The Pulse: April 11, 2025

A Nordic spa that city council recently approved breaks the city's own policies meant to enhance public access to the river valley, an advocate says.

"This is exactly the kind of private encroachment that the river valley bylaw and the top of bank policy were designed to prevent," Rocky Feroe, with the Edmonton River Valley Conservation Coalition, said.

Despite a common perception that the North Saskatchewan river valley is a public park for all to enjoy, the reality is that much of it is privately owned, Feroe said. About 40% of river valley land throughout the Edmonton region is private land, according to the River Valley Alliance.

In an effort to reverse the restrictions to public use that private ownership creates, in 2010 the city introduced the top of bank policy. Its aim is to allow people to walk continuously along the top of the bank of the river valley, regardless of developments that butt up against the valley. The policy is also meant to reduce liability for developments sliding down the river bank, like the homes that collapsed in Riverbend in 1999. The policy states that developments are to be separated from the bank of the river valley by at least 10 to 15 metres, and that the city is meant to acquire a portion of the property as an environmental reserve. The policy also states the city will work with property owners and developers of lands adjacent to or within the river valley to encourage them to donate all or a portion of the lands.

Feroe and city administrators referred to this policy in late February, when council discussed Scandinave Group's rezoning application to allow it to build a Nordic spa in the Brander Gardens neighbourhood. The discussion noted that most of the proposed spa development is above the top of bank, and that the applicant said all spa buildings will be on the upland portion of the property. Still, the private property extends down the bank. City council unanimously approved a decision (minus Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, who was absent) that will see the city honour one part of the policy, which prohibits development on the edge of the bank, but still allow the spa owners to maintain a fence that will cut off public access to the top of bank. A representative from Scandinave told council the company didn't want public access to the top of bank because the spa is meant to be silent and people walking nearby would disrupt "the intimacy, peace, and quiet."

Before council voted to approve, city staff said the slope is steep and a below-bank fence could help with safety. Staff also said the fence would prevent people from accessing the spa from the river valley, noting the spa will have expensive equipment.

Administration said it discussed acquiring top-of-bank lands from the applicant, but Scandinave didn't agree. It also said the city can't compel a landowner to sell the land to the city. Administration added that it supported the rezoning as a trade-off to further economic activity. It also said the direct control zoning that council approved has a restrictive covenant that prohibits development, other than the proposed fence, below bank.

The city and the University of Alberta Properties Trust, the current owner of the land, have an existing agreement to see the city purchase a 10-metre strip on the north side of the property for a footpath when the trust sells the land to Scandinave. That portion of land is not on the top of bank, but would create access to the public river valley land below bank.

Feroe said although this is just one property out of the 18,000 acres that make up the river valley, allowing one developer to encroach into the valley means others could follow. "This is not a good time to be not adhering to the policy, when so much is privately held," Feroe said. "You don't want every developer now saying, 'But you gave the spa a break, how about give us a break.'"

Representatives from the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations also opposed the rezoning application at the public hearing in February. The Confederacy opposed the application mainly because the development involves the private sale of river valley lands. Grand Chief Greg Desjarlais wrote in an open letter that the city should force the subdivision of top-of-bank land and protect public access to it. The city also failed in its duty to adequately consult and accommodate First Nations on city-led projects related to the river valley, Desjarlais wrote.

