The Pulse: Feb. 21, 2025

Sam Jenkins, the managing partner of Punchcard Systems, says his company's new Check the Label app can help consumers get something they seek — products made in Canada that can buffer the economic effect of American tariffs.

"We can't control what's going to happen for the next 30 days or for the next four years," Jenkins told Taproot. "When I think about what is most important, one of the things that's coming out of (the threat of tariffs) is that Canadians really do want to buy Canadian on a bunch of different fronts. One, to be able to support our economy. There's also a buy local component in terms of resiliency, and certainly around things like climate change."

When Estyn Edwards, Punchcard's partner and chief technology officer, brought Jenkins the idea (via his life partner) to give consumers more information about where products come from, the two mobilized their team. The company launched Check the Label on Feb. 10 after just two days of development. The tool is free to use in a browser and in apps for iOS and for Android. It enables users to scan a barcode, learn product info, and add insights to a growing database. It also harnesses several third-party artificial intelligence application programming interfaces to add data and display findings next to user votes on a product's country of origin.

On Feb. 13, Taproot tried the tool by scanning a box of Kraft Dinner and it didn't yield any AI-supplied details. "We're hitting our limit for how many AI queries we could have at once," Edwards told Taproot about the lack of results. He also said Check the Label experienced a 7,000% usage spike compared to three days prior.

The demand may make it sound like Check the Label has the potential to be a cash cow but that's not Punchcard's goal at the moment.

"There's probably a different answer today (to if we will commercialize Check the Label) than it will be tomorrow and next week and next month," Jenkins said. "We're an organization that has clients, and we try to drive profit just like any other business, but it's really empowering for our team to get to work on something that creates value that is non-commercial. I don't think we're going to commercialize the data."

Jenkins said he doesn't see the growing buy-Canadian trend as anti-American. Ultimately, he said, the onus for equitable international trade doesn't fall at the feet of buyers and sellers.

"We're not responsible as individuals in this ecosystem, in terms of the decisions that our governments are making, in terms of their economic negotiation," he said. "As an organization, while we're Canadian based, we do quite a bit of work in the U.S. as well. From our perspective, the best situation is the really safe and economically viable U.S.-Canadian border."

Fittingly, another inspiration for Check the Label is to bring greater clarity to what a "Canadian" product is within the official designations like Made in Canada, Product of Canada, Assembled in Canada, and Imported by Canada, which all have different meanings. Jenkins said the project also allows employees to enhance their skills and live their values. The Punchcard team also did socially minded work in 2020 with the COVID Continuity tool it built with The CommAlert Group and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy Estimator it made with Video Tax News.

Edwards said Check the Label may have a larger spinoff benefit by demonstrating what Canadians want from their political leaders in this moment. Check the Label might help "push our politicians to have a little bit more say, and maybe hurt the people that are forcing these tariffs," he said.

• Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis is asking municipalities across the province to temporarily transfer control of bylaw and peace officers to police services, which he says would "ensure law enforcement efforts are coordinated to address fentanyl and social disorder most effectively." Amalgamated Transit Union Local 569 president Steve Bradshaw voiced concern over police taking control of transit peace officers, something the union and the City of Edmonton have resisted. While announcing public safety measures in April 2023, the UCP government "encouraged" Edmonton and Calgary to transfer control of transit peace officers to police.
• A ministerial order allowing Edmonton Public Schools to require children with complex needs to learn at home during the support worker strike was suspended by a provincial court. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides originally issued the order on Jan. 12, a day before CUPE Local 3550 members went on strike. The court gave him until Feb. 27 to consider a new order. Last week, a lawyer representing parents and guardians told the court the order is discriminatory. The school board told parents it is keeping existing arrangements in place as it awaits more information.
• The City of Edmonton has rolled out a mandatory training package for taxi and ride-share drivers, which all vehicle-for-hire drivers must complete by April 1. Administration says the flexible, four-to-eight-hour module has been under development since 2022 and responds to residents' concerns about safety and accessibility. Uber Canada complained about the length of the training and called it "red tape" that will make drivers' lives more difficult.
• Alberta Worker, a labour news outlet run by Kim Siever, examined settlements reached in December between Edmonton Public Schools and CUPE 474, which represents 946 custodial staff in the division. While the workers will get a combined 14.75% wage increase over the next eight years, they will have less purchasing power than they do now because of previous years of wage freezes, a decrease in real wages, and future inflation. The division also eliminated about one in 20 custodial positions over the last seven years, Siever reported.
• Edmonton's resale real estate market is relatively affordable, despite single-family home prices rising 42% since 2006, Postmedia reported. A RE/MAX Canada report looking at six major Canadian markets, not including Edmonton, found first-time home buyers are facing "some of the most challenging obstacles to home ownership in decades," with home prices in most Canadian markets more than doubling between 2006 and 2021.
• The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra has named Jean-Marie Zeitouni as its next musical director, starting in the 2025-2026 season. Zeitouni has led orchestras on five continents and conducted 25 performances with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Edmonton Opera. He is the symphony's ninth musical director since 1952, and its third Canadian director.
• The Edmonton Elks have added several veteran players from the CFL free agency this month, including Emmanuel Rugamba, a linebacker who spent the last three seasons with the B.C. Lions. Before that, he played for the Cleveland Browns and made history in 2021 by becoming the first football player of Rwandan descent to join a North American major league team.
• Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime to win the 4 Nations Face-Off final, with Connor McDavid scoring the game-winning goal off a Mitch Marner pass. Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett also scored for Canada, while Jordan Binnington made 31 saves.
• After a 14-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Edmonton Oilers will return to the ice for five road games against Eastern Conference teams, starting with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals on Feb. 22 and 23.
• Premier Danielle Smith has swapped out Andre Tremblay as deputy minister of health, although he retains his positions as interim CEO and official administrator of Alberta Health Services. Tremblay is named in the lawsuit filed by former CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos alleging government interference in procurement contracts. Smith also said the province will hire a third-party investigator and set up a "legal conflicts wall" between AHS and Alberta Health. The Opposition NDP continued to call for a public inquiry.

