting on Feb. 15. (Mack Male/Flickr)