• The City of Edmonton is asking residents to be extremely cautious around the North Saskatchewan River and other bodies of water this spring. Over the past five years, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services has responded to an average of 111 calls per year related to water and ice safety. So far in 2025, crews have already responded to 40 calls and are seeing a "significant increase" in people and animals on ice surfaces. The City's website has more information about water and ice safety.
• The City of Edmonton reached a new collective agreement with CUPE Local 30, after city council voted on April 9 to accept the agreement union members ratified in March. The four-year agreement includes a 3.25% wage increase for 2024, a 2.75% increase for 2025, a $1-per-hour increase in 2026, and a 3% increase in 2027, along with enhanced benefits, the City said.
• On April 9, Elections Canada published its finalized list of candidates in the federal election on April 28. Due to riding boundary changes, Edmonton now has nine ridings. Some Edmontonians are in new ridings and may need to vote at a different polling location than they did in 2021. Advance voting is set for April 18 to 21. Information on how to vote is available online.
• The federal riding of Edmonton Centre, which has flipped between Liberals and Conservatives since it was formed in 2004, is expected to be a close race between Liberal candidate Eleanor Olszewski, Conservative candidate Sayid Ahmed, and NDP candidate Trisha Estabrooks. The riding is "hotly contested" because it contains Edmonton's downtown and inner city, which lean progressive, as well as Glenora, Crestwood, and other communities that lean conservative, Postmedia reported. Estabrooks spoke to Alberta Primetime about how she hopes to gain ground for the NDP.
• Edmonton Public Schools trustees heard that funding problems will persist, even though the province's latest budget moves away from its weighted-moving-average funding formula. Because the province also eliminated the Supplemental Enrolment Growth Grant, the division will still only receive a 0.1% funding increase for next school year, CBC reported.
• Edmonton Public Schools trustees heard from advocate Sarah Doll with Hold My Hand Alberta, who presented a petition signed by 500 families, educators, and students calling on the division to cease the construction of new "seclusion rooms" that hold students with disabilities "against their will." Doll said the school division committed to phasing out the rooms in 2019, but use has since increased. Superintendent Darrel Robertson said the division is now building "sensory spaces" that help kids regulate and have no locking mechanism.
• The Plaza 34 strip mall at 34 Avenue and 92 Street was badly damaged by a fire, which was reported around 12:30am on April 9 and brought under control around 2:10am. Police say 25 units were destroyed, resulting in millions of dollars in damage, but no one was injured. Police are investigating the fire as arson.
• The City Farms program, which operated out of the Old Man Creek Nursery and grew produce for Edmonton's Food Bank, was discontinued due to budget cuts. The program launched in 2020 and, over four years, donated more than 250,000 pounds of produce to the food bank. Tamisan Bencz-Knight with the food bank said the organization is exploring options to keep a version of City Farms running.
• Researcher Matt Ormandy appeared on the Keep Moving podcast on CJSR to discuss the settler colonial history of golf clubs and golf courses in Edmonton's river valley, the displacement of racialized and working-class communities to build Commonwealth Stadium, and city council's recent decision to support a private nordic spa development in the river valley.
• Play 'N' Fun Daycare in Edmonton's Chappelle neighbourhood was put on probation due to safety concerns. Provincial data shows the daycare received 41 non-compliance notices since November 2023, including for staffing, supervision issues, and the use of physical restraint, confinement, or isolation.
• The short story My Father's Soil by Edmonton writer Zeina Sleiman is among the five works shortlisted for the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize. The winner, to be announced April 17, will receive $6,000 and a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
• The Canadian Hydrogen Convention will return to Edmonton for its fourth year from April 22 to 24 at the Edmonton Convention Centre. The convention is co-hosted by Edmonton Global and Air Products, and expects to draw more than 10,000 attendees to "explore, develop, and strengthen opportunities in domestic and international hydrogen markets," a release says.
• Edmonton-based journalist Jana Pruden earned a nomination for the 2025 Landsberg Award for her podcast series In Her Defence: 50th Street, produced with Kasia Mychajlowycz for The Globe and Mail. The series investigates the life and still-unsolved death of Indigenous woman Amber Tuccaro. Judges praised Pruden for her powerful storytelling and ongoing commitment to reporting on gender-based violence.
• Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was out with an injury for eight games, returned on April 9 and contributed three assists to his team's 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues. Goaltender Stuart Skinner is expected to return on April 11 after missing seven games due to a head injury. With four games left in the regular season, the Oilers haven't yet secured a playoff spot, and Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Ekholm, Trent Frederic, Evander Kane, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are injured or sick.
• St. Albert business representatives attended the St. Albert Economic Development Business Breakfast on April 3, where discussion focused on tariffs, affordability, and St. Albert's rapid growth. The city's population has grown 5.72% in the past five years, reaching more than 70,000.
• University of Alberta professor Jared Wesley published an opinion piece in The Tyee criticizing Premier Danielle Smith and former Reform Party leader Preston Manning for pursuing "grievance politics" instead of national coalition-building. Wesley cited Smith's push to withdraw from the CPP, her "open invitation to separatists" to call for a referendum on Alberta sovereignty, and her reliance on political threats, which can do "long-term damage" to the federation and conservative parties.
• The UCP government's Bill 39, which was tabled in March and is now in its second reading, will result in $10 million in cuts to community law clinics and Indigenous legal services, said Alberta Law Foundation director Byron Chan. The bill cuts the province's contributions to Legal Aid Alberta and shifts the burden to the law foundation, and gives the province the power to veto the foundation's grants over $250,000, Chan said. Two UCP-appointed board members of the foundation resigned in protest, the foundation said.

