The Pulse: May 2, 2025

Edmonton city council has asked its administration to conduct a traffic study to find new ways to reduce the number of drivers avoiding congestion by taking shortcuts through the Belgravia neighbourhood's residential streets.

"This has been boiling over for over a decade, but it's been exacerbated recently because there's not just been greater development pressures but the growth of the students at the university, and the staff, and everyone else from the hospital who gets off work at 3pm — this has been a bigger and bigger issue," Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said at a council meeting on April 9.

Janz made a motion asking that administration allocate $100,000 from the priority growth area rezoning project budget to identify potential short-term and long-term solutions interventions in the south-central neighbourhood. Administration said the traffic congestion in Belgravia is one of the most studied issues in the city, but this time, Janz said he hopes the city can find more radical solutions. He floated the possibility of creating new egress points to the neighbourhood or converting parts of Saskatchewan Drive to one-way traffic.

The motion passed with Councillors Karen Principe, Tim Cartmell, and Jennifer Rice voting against.

Belgravia is somewhat of an island. It is surrounded by the LRT line, the river valley, and major roads, and the neighbourhood has limited roads to drive in and out. The roadways that surround and bisect the neighbourhood are considerably congested during rush hour periods because of heavy use from drivers from the University of Alberta, drivers accessing the Groat Road Bridge, and drivers waiting for the LRT line running along 114 Street NW. "For a good chunk of the residents, between 3pm and 7pm on most weekdays, it's impossible to leave the neighbourhood, unless you leave by foot or you take the train or you take the bus," Janz said.

The city has been trying to solve this for more than 10 years. In 2015, administration tried traffic-calming measures.

Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack agreed that the problem has been studied extensively, and the previous measures clearly haven't worked. "What I'm unsure about is why we need to spend money on a study versus spending money on just taking some action and seeing how it works," Knack said. "Clearly the traffic-calming measures didn't work, and that's not a shock — they also didn't work in Crestwood."

Knack nonetheless supported Janz's motion.

The budget for the traffic study will come from efficiencies found in the priority growth area budget, and that work will not be deprioritized, administration said. There is not a set due date for the study.

• Edmonton mayoral candidate Tim Cartmell, currently a city councillor for Ward pihêsiwin, presented his platform at the Edmonton Convention Centre on May 1, promising to prioritize basic services and create a safe streets strategy if elected in October. Cartmell, who is forming his own political party called Better Edmonton, said it would create a panel of experts to scrutinize the City of Edmonton budget, and release a 100-day action plan focusing on public safety, snow clearing, and road construction review. Former city councillor Tony Caterina, also running for mayor, criticized Cartmell's announcements as "typical cut-and-paste, generic statements." Other mayoral candidates include Omar Mohammad, and possibly Andrew Knack.
• Dozens of members of Edmonton's Filipino community held a vigil in Churchill Square on April 30 to remember victims of the Lapu Lapu Day attack in Vancouver, which killed 11 people and injured more than 20. Postmedia shared a collection of photos from the vigil. The attack in Vancouver happened on April 26.
• Elections Canada data shows seven in 10 registered voters in Alberta cast a ballot in the federal election, representing the highest voter turnout in the province since 1988, with more than half of Alberta ridings reporting greater than 70% turnout. The riding of Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, east of Edmonton, had a 78.62% turnout and recorded the second-highest number of ballots in Canada. Meanwhile, Edmonton Griesbach saw a 56.91% turnout, the second lowest in Alberta.
• Alberta Worker, a labour news outlet run by Kim Siever, examined recent settlements reached between home care agency Qualicare and 200 care workers at the Citadel Care Centre in St. Albert and the Rivercrest Lodge Nursing Home in Fort Saskatchewan, who are represented by USW Local 1-207. Both groups of workers got a 2% increase in the last year of their previous contract and 2% in the first year of their new contract, which is not enough to keep up with 5.58% inflation over the past two years. Negotiations for the second year of their new contract are forthcoming, Siever wrote.
• Have You Heard Judi Singh?, a documentary by Baljit Sangra set to premiere at the Doxa Documentary Film Festival on May 4, explores the life and career of Edmonton jazz singer Judi Singh, a frequent performer at the Yardbird Suite who made regular CBC appearances in the 1960s. The film also details Singh's family history, highlighting her father Sohan Singh Bhullar, one of the earliest Sikh immigrants to Alberta, and her mother Effie Jones, who grew up in Amber Valley, a community north of Edmonton settled by African Americans fleeing the United States. The documentary was inspired by a 2021 article by Poushali Mitra for the Edmonton City as a Museum Project.
• The Nonprofit Chamber, which advocates for the province's nonprofit sector, published a Workforce Feasibility Study, which it calls the first step toward a nonprofit sector workforce strategy in Alberta. The report says Alberta nonprofits employ nearly 300,000 people, more than oil and gas, forestry, and mining combined, and provide services that are essential to attracting and retaining workers across all sectors.
• Several Edmonton organizations were nominated for 2025 Social Procurement and Social Enterprise Champion Awards from Buy Social Canada, which recognize leadership in social procurement and social enterprise movements. Solar Power Investment Co-operative of Edmonton and Clark Builders were nominated in the social procurement category, and Family Centre of Northern Alberta was nominated in the social enterprise category.
• DON'YA Ukraine's Kitchen, an Edmonton company that started as a donation centre for Ukrainian newcomers and expanded into two restaurants, is set to appear on the reality show Dragons' Den with a dream of opening 300 stores in the next 10 years. Co-founder Janice Krissa and her daughter Jorgia Moore are travelling to Toronto to pitch to the Dragons on May 11, Mother's Day, in hopes of securing an investment to offset expansion costs. The episode will air sometime between October and January.
• EPCOR announced that Valerie Berger and David Stanton were appointed to its board of directors, and Catherine Roozen is retiring from the board. Berger is chief financial officer at Alberta Blue Cross, and was previously an executive at ATCO. Stanton is CEO of Cleanwater1, an American water and wastewater treatment company.
• Alberta Parks issued a warning to drivers about garter snakes on roads east of Edmonton, specifically roads heading to Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Recreation Area and Miquelon Lake Provincial Park. The snakes may be crossing and stopping on roads more often during the spring because they are migrating from "their local hibernacula," the release says.
• University of Alberta professor Jared Wesley wrote a piece for The Tyee about sweeping changes to election laws that the UCP introduced in a bill this week, comparing them to tactics used by U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The changes include removing restrictions on union and corporate donations, banning vote tabulators, and amendments to the Referendum Act that were demanded by separatists in the UCP base, Wesley wrote.
• First Nations leaders in Alberta are denouncing the UCP's plan to lower the signature threshold to introduce a referendum, saying it could enable a referendum on separatism. In a letter, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine and Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billy-Joe Tuccaro state the province has no right to interfere with or supersede Treaties 6, 7, and 8, which were signed between First Nations and the British Crown. Edmonton-West Henday MLA Brooks Arcand-Paul addressed the issue in the legislature, noting that First Nations' "inherent right and jurisdiction over these lands predates the creation of Alberta."
• The Alberta government tabled Bill 55, which would transfer frontline public health services from Alberta Health Service to Primary Care Alberta, including newborn screening, immunizations, and health promotion. The amendments would also move medical officers of health to Alberta Health, along with policy development, inspections, and surveillance. The bill is the latest step in the UCP government's health care system overhaul, which involves shifting responsibilities to four new provincial agencies and reducing AHS to an acute care service provider.
• The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings in Game 6 by a score of 6-4 at Rogers Place on May 1, winning the series 4-2. Edmonton came back from a 2-0 series deficit, winning Games 3, 4, and 5 after also trailing in each. The Kings led early in Game 6, but the Oilers ultimately prevailed. The Oilers will play the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
• Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl was nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the player judged most valuable to their team. Draisaitl is also set to receive the Maurice "Rocket" Richard trophy after leading the league with 52 goals in 71 games. He won the Hart Trophy in 2019 and 2020.

