The Pulse: June 1, 2023

When Temi Kayode and his brother Ayomikun first moved to Canada from Nigeria, it was difficult to get the foods they were used to without access to a vehicle.

African ingredients like fufu, garri, and poundo yam cannot be found in stores like Costco, Superstore, or Walmart, he said.

"African stores, most of them did not have an online presence," Kayode told Taproot. "The way you can order from Walmart, you can't just order from an African store like that… And the last problem I wanted to face as an immigrant was access to food. Food should be the least of my problems."

Kayode and his brother are the founders of Atadel, a food and grocery delivery service that focuses on underserved communities in Edmonton, such as members of the African and Caribbean diasporas. The two launched the business in 2022, which recently won the "New Startup of the Year" award at the third annual YEG Startup Community Awards.

Titi Abdul, owner of the Afro-Caribbean grocery store The Food Plug, agreed there's a gap when it comes to the availability of African stores in the city. She added that being accessible to customers who don't have a car is another challenge, and Atadel's service helps with that problem.

"We have quite a number of African students here, and a majority of them don't drive," she said. "It could be quite tedious to, you know, taking the bus to go do groceries… Taking the bus, especially in winter, could be a pain."

Abdul said she heard about Atadel from a friend about six months ago. She then contacted the service and signed up to partner with them.

"It takes off the burden of having to do the deliveries by ourselves," she said.

• Mayor Amarjeet Sohi congratulated premier-elect Danielle Smith on her election win but suggested it is more important than ever for the province to improve its relationship with Edmonton and Calgary city councils, which represent two-thirds of Alberta's population. "This is an opportunity for the premier to reset that relationship and really look at why many Edmontonians are remaining dissatisfied with the provincial government," he said. He also indicated that he hopes to schedule a meeting with Smith in the coming weeks to advance Edmonton's priorities, particularly those contained in an open letter he released prior to the election and reshared on May 30. Meanwhile, Smith told 630 CHED she plans to put together an advisory council of UCP candidates who lost in Edmonton. "There are a couple of fantastic candidates, many in fact in Edmonton, and some got a lot closer than I think anybody ever would have expected," said Smith. "And so I'm going to rely on them to continue giving me advice because our capital city is vitally important to the overall success of Alberta." The closest race in Edmonton was in Edmonton-Decore, where the NDP's Sharif Haji beat UCP candidate Sayid Ahmed by 1,719 votes.
• June 1 marks the beginning of Pride Month in Edmonton, which is being celebrated with more than 50 events throughout the month. These include a drag bowling event at Bonnie Doon Bowling Lanes on June 3, self-guided and scheduled walking tours from the Edmonton Queer History Project, an augmented reality Pride tour of downtown developed by Fruit Loop, and the mayor's 18th annual Pride brunch on June 10. The Gay AF Market, which focuses on local queer art and apparel, is taking place June 11, and the Love Out Loud Night Market is set for June 16. For the second year in a row, the Grindstone Theatre is partnering with Fruit Loop to present the Pride Block Party on June 3. Meanwhile, Edmonton PrideFest is scheduled for Aug. 18-26 this year and will include a series of events in Churchill Square.
• The city announced that redevelopment work at the Stadium LRT Station is now complete. The work began in 2020 and involved installing a new platform on the west side of the tracks for Commonwealth Stadium event traffic and more accessible street-level ramps at the end of each platform. It also included new heated shelters, public washrooms, a security office, an open-design overhead roof canopy, a public art installation, and benches. The work marks the first major LRT station rehabilitation to be completed in Edmonton. Stadium Station was one of the five original LRT stations on the Capital Line that opened in 1978.
• City council approved a request to rezone the area around the proposed Warehouse Park in downtown Edmonton, which has been in the works for 13 years, as well as a request to close a portion of 107 Street. Council must still approve the park's $40 million budget this month for the project to go ahead. The city said it plans to finalize the preliminary design by the end of the summer. The park covers about 1.47 hectares from Jasper Avenue to 102 Avenue and from 106 Street to west of 107 Street, an area that currently contains a collection of parking lots. Coun. Anne Stevenson said the rezoning approval is an "exciting milestone" in the development of the park, which is "going to be an incredible asset in the heart of our city."
• The city launched a new interactive dashboard that provides businesses and residents detailed data about Edmonton's 13 Business Improvement Areas (BIAs). The dashboard was developed in response to public engagement with BIAs last year and replaces the static Economic Indicator Reports. According to a release, the dashboard enhances the previous information by including additional census data and allowing some data to be updated more frequently or in real time.
• Union Bank Holdings, led by Edmonton-based businessman David Hawreluk, announced it has completed its purchase of the Union Bank Building, an iconic historic landmark located at 10053 Jasper Avenue. In a release, the company said the two top floors of the building will be used for office space and will become corporate headquarters for lender brokerage Grow Lending Group Inc., along with Union Financial Corporation, which are both also led by Hawreluk. The company also plans to find a tenant to operate a restaurant on the first floor, which was formerly home to Madison's Grill, and said it will complete renovations to reopen a boutique hotel that will once again be operated as the Union Bank Inn. The hotel and adjoining restaurant struggled during the pandemic and the building was later sold to local entrepreneur Henok Kassaye in a deal that closed in January 2022, but was back on the market as a receivership sale earlier this year.
• Five Edmonton women are suing Coventry Homes, a prominent local construction company, alleging that sales director Robin Nasserdeen created an unsafe work environment that exposed staff to harassment, bullying, discriminatory conduct, and unwanted sexual solicitation. The claims, which total $6.2 million, also allege the company failed to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Nasserdeen even after he was charged by police for sexually assaulting an employee. Two of the women say they were sexually abused by Nasserdeen, and three say they were pushed out of their jobs for raising concerns about his behaviour. Nasserdeen, who is currently awaiting trail for the criminal charges, has denied the civil allegations and pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
• The Edmonton Oilers have made their first off-season trade, exchanging their fifth-round selection in this month's draft for centreman Jayden Grubbe from the New York Rangers. The Oilers now have only three of their seven draft picks left because they included their other picks in deals for Mattias Ekholm, Nick Bjugstad, and Derick Brassard. The NHL draft will take place June 28 and 29 in Nashville.