On this day in 1957, Edmonton's new city hall was lighting up downtown.

The question of how many city halls Edmonton has had doesn't have a clear answer. It depends on what one counts as a city hall.

In the 1900s, when Edmonton was still in its infancy, municipal business was a nomadic affair, moving between different office spaces in the growing city.

In 1912, construction began on Civic Block, a six-storey, concrete-and-brick tower where the Winspear Centre now stands. For some, this was Edmonton's first city hall — though it never actually held that name. The building was always meant to be temporary until a permanent city hall could be built. Two world wars intervened, however, and the resulting economic turmoil meant it took 45 years to build a permanent city hall. This means that, despite being considered a temporary city hall, Civic Block was also Edmonton's longest-lasting so far.

Nonetheless, by the 1950s, it was undeniable that a permanent building was needed. The first (or is that second?) Edmonton City Hall was a modernist design, built for around $3.5 million in 1957. The Edmonton-based architectural firm that designed it said it was inspired by the then-new United Nations building in New York. The building included a city council chamber suspended above the ground floor.

Opinions on the new building were mixed: Some appreciated the ambition of the design; others argued, even before it opened, that the new building wasn't big enough for a city seeing such rapid growth. Especially controversial, however, was the fountain, which was built around a piece by well-known artist Lionel Thomas. Called The Migrants, it was said to invoke the idea of Canadian geese taking flight. Some referred to the sculpture dismissively as the Spaghetti Tree. It didn't help that the sculpture was part of a fountain that would occasionally spray passersby on windy days.

By the '80s, the consensus was the 1957 building was too small and outdated. And while we're all now familiar with architect Gene Dub's eventual pyramid-based design, his first plan actually involved four rounded cones rising from the building's roof. They were meant to invoke the area's long history as a gathering place for Indigenous people, but they were quickly likened to everything from a nuclear powerplant's silos to dunce caps. Informal polls were set up in local malls to gauge public opinion on the design. The results were primarily negative (although there were reports of vote tampering, and even stolen ballots, that might have skewed the outcome).

Either way, Dub's cone concept was scrapped and his pyramid plan was endorsed. The old building was demolished in 1989, having served just 32 years. The new, current City Hall was opened in 1992, or 33 years ago. This iteration has proven more popular than its predecessor (or is that predecessors?). Part of the old city hall building still lives on, though. The Migrants was incorporated into the current city hall due to public demand.

Edmonton's current city hall is one of the city's most instantly recognizable buildings. It serves as the centre of municipal government and a gathering place for Edmonton community groups. The past year has seen changes to enhance security in the building following a shooting and firebombing attack in early 2024. While no one was hurt, the building was shut to the public for two months for repairs. That process took until December to complete, when the building's parkade was reopened with new security measures.

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.

• April 11-12: Stage Struck at Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre
• April 11-13: Great Canadian Trade Fair and Sale at Millennium Place
• April 12: Baisakhi Celebration - The First Ever Indian Festival in St. Albert starting at 11am at St. Albert Public Library (downtown)
• April 12: Culinary Arts Cook-Off starting at 11am at Highlands School
• April 12: Safer For All Film Screening starting at 6:30pm at ArtsHub Ortona
• April 12-13: 2025 Swing into Spring Show and Sale at Morinville Leisure Centre
• Until April 12: Horizon Players Presents The Hallelujah Girls at Horizon Stage Performing Arts Theatre
• April 13: Planning Your Farm Spaces and Managing Activities for Children starting at 10am online
• April 13: Instapressionism with Elliot Rose starting at 10am at Ritchie Community Hall
• April 13: How We Work | A Momentary Museum starting at 12pm at Edmonton Public Library (Capilano)
• April 13: Easter Eggstravaganza starting at 12pm at Rutherford House

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• April 22: Federal Election 101 online
• April 26: Kim Ross: No Till Gardening at Millhurst Community Hall
• April 26: Edmonton Earth Day Festival at Alberta Avenue Community Centre

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