The Pulse: Feb. 22, 2023

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Essentials

  • -24°C: Mainly cloudy. Wind up to 15 km/h. High minus 24. Wind chill minus 38 in the morning and minus 33 in the afternoon. Risk of frostbite. UV index 1 or low. (forecast)
  • Pink: The High Level Bridge will be lit pink for Pink Shirt Day. (details)
  • 4-2: The Edmonton Oilers (31-19-8) defeated the Philadelphia Flyers (23-26-10) on Feb. 21. (details)

A home undergoing a net-zero retrofit, showing the installation of external insulation

Podcast gives plaudits to net-zero audits


By Karen Unland

Episode 209 of Speaking Municipally was perhaps uncharacteristically positive about some recent civic developments involving climate action and reimagining the Whyte Avenue area.

(Given city council's decision on Feb. 21 not to close a portion of 102 Avenue to cars after all, things may not be so rosy in Episode 210.)

Taproot's city hall observers expressed support for a program offering free energy audits to homeowners looking to retrofit their houses to achieve net-zero emissions.

At first, the program seemed a little underwhelming, given that Change for Climate is looking to connect just 10 to 15 homeowners with trained contractors.

"Given the thousands of people that have been interested in e-bike rebates and solar rebates and other things, it just seemed like 10 to 15? Really? That's it?" said podcast co-host Mack Male.

But as co-host Troy Pavlek explained, this is about building capacity and awareness rather than retrofitting homes. A free audit, valued at $600, is not insignificant, but it's just the first step toward a retrofit, and the program is really meant to be a kind of practicum for contractors who are taking training through the Canadian Home Builders Association.

"Hopefully this fills up so that these contractors can get some more experience, and we can be (more) adept at making more buildings net-zero," he said, acknowledging the incremental nature of the move. "We should absolutely do a ton of small things. But this is definitely a small thing."

Pavlek and Male also seemed pleasantly surprised by the Old Strathcona Public Realm Strategy, which is seeking public feedback until March 5. While it's a bit unclear how it would work to have bus lanes down the middle of the avenue, and there's always a gap between the renders and reality, Pavlek described the strategy as a win so far.

"There is a proposal that says we're going to reimagine Whyte Ave. with wider sidewalks — no compromises on that. With dedicated space for mass transit — no compromises on that. With removing the parking lot for the farmers' market and making the linear park up to End of Steel connecting with the river valley," he said. "All of these things are things that we've been asking for for a decade or longer … So broadly? I think it's pretty good."

Listen to the Feb. 17 episode to hear more thoughts on these issues, as well as on the state of intergovernmental relations, funding to renew the Citadel Theatre, a consultation on the community sandbox program, and a recommended shift in the use of a screen-industries fund.

Photo: A 1953 bungalow in Westmount underwent a retrofit to reach net-zero emissions, part of which involved beefing up the installation. (City of Edmonton/Change for Climate)

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Headlines: Feb. 22, 2023


By Kevin Holowack and Mariam Ibrahim

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A newspaper clipping with the headline "New Releases by Haas, Sveen"

A moment in history: Feb. 22, 1972


By Scott Lilwall

On this day in 1972, Edmonton polka master Gaby Haas was releasing an album, another addition to a discography that would make him one of Canada's most recorded musicians.

Haas and his family fled to Canada in 1939 to escape the threat of war looming over Czechoslovakia. When he arrived in Saskatchewan, it was with "little more than his lederhosen, a little Czech accordion and 20 78 rpm records," the Edmonton Journal would later recall.

Haas had grown up with a love of music and words — he was trained in classical music, played the violin, piano, and accordion, and spoke six languages. It wasn't long after arriving that Haas was playing his accordion at dances and on local radio. When the family moved to Edmonton a year later, he reached larger audiences, joining the King's Gloom Chasers band and becoming a regular fixture on CKUA radio.

It was a start of a record-breaking career with the radio station. After the end of the war, Haas began hosting a handful of shows that highlighted his boundless knowledge and passion for the music of continental Europe. He started with The German Show and The Sourdoughs, both of which would have long runs. But it was Continental Musicale, the weekly show where Haas would play his accordion and old-time records from Europe, that he is best known for. It would start in 1946 and run for more than 40 years — making it, at the time, the world's longest-running radio show in the same time slot with the same host.

Haas found that audiences were thirsty for music from Europe, but he had trouble finding record stores to import it. So he started his own. The European Music Shop on 97 Street would import tens of thousands of records over the next 25 years.

In addition to being a record-store owner and radio host, Haas was a prolific musician, Haas recording 50 albums and 60 singles, in addition to playing more than 12,000 dances, earning him the nickname of Canada's Mr. Polka. He frequently appeared on television and radio, and would later host TV music shows for both CFRN and QCTV.

Haas was diagnosed with brain cancer and saw his health decline through the 1980s. In 1987, he signed off from Continental Musicale for the last time. That same year, he was inducted into Edmonton's Arts and Culture Hall of Fame and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alberta Recording Industry Association. Less than a year later, Haas passed away. The city named a park in Highlands after him in 2003.

Want to hear the man in action? Rev Recluse, whose blog inspires this column every week, shared a recording of the Edmonton Polka by Gaby Haas and His Barndance Gang on the Vintage Edmonton Podcast.

This is based on a clipping found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse — follow @VintageEdmonton for daily ephemera via Twitter.

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