The Pulse: Sept. 26, 2022

Members of the Edmonton Police Service used force in the first half of this year 7% more often than they did during the same period last year, continuing an upward trend that dates back to at least 2018.

The semi-annual Control Tactic Report, presented at the Sept. 22 meeting of the Edmonton Police Commission, indicated there were 1,522 occurrences of the use of force from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2022, up from 1,429 during the same period in 2021.

The number of individuals subjected to use of force in the first half of the year has risen steadily year-over-year, from 1,281 in 2018 to 1,660 in 2022, though the number of those people needing medical treatment has been trending downward since 2019, reaching a low of 55 this year.

These figures were released amid an uproar over a video showing an officer shoving a woman to the ground near the Hope Mission on Sept. 15. A bystander's 12-second video of the incident led many to criticize the officer's actions as unnecessarily brutal; a longer video captured by closed-circuit television, which was released at the police commission meeting, confirmed that she had a knife, although she did not appear to be "brandishing" it when the officer shoved her.

"What the video shows to me — this 12-second video and the longer two-minute video that was released — is a dehumanization of the person that they're supposed to be serving here," said Mack Male on Episode 191 of Speaking Municipally, Taproot's civic affairs podcast. "It was a really violent push to the ground. I'm not sure you can look at that video and draw any other conclusion other than, 'Was that the best way to handle that? Was there no other way to de-escalate the situation?'"

• Coun. Ashley Salvador said she'll make a motion this week to ask what can be done about illegal surface parking lots. "When I think about creating a vibrant Downtown, surface parking lots are not the first thing that comes to mind," she said. "This is prime land in our central core, and if we have property owners who are just sitting there speculating, I don't think that's good for anyone."
• Staff Sgt. Michael Elliott, president of the Edmonton Police Association, is demanding an apology from Bear Clan leader Judith Gale for posting the social media video of a controversial arrest that went viral. Gale has since deleted her TikTok account but refused to apologize. "I will not apologize for looking out for my brothers and sisters – and that's that," she said.
• Const. Natasha Green, an Edmonton Police Service officer who twice hit the ditch while driving drunk on the Anthony Henday Drive in March, has been fined $1,000 and given a 12-month driving prohibition. But Green remains at work in a "non-operational" role pending an investigation by the service's Professional Standards Branch.
• Parents in Edgemont are quitting their jobs and moving out of the community due to the absence of a nearby school, according to Brianne Burritt, an Edmonton teacher and the director of communications for the Edgemont Community League. A petition supported by the community league has secured more than 900 signatures so far. "It's almost unbelievable for some people who are new, particularly to Edmonton, that there would even be an area like this that's so built up without a school, but it's quite urgent that we need one," Burritt said.
• The new Islamic Family and Social Services Association community hub located behind MacEwan University has become a home away from home for many members of Edmonton's Muslim community, CBC reports.
• The City of Edmonton and Strathcona County unveiled their new hydrogen fuel-cell buses at the Edmonton EV Expo on the weekend. The buses will be piloted in both communities in 2023 as part of the Alberta Zero Emission Hydrogen Transit (AZEHT) initiative.
• The organizers of Pride Corner on Whyte have resumed their activity now that new safety measures and protocols are in place following recent threats of violence. "We just wanted to come out in full force and show Edmonton we aren't going to back down when people are going to threaten us in this way," organizer Erica Posteraro told Global News.
• Premier Jason Kenney said at an event on Sept. 24 that he never intended to stay in the job for very long and that had he run for re-election he would have left 12-18 months afterwards. "I was never intending to be in this gig for a long time," he said. Kenney also said he would have gone farther on healthcare reform had it not been for the pandemic. "I think Canadians are now waking up to the reality that we do need fundamental health reform," he said.

This week, community and public services committee will meet on Monday, with a continuation scheduled for Tuesday morning. Urban planning committee will meet on Tuesday afternoon, executive committee will meet on Wednesday, and the code of conduct subcommittee will meet on Thursday afternoon.

Key items on the agenda include:

• Despite building more affordable housing units in the past four years than in the previous decade, one in seven households in Edmonton is still in "core housing need," which includes those spending more than 30% of their pre-tax income on housing. The final draft of the city's updated Affordable Housing Strategy, which will include an implementation plan and a measurement framework to guide affordable housing investments through 2026, will be presented to council for approval next year. In a progress update, administration says "a significant shortage of housing is anticipated by 2026" — with nearly 60,000 households in core housing need — unless action is taken to address the widening gap between supply and demand.
• A more rapid implementation of Edmonton's Bike Plan would support the city's energy transition goals while improving reliable access to safe and comfortable transportation options, administration says in a new report. Four options are presented, ranging in cost from $25 million to $170 million and in length from 11 km to 130 km. Advocacy group Paths for People said it supports Option A, which would complete the district connector network by 2026 — 100 km would be added to the bike network at a capital cost of $170 million, with annual operating costs estimated at $11 million. It would also like to see council approve funding to complete some near-term implementation projects such as more neighbourhood routes.
• Making the Clean Energy Improvement Program permanent by the end of 2023 would accelerate Edmonton's energy transition and climate mitigation efforts, at an annual cost of between $21 million and $80 million to support 500 to 1,875 projects per year. The two-year pilot of the CEIP, especially the residential stream, had "an overwhelming positive response" and was fully subscribed, administration says.

This week's calendar includes a look at the history of the west end, a gathering focused on the regional economy, a business mixer at the art gallery, a reading by three Edmonton writers, a discussion of houselessness, and an exploration of parks, before Friday's slate of activities marking Orange Shirt Day.

• Sept. 27, 7:30pm: Settlement Development in Edmonton's West End at the Pioneers Cabin
• Sept. 28, 5:30pm: forward/slash Economic Summit
• Sept. 28, 5:30pm: AGA Networking and Mixer Event at the Art Gallery of Alberta
• Sept. 28, 7pm: NeWest Press Author Reading: Kevin Holowack, Thomas Wharton, Mark Lisac at Audreys Books
• Sept. 29, 6pm: Elevate: Houselessness, presented by The Virtual Effect
• Sept. 29, 7pm: Let's Find Out: About Parks at The Aviary
• Sept. 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Find even more listings in Taproot's weekly roundups.

Photo: A plant giveaway from Root For Trees is among the events organized to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. (City of Edmonton)