The Pulse: Sept. 8, 2022

Dale Smith was rarely without his sketchbook or paints. They were for him as essential as the tent when camping in the Rockies or the paddles on a canoe trip. Friends and family came to expect they would be his plus-one at any social event.

"The whole idea of the artist in society is they live deeply in the world they're in, and they share their human response, which is what Dale has done," said Sharon Moore-Foster, program and development coordinator for CARFAC Alberta. "He was that 'artist-man' in his normal everyday things. He had a lot of integrity in who he knew himself to be, because that was with him at all times."

Smith's death in 2017 left his estate with a sizeable body of work and the question of what to do with it. Dale Smith: Coda — Life as Seen and Experienced is a retrospective art exhibition and auction organized by his sister Janet Smith and CARFAC Alberta to both find homes for his work in private collections and celebrate his memory.

A reception is to be held at the CARFAC Alberta Project Space at 10215 112 St. on Sept. 17 from noon to 2:30pm, and the online auction will run until Oct. 7. Proceeds will be split between CARFAC Alberta and Smith's estate.

"He had a lot of paintings and sketches, and he's got some lovely pieces," said Janet Smith. "And so I've been wanting to share that with people and also donating the proceeds back into the arts."

CARFAC Alberta offers training and programs for artists, and advocates on behalf of visual artists for more equitable contracts and a fair share of the profits from their work.

• The City of Edmonton has surpassed the affordable housing targets it set for itself four years ago when city council committed to developing 2,500 new affordable homes by 2022. Executive committee approved funding of $17.6 million for four new projects on Sept. 7, bringing the total to 2,670 units. Three of the new projects will be in Griesbach, run by HomeEd, Tribal Chiefs Ventures, and Métis Capital Housing Corporation. One will be in Glenwood, run by Paul Band Property Management.
• After hearing plans for the first phase of the Edmonton Metropolitan Transit Service Commission's service plan — which are significantly scaled back from what the 2020 business case proposed — executive committee chose not to offer a recommendation. City council is expected to vote on the required $7.2 million in funding on Sept. 12.
• Edmonton police arrested 25-year-old Clarence Lawrence just before 6pm on Sept. 7, a few hours after he allegedly stabbed several people in the Homesteader neighbourhood, leaving one person dead and two seriously injured. Police said they believe the assaults were random in nature.
• Earlier this week, several patients waited on the floor for seven hours in the emergency department of the Misericordia Community Hospital after being triaged. One woman, who arrived with extreme back pain, described the space as "a dirty makeshift garage." Covenant Health, which runs the west Edmonton hospital, said it continues to experience high volumes and staff pressures first exacerbated by the pandemic. The Misericordia and several other hospitals in the Edmonton area were reporting emergency room wait times of more than five hours on Sept. 7.
• On Aug. 31, Edmonton police issued 1,485 traffic violations during another Operation 24 Hours campaign, which aims to reduce collisions by setting up automated enforcement on select days. Of these violations, 1,286 were related to speeding.
• Ellerslie Rugby Park, which was created in the 1970s to act as a regional rugby hub for large meets, is winding down for its last ever season. Owners are preparing to sell the park, which has only made a profit once since 2010, and put the money into local rugby clubs and schools. A last-hurrah rugby weekend is scheduled for the first week of October.
• The Edmonton Oilers have launched the Edmonton Oilers Hall of Fame, which will honour contributions to the club from players, coaches, staff, executives, and more. The first round of inductees includes Oilers legends like Wayne Gretzky, Al Hamilton, and Jari Kurri. Starting in 2023, fans will also be able to nominate potential members.
• Daryl Katz, who owns the Oilers, increased his net worth by almost a billion dollars over the past year and is now ranked #637 on Forbes Magazine's list of billionaires. Katz reaps his profit from pharmaceuticals and other industries, but Forbes notes the value of the Oilers franchise also rose 147% over the past five years.
• This year marks the first time Albertans will face the cold, the flu, and COVID-19 at the same time with no public health restrictions. Doctors are expecting a rise in influenza cases, which fell during the pandemic but have already surged above pre-pandemic levels in countries with earlier flu seasons like Australia. Dr. Deena Hinshaw encouraged Albertans to continue wearing masks in high-transmission areas, getting vaccinated, and staying home when sick.

The Edmonton Tool Library has teamed up with Find Edmonton to equip people moving out of homelessness with a few items to help them turn a house into a home.

The tool library was founded in 2016 to allow people to borrow tools instead of buying them. It acquired a surplus of hand tools during the pandemic when its usual community engagement activities were restricted.

"We had Rubbermaid bins overflowing with screwdrivers, wrenches, hammers, and pliers," said board member Eve Poirier. "Nobody was looking for hand tools, it seems."

That gave the volunteers at the tool library an idea. "We were thinking about our vision, which is to provide low-cost access to tools," said Poirier. "We had these tools. How can we get them into the hands of people who might need them?"

Enter Find Edmonton, a social enterprise that started as "The Furniture Bank" in 2009. It gathers furniture that participants in Housing First can pick out at no cost. But someone who is starting from scratch could also use a screwdriver or pliers for minor repairs or a hammer to hang up a picture. That's what makes this collaboration exciting, said Janine Tremblay, marketing and donations coordinator with Find Edmonton.

"The community donates everything we get, and that goes out in these little packages," she said. "We're like, 'Here, here's all the art,' but we have no way to put it up, right?"

Now they do, thanks to the small tool packages that the tool library has put together.

The tool library accepts donations of cash and some kinds of tools. For the starter kits, it will take screwdrivers with the bits, pliers, tape measures, hammers, and other essential tools as long as they're in good condition.

Photo: Starter tool kits for Housing First clients furnishing their new homes through Find Edmonton. (Supplied)

In Episode 28 of Bloom, Taproot's podcast about innovation in Edmonton, co-hosts Faaiza Ramji and Karen Unland catch up on some innovation-related news from the summer and look ahead to events to watch for in the fall.

"The beginning of the school year feels like a new year for everyone, even if you don't have kids or you're not in school anymore," said Ramji. "I'm hoping that this is the year that things start to settle back into some sort of close-to-normal routine."

They discuss some hard-won lessons shared by Sam Pillar of Jobber and by Sheldon Zhang, formerly of Yardly.

They also take a look at four startups that got some attention as ways to revitalize downtown: Zipstall, Story City, What's the Deal?, and Workspace. And they consider the University of Alberta's latest effort to engage in innovation.

The episode then looks ahead to a busy fall calendar, including the AWE Awards Celebration on Sept. 13, The Public's Roadshow on Oct. 18, Launch Party 13 on Oct. 20, and Startup TNT's Investment Summit VI on Nov. 17.

Be sure to subscribe, so you don't miss an episode.