The Pulse: Sept. 10, 2024

The $3.5 million investment RUNWITHIT Synthetics has received from Raven Indigenous Capital Partners will allow the company to create new products for more customers across the globe and to hire more people, including in business development, to allow it to establish further hubs for people who make change.

Myrna Bittner, a founder and the CEO of RWI, told Taproot that the investment could allow more people to experiment with RUNWITHIT's visualization tools, suggesting the analogy of offering people keys to a satellite to enable them to build their own version of Google Earth. "Some want to build a spaceship and others just want to fly in it," she said.

Bittner is more of the spaceship-building type, having helped found several tech companies since 1992 and co-creating RUNWITHIT in 2014. The company uses synthetic, augmented data to build models of the real world that users can manipulate. Its award-winning synthetic model of the Edmonton region, called SEEITAL, visualizes 14 counties across the region and allows users to run scenarios using data sets. That and other RWI tools let users model the potential future of the region's hydrogen economy and its transition toward hydrogen.

"We're really on a growth trajectory," Bittner said. "That not only means that we have a variety of products that we want to bring to market, but we're also on a geographical trajectory where now we're needing to be in so many more places at the same time, in terms of sales and customer support."

Bittner didn't name a specific tool that the new investment might create but said she wants to build ones that are accessible for people who aren't technical experts but are nonetheless skilful in other fields. The company wants to sell more tools that combine visuals, data, and insights, but also require a lighter touch from RWI's tech-savvy team.

"The theme of our product road map is putting our insight, our data, our tools and technologies, and our know-how in the hands of other people who are seekers and changemakers so that they can run with it," Dean Bittner, the other founder of RWI, told Taproot. "That's always been in our name, and in our intent to really get all what we do in the hands of other people."

Dean is a sixth-generation descendent of Mistawasis, a signatory of Treaty 6. His heritage made RWI suitable for Raven's investment as the partners of the capital investment organization, based in Vancouver, focus on Indigenous-led businesses. Representatives with Raven have said their investors see RWI's potential to foster more sustainable and equitable futures.

• Andrew Knack announced he will not seek re-election in the next municipal election after serving more than 10 years as an Edmonton city councillor. Knack, who said he plans to finish his current term, has represented Ward Nakota Isga since 2013. He said his decision was motivated by a need for new representation in the ward. He didn't identify any immediate plans for the future, but said "for the first time ever" he is thinking about the potential to enter provincial politics. "But (it's) too early to say," Knack said.
• The City of Edmonton deactivated its extreme weather response for heat on Sept. 9 as temperatures stabilized. Water bottle filling stations will remain accessible 24/7 until Sept. 30 at locations around the city, including fire hydrants and transit centres.
• A new campaign in Edmonton aims to protect Indigenous youth from gang violence by connecting them with their culture through messages displayed in Cree and English at LRT stations and on billboards. The initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Maskwacis Cree Tribal Council, the City of Edmonton, and other organizations. "Gangs don't know any boundaries. We don't just have gangs in Edmonton or Maskwacis. We have to get that message out to all of our kids, all of our youth," said Samson Cree Nation Chief Vernon Saddleback.
• The Alberta Teachers' Association is calling for increased provincial funding to address rising student enrolment, large class sizes, and teacher burnout in Edmonton and across Alberta. Edmonton Public Schools expects more than 121,000 students this year, while the Edmonton Catholic School Division anticipates more than 50,000. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told Postmedia in a statement that the province is investing more than $1.2 billion in education over the next three years to hire more staff and support students, while also funding school projects and modular classrooms.
• Duncan Kinney pleaded not guilty to mischief charges in an Edmonton court on Sept. 9, as pre-trial hearings for his case began. Kinney, a vocal police critic who is accused of vandalizing Ukrainian statues with anti-Nazi graffiti in 2021, claims the Edmonton Police Service used significant resources to investigate him because of his criticism. In a court filing, Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee called the allegations "baseless and conspiratorial." Kinney's trial is set for April 2025.
• COVID-19 has been far deadlier than the flu in Alberta over the past year, with 732 deaths from COVID compared to 177 from influenza, according to provincial data. Despite a decrease in COVID deaths since the 2021-22 peak, the virus continues to pose a risk, particularly to vulnerable populations. Alberta Medical Association president-elect Shelley Duggan stressed the importance of increasing vaccination rates to protect individuals and alleviate the strain on the healthcare system.
• The Edmonton Oilers have partnered with Play Alberta, making it their exclusive sports betting and online gaming partner for the 2024-25 season. The announcement drew backlash from fans upset about the promotion of gambling and commercialization of the team's jerseys. The Play Alberta sports betting corporation, run by the Alberta government, will also see its responsible gambling program, GameSense, displayed on players' helmets.
• As a new hockey season approaches, the Edmonton Oilers are solely focused on winning the Stanley Cup. No matter how the regular season goes, it will be deemed a failure if the team doesn't win the Cup this year, wrote Postmedia journalist Robert Tychkowski. "We know where we want to end up at the end of the season, I think everybody knows that," Leon Draisaitl told reporters. "But we have to give ourselves a chance to get there, first. That's the most important thing."
• Edmonton Oilers player Corey Perry is gearing up for his 20th NHL season after signing a one-year contract with the team. The 39-year-old remains committed to contributing on the ice, despite the challenges of playing at his age. "I always said I wanted to play until 40 and see what happens after that," he said.
• More than half of Albertans are struggling with daily expenses due to a cost-of-living crisis, according to a recent Statistics Canada survey, with high housing costs a significant factor. Average wages in the province have fallen, erasing the "Alberta advantage" in earnings compared to the rest of Canada, said Public Interest Alberta executive director Bradley Lafortune. Albertans also face higher costs for insurance and utilities.