On this day in 2014, Edmonton's Neon Sign Museum lit up for the first time.

The bright, buzzy glow of trapped neon has been a part of the city's streetscape for almost a century. The first neon sign in Edmonton appeared in 1928, along the side of Darling's Drug Store. It wasn't long before the city's business districts were awash in bright reds, yellows, and blues, all battling for the attention of customers.

Neon signs remained commonplace for decades, but they slowly began to fall out of favour. Technology such as LEDs made alternative signs cheaper and more energy efficient, and working with neon required expertise that was becoming less common. As businesses closed down or renovated, those bright neon signs were often destroyed or tucked away in storage rooms.

In 2002, city heritage planner David Holdsworth spotted an old Canadian Furniture neon sign that was on its way to the trash as the business was being demolished. Instead of letting it get thrown away, Holdsworth saved it. That sign became the first piece in what would eventually become the first neon sign museum in Canada.

Holdsworth continued to collect other forgotten neon signs. He eventually partnered with members of the Alberta Sign Association, with the goal to restore and recreate some of the damaged old signs and find a place to display them. The collection grew for years, and in 2012 the group secured funding to have the signs displayed on 104 Street.

TELUS gave permission to have the signs installed along the east wall of its brick building on the corner of 104 Street and 104 Avenue downtown. When the museum first opened on Feb. 21, 2014, it had eight historic signs — glimpses back into Edmonton's old newsstands, railways, and other long-gone businesses. Placards along the building's base told the history of each sign and its significance.

The sign museum was an instant hit, drawing both curious locals and international attention. In the past 11 years, the collection has more than doubled to 20 donated signs — enough that the collection has spread across the street to the walls of the Mercer Warehouse. It now features neon artifacts stretching back to the old Pantages Theatre, to video stores, and to bakeries.

Two decades after that first neon sign was saved from the trash pile, the Neon Sign Museum continues to grow. In 2024, it added two new pieces to its outdoor display: The cartoon cyclist from Western Cycle, and a newly-built sign to honour music icon k.d. lang.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist Rev Recluse of Vintage Edmonton.

Here are some events happening this weekend in the Edmonton area.

• Feb. 21: Edmonton Conversation Café - Discussions on Mental Health starting at 9:45am at Aum Cafe
• Feb. 21: âkwaskitinkewin: an embrace Closing Reception starting at 7pm at Latitude 53 Gallery
• Feb. 21: Cocktail Class - Movie Cocktails starting at 7pm at Cocktail Culture
• Feb. 21:Dance Theatre of Harlem starting at 7:30pm at Jubilee Auditorium
• Feb. 22: Battle in the Cattails at Cattail Crossing Golf & Winter Club
• Feb. 22: Self Care Market starting at 11am at Alberta Aviation Museum
• Feb. 22: Dance Theatre of Harlem starting at 7:30pm at Jubilee Auditorium
• Feb. 23: Coffee Bar grand opening + Lantern Fest starting at 12pm at Paper Birch Books

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• March 22: Black History Month Excellence Awards at Chateau Louis Hotel & Conference Centre
• March 22: Heist at Citadel Theatre
• April 22: Canadian Hydrogen Convention at Edmonton Convention Centre

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