The Pulse: Oct. 24, 2022

Here's what you need to know about Edmonton today.

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Essentials

  • 7°C: Increasing cloudiness early in the morning. 30% chance of showers in the afternoon. Wind up to 15 km/h. High 7. Wind chill minus 6 in the morning. UV index 1 or low. (forecast)
  • Yellow/Orange/Red/Green: The High Level Bridge will be lit yellow, orange, red, and green for Diwali. (details)
  • 14-31: The Edmonton Elks lost their final game of the season to the BC Lions. (details)
  • 0-2: The Edmonton Oilers lost to the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 22. (details)
  • 6pm: The Edmonton Oilers (2-3-0) host the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-0-1) at Rogers Place. (details)

A smiling Amarjeet Sohi in front of three golden balloons in the shape of the number 365

Review of council's first year shows gaps between intentions and actions


By Karen Unland

One year into their term, members of Edmonton's city council have shown themselves to have a lot of ambition but perhaps not the statecraft to achieve their goals, Taproot's city hall observers suggest.

Agenda management has been a challenge for this council, with many meetings going overtime and a lot of time spent on procedural back-and-forth. That is a reflection of a desire for change on a council with a new mayor and eight of 12 councillors who are rookies, said Speaking Municipally co-host Troy Pavlek on Episode 195 of Taproot's podcast on civic affairs.

"This is a new council with big dreams, (that) wants to get things done, and they are pushing for it, perhaps pushing past their limits," he said.

Maybe so, but there's a difference between activity and effectiveness, countered co-host Mack Male.

"I feel like ... the hallway conversations that previous councils seemed to have aren't happening with this council. So when things get brought forward to committee or to a council meeting, they haven't been developed. They don't have buy-in from their colleagues; there's no sense of whether something's going to move forward or not. It feels very much like many of the new councillors are trying to individually push these things forward without realizing that you need seven votes to get it done."

In a series of tweets posted in response to Male's remarks, Coun. Andrew Knack argued there's value in debating ideas in public. "Municipal governance can be messy but that often means it's working exactly as it was designed," he said.

The 2023-2026 budget process that begins on Oct. 31 may be an opportunity to get past the re-litigation of previously settled matters and move on to new decisions.

That said, by approving a police funding formula for 2023, council has already significantly eaten into the money it has for other operational spending, Male noted. A series of decisions has resulted in the tax-funded portion of the Edmonton Police Service budget rising from $385 million in 2022 to $414 million in 2023, before even taking into account any increases that will result from the negotiation of a contract with the Edmonton Police Association.

"The majority of this council (had) indicated that they want to freeze or cut the Edmonton Police Service budget," Pavlek said, referring to the candidates' answers to a question about police funding on the Taproot Survey during the 2021 election campaign. "I would say if we were grading their first-year performance on this file, it would not be aces."

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Headlines: Oct. 24, 2022


By Karen Unland and Mack Male

  • According to new data from Statistics Canada, there were about 87,600 Indigenous people living in the Edmonton census metropolitan area in 2021, an increase of about 15% over 2016. Edmonton's Indigenous population has more than doubled since 1996, and Indigenous people now make up nearly 7% of Alberta's total population.
  • Premier Danielle Smith announced her new cabinet on Oct. 21 with a total of 27 ministers. Kaycee Madu, MLA for Edmonton-South West, will serve as deputy premier and Alberta's minister of skilled trades and professions.
  • Indigenous-run healing lodges such as the Stan Daniels Healing Centre and Buffalo Sage Wellness House are underfunded, underused, and less plentiful than promised, despite lower recidivism rates and a growing population of Indigenous prisoners, reports The Globe and Mail. Conrad Johnson, who was sentenced to life for murder when he was 15, said the healing centre saved him. "The way I see it, I was born right here in Stan Daniels," he said. "I'll always be grateful for this place."
  • In the proposed 2023-2026 capital budget, administration suggested cutting the diving pool and shrinking another pool from 50 metres to 25 at the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre could save $58 million that could be spent elsewhere. Coun. Andrew Knack told CTV News he wants to keep the original design. "If we are going to shrink this, does that mean we have to spend six months to a year redesigning it," Knack said. "Does that push the project back further? And what happens in that six months to 12 months? Does the cost keep going up again?"
  • A newly formed non-profit called The Scona Pool Community Foundation is hoping to take ownership of the facility in order to reopen it — at least until the Rollie Miles Recreation Centre eventually opens. The group has submitted its business plan to the city and so far has collected about $10,000 in pledges from individuals. It hopes to raise $1 million in order to reopen the pool by the end of the year.
  • Bike Edmonton has hired Dr. Greg Glatz as its new executive director, effective Oct. 19. Earlier this year, an effort by the organization's employees to unionize was prompted in part by changes in leadership.
  • CTV News said a freedom of information and privacy request shows that Alberta Health denied a request to fund the construction and operation of a new youth addiction treatment centre in Edmonton that was submitted by Alberta Health Services in June 2020.
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The front entrance to The Meadows Community Recreation Centre

Coming up at council: Oct. 24-28, 2022


By Mack Male

This week, urban planning committee will meet on Tuesday morning, community and public services committee will meet on Tuesday afternoon (with a continuation scheduled for Friday), and executive committee will meet on Wednesday.

Key agenda items include the following:

  • There is currently no municipal census planned, and conducting another one would cost $4.7 million. Administration recommends that the census policy be repealed, which means the city would rely on provincial data and the federal census. The last municipal census was conducted in 2019.
  • Approximately 18,000 Edmontonians purchased Ride Transit passes in July 2022 and as of September 2022, the Leisure Access Program had about 70,000 members. Both programs offer subsidized passes for low-income individuals. Opportunities to expand both programs will be considered.
  • An amendment to Traffic Bylaw 5590 would increase the fine for parking bans from $100 to $250. Administration says the change brings the fine "into alignment with most bylaw infractions."
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Maureen Irwin, wearing a Pride pink triangle T-shirt, stands on stage while Michael Phair speaks into a microphone, while reporters film and record his words

Coming up this week: Oct. 24-28, 2022


By Debbi Serafinchon

This week, you can gain insight from local startups, learn about Edmonton's queer history, look at how community-based budgeting might work, hear about the densification of suburbs, network with folks involved in film, gaming, and other screen industries, and take in what a startup needs to know about the law.

Find even more listings in Taproot's weekly roundups.

Photo: Michael Phair, seen here accepting a Pride Award with Maureen Irwin in 1993, will be giving a talk about two key decades in LGBTQ2S+ history on Oct. 25. (Edmonton Queer History Project/Facebook

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