The confrontation between councillors Tim Cartmell and Aaron Paquette at the Sept. 3 utility committee meeting caught the ears of the co-hosts of Episode 275 of Speaking Municipally, Taproot's municipal affairs podcast.

Conduct yourself accordingly

Cartmell, who recently earned the attention of the podcasters after holding a campaign-style press conference but not confirming if he plans to run for mayor in 2025, offered words and a tone that co-host Troy Pavlek said reminded him of the rhetoric former Coun. Mike Nickel once used at city meetings and beyond, only to go on and run for mayor. As Pavelek reported by playing the meeting audio (go to 5:59.00 on the recording), Cartmell expressed frustration with the committee's decision to approve a sole-source contract for waste processing. Cartmell recalled what he described as past city mismanagement on waste operations to justify his discomfort, suggesting decisions were being made based on "the fairy tale that people have come to believe about the (city's) waste management facility."

Paquette jumped in on a point of order. "I'm sorry, that is erroneous, and I think that you owe an apology to this body," he said. Cartmell then refused to apologize, only for Paquette to clarify his point. "It's a code of conduct issue. (The committee's decision) has nothing to do with opinion. You placed motivation on this body that has not been expressed by this body — it is your opinion."

Pavlek found the exchange compelling. "It is interesting here that you're starting to get a little bit of what you got with Coun. Nickel towards his election time (in 2021), where he was campaigning in meetings," he said. "And often that campaigning ran afoul of (council's) code of conduct. There are things that you can do in an attack ad that you can't do in a meeting of council. And I do think we're starting to see that a lot more from Coun. Tim Cartmell who, we will note, has not said he's running for mayor."

City as equity investor?

Paquette also gained Pavlek and Male's interest for his new "money plan," as the hosts described it, which made headlines last week. At its most basic, Paquette's idea is to find new sources of revenue for the city to allow it to avoid making cuts or creating tax hikes — something city administration has warned council could be looming.

Male explained his read of Paquette's idea is that Edmonton could change rules for the ED Tel Endowment Fund, a rarely discussed fund that has paid $969 million in dividends to the city since 1995. Male also discussed Paquette's idea for the city to consider taking an ownership stake in some of the companies it provides grants to (perhaps like those that it granted money to in the latest round of the Edmonton Edge Fund, for example).

Pavlek was not impressed, but Male was intrigued. "How refreshing to have identified a problem and have someone come forward with a potential solution, like a policy position that we can debate and we can get into the weeds on, and have a discussion about, versus just 'This is horrible, something needs to be done,'" he said.

Universities have had the same conversation about equity stakes, he said, but it raises challenges. "I think it's a bit of a question about how we see the city's role in economic development, and in creating these kinds of companies and successful projects that can go off and be financially successful," Male said. "Where do we see the city's role? Is it in creating the conditions specifically so that we earn a return? Or is it in building a better place?"

There's much more in the Sept. 6 episode of Speaking Municipally, including conflicts between council and the Edmonton Police Commission, the province's memo that could signal a ban on photo radar almost everywhere in the city, drivers who continue to crash into Valley Line trains, and a newsroom update from Taproot managing editor Tim Querengesser. Speaking Municipally comes out on Fridays at noon. Listening and subscription options are all right here.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• From Risk to Resilience: The Edmonton Metro Region's Collaborative Journey starting at 11:30am at The University Club
• Futurpreneur Info Session starting at 12pm online
• Weekly Dev Chat starting at 12pm online
• Finance and Dashboards for Business starting at 1pm online
• Monthly Meetup Night starting at 6pm at Edmonton Unlimited
• Bake Shop Favourites starting at 6pm at the Duchess Atelier
• South African Wine Tasting Event starting at 6:30pm at Bibo Strathcona
• Tellaround — Story Sharing Circle starting at 7pm at the Edmonton Public Library (Idylwylde)
• Tuesday Jam Hosted by Shelley Jones starting at 8pm at the Yardbird Suite

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• Sept. 19: eHUB Spark Pitch Night at the University of Alberta (The Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science)
• Sept. 22: Run On Edmonton at the Alfred H. Savage Centre
• Sept. 23-27: Life Sciences Week

Visit the beta version of the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.