The Pulse: Feb. 22, 2022

One of the Edmontonians who took city councillors up on their suggestion to express her concerns to the Edmonton Police Commission came away from the experience feeling nothing will change.

Michelle Peters-Jones and her five-year-old son found themselves confronted by the convoy protest on Feb. 12 with no police in sight. "I felt unsafe in my own city. And that is not right," she told Speaking Municipally.

She registered to speak at the Feb. 17 police commission meeting after seeing a tweet from Coun. Ashley Salvador encouraging citizens to do so if they were unhappy with the way events unfolded. She was one of eight members of the public who had five minutes each to express their concerns at the meeting. All of them were critical of various aspects of the police response to the convoy on Feb. 12, whether it be the lack of presence downtown, the continued honking noise despite a court injunction against it, or the swift response to a counter-protest trying to stop the convoy on River Valley Road.

Peters-Jones said she felt somewhat "gaslighted" already going into the meeting, as police commission chair John McDougall had said in an op-ed piece and Chief Dale McFee had said in a news conference that police had accomplished their goal to keep everyone safe through the protest.

"I didn't feel unheard. But at the same time, I didn't feel like anything was going to happen differently because I shared this," Peters-Jones said. "I'm hoping that they do take my voice seriously, and they do take the voice of the people who spoke at the commission seriously, but honestly, I can't see that happening, you know, and that's really sad."

The convoy returned to Edmonton streets on Feb. 19. This time the police said they issued 209 tickets and arrested one person on a warrant.

You'll hear much more about the police commission meeting in Episode 167 of Taproot's civic affairs podcast, including the Edmonton Police Service's $7.4 million deficit and the curious lack of curiosity about it among commissioners, as well as revelations that the police service has an airplane that it's about to replace for $4.3 million.

Photo: A screenshot of commissioners and Chief Dale McFee's conference room from the Feb. 17 meeting of the Edmonton Police Commission.

• An estimated 1,200 people marched and about 680 vehicles were part of a convoy that clogged downtown Edmonton streets with honking horns for a fourth consecutive weekend. The Edmonton Police Service said it issued 209 tickets to drivers involved on Feb. 19, including 71 tickets for noise and 27 for distracted driving.
• The province has announced the Edmonton Metro Region Economic Recovery Working Group, which will be chaired by Searle Turton, MLA for Spruce Grove-Stony Plain. The working group will engage with Edmonton-area leaders, businesses, and organizations to learn more about how the province can support economic recovery and growth in the region — including by leveraging tech, AI, etc. BOMA Edmonton CEO Lisa Baroldi and Edmonton Global CEO Malcolm Bruce will serve as co-vice chairs.
• Effective Feb. 28, the University of Alberta and NAIT will lift their COVID-19 vaccine mandates, with other post-secondary institutions planning to follow suit. More than 97% of students and 99.96% of faculty and staff at the U of A have been fully vaccinated, president Bill Flanagan said.
• During the Hypothermic Half Marathon on Feb. 20, Edmonton runner David Eliuk wore 90 shirts, unofficially breaking the Guinness World Record in the category.
• Edmonton police are warning F150 truck owners of a rise in thefts — in particular, thieves have started targeting 2018-2020 models of the trucks equipped with push-button starters. Police say the thieves are "using sophisticated technology to defeat the trucks' anti-theft systems," and urge people to park their trucks in secure places, like garages.
• Concerns around inflation, housing, transit, and long-term planning surround the upcoming provincial budget, which will be presented on Thursday, Feb. 24. Finance Minister Travis Toews plans on wearing the same cowboy boots he wore last year at the unveiling of the new budget. "They've served me well over the past year," Toews said.
• The Provincial Court of Alberta will resume all in-person trials starting today. Social distancing, limited capacity, enhanced cleaning, and mandatory masking are some of the precautions that remain in effect.
• Premier Jason Kenney said Alberta will launch a court challenge against the federal government invoking the Emergencies Act, calling it "an unnecessary and disproportionate measure." Earlier this month however, the provincial government sought federal assistance to clear the blockade at Coutts. The decision to invoke the Emergencies Act passed a House of Commons vote on Feb. 21.

City council meets on Feb. 22, with a continuation on Feb. 24. A city council public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23. Here are some of the key items on the agenda:

• The pandemic has impacted the city's three Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) areas in different ways. Revenue projections have improved for Belvedere, remained stable for Downtown, and deteriorated for The Quarters.
• Council will be asked to approve the Transit Safety and Security Plan, along with a $3.9 million increase to the Community Standards and Neighbourhood Branch operating budget to fund the plan. About $1.7 million of that would come from funds held back from the planned 2022 increase to the Edmonton Police Service budget.
• The Collaborative Economic Development (CED) initiative, a partnership between 13 Edmonton-area municipalities to attract investment to the region, is now in its third phase. Council will receive an orientation and hear about next steps which include targeted stakeholder engagement later this year.

This week's calendar includes the return of PechaKucha Night, plus events on Black history, civic data, a clean-energy future, and the City Plan.

• Feb. 23: Celebrating the Black Community in Alberta for Black History Month from the Centre for Race and Culture
• Feb. 23: BetaCity Learn/Data-thon on COVID Recovery! + Data/Tech Jobs from BetaCityYEG
• Feb. 23-24: Implementing a Just Transition from the Parkland Institute
• Feb. 24: PechaKucha Night 37 from Edmonton's NextGen at Metro Cinema
• Feb. 24: City Plan - Moving Forward with Focus from the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues

Photo: A scene from PechaKucha Night 13 in 2012 (Mack Male/Flickr)