Here are some opportunities to offer your input on various civic issues in the metro region, including a preliminary design for a stretch of Yellowhead Trail, agriculture in Strathcona County, and community standards in Spruce Grove. (Please ensure you live in the affected area before answering the survey.)

• Yellowhead Trail: St. Albert Trail to 97 Street (Preliminary Design Survey) — The City of Edmonton is seeking residents' views on its preliminary design for a section of the ongoing Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion project between St. Albert Trail and 97 Street. It is also seeking input to help prepare for construction. This particularly affects the neighbourhoods of Sherbrooke, Prince Charles, and Dovercourt. Responses are due by June 21.
• Agriculture and Food Sector Development Strategy: Residents of Strathcona County are invited to complete a survey on what is important to them about agriculture and food as the county develops a strategy to become an ideal location for agriculture, agricultural value-added production, and food processing. Input is due by June 22.
• Community Standards Bylaw, Hens, and Beekeeping. The City of Spruce Grove is developing a community standards bylaw that will cover public behaviour, property maintenance and neighbour relations, noise control, and smoking and cannabis. Residents and business owners are invited to share their thoughts on those issues as well as backyard hens and beekeeping by completing an online survey by July 9.

Upcoming events

• June 12, 3pm: Business Drop-In Event on Yellowhead Trail project from St. Albert Trail to 97 Street
• June 14, 6pm: Hillview Neighbourhood and Alley Renewal: Options and Tradeoffs
• June 14, 6:30pm: Online Public Session on Yellowhead Trail project from St. Albert Trail to 97 Street
• June 14, 6:30pm: Problem Property Initiative Neighbourhood Meet & Greet in McCauley

More input opportunities

• By Aug. 31: Edmonton Business Census
• By Oct. 1: Pop-up Dog Parks Program Evaluation
• By Dec. 31: Public Engagement Survey

Photo: The City of Edmonton is looking for feedback on the preliminary design of the Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion between St. Albert Trail and 97 Street. (City of Edmonton/YouTube)