2S Water won at least $150,000 in investment at Startup TNT's Summit XI on May 1 at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute.

"We are revolutionizing industrial water management," co-founder and CEO Anthea Sargeaunt said. "We can't change our need for water, but we can change our relationship to it."

Sargeaunt's startup uses sensors to analyze the contents of water, with an emphasis on metals.

Taproot has previously reported on 2S Water's trip to SXSW in 2023, another of its pitch wins in 2021, and an award the company received in 2019.

The company's competitors included Aqua-Cell Energy, which made a side deal for an undisclosed sum during the event, as well as By Dr Mom, CityScan Technologies, Drift Golf, and Firesafe AI.

Startup TNT has produced investment summits since 2019. The prize money comes from a group of 20 to 40 angel investors who pitch in $5,000 each. The winner gets the pot and has the chance to make side deals. The TNT Capital VC Fund invests $50,000 into the total investment prize.

Startup TNT co-founder Zack Storms noted that 2S Water has evolved from a fledgling enterprise into a success story.

"This is a very special win for 2S Water," Storms said. "They were part of our very first investment summit, they got a side deal, and now they're here to win this year."

Previous winners of the main Startup TNT summits include The Fort Distillery at Summit X, Sketchdeck.ai at Summit IX, and AGNT at Summit VIII.

The Summit XI finale is available to rewatch on YouTube.

On this day in 1967, Edmonton's oldest high school was showing its age.

An Edmonton Journal article from the time notes the state of the aging Old Scona School: Dust drifted up between the creaking floorboards; paint peeled; water had damaged the walls. It all showed what nearly 60 years could do to what was once the most sophisticated schoolhouse in Alberta.

In 1907, when construction of the school started, Strathcona was a growing community on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River, having just incorporated as a town of about 3,500 people. Plans were created for a high school to support that growing population. But it wasn't just high school students needing a space to learn.

In 1908, the University of Alberta held its first semester. And while it had a campus located just west of Strathcona, there weren't any buildings on it yet (nor would there be until 1911). So, the university struck a deal with the Strathcona School Board to share space in their new school. When the Strathcona Collegiate Institute opened in 1909, the first storey of the brick building had classrooms for 71 high school students, as well as staff facilities. Meanwhile, the second floor had university classrooms, the U of A president's office, and offices for other administrators.

There was a fair amount of excitement about the new school — Alberta's first premier laid the cornerstone to the red-brick building during construction. At the time, Old Scona was the largest and one of the most well-equipped high schools in Alberta and its official opening was attended by around 600 people.

The facility became part of Edmonton's school system in 1912 when that city annexed Strathcona. Around that time, a kindergarten was opened in the building's basement. And during the First World War, the same basement doubled as a rifle range for local soldiers (hopefully in a different part of the basement.)

The building continued to serve as a high school for almost 50 years before students moved to a new Strathcona High School a few blocks away. Now dubbed Old Scona School to avoid confusion with the newer high school, the original building continued to hold junior high classes until the 1960s, when it was converted into a special education centre.

The aging building was updated and renovated in 1971, when it became the Scona campus for the brand-new Grant MacEwan Community College (now MacEwan University) — surely making it one of the only high schools to serve as the initial home for two separate universities. Four years later, the college vacated the space and the building returned to its original purpose as a high school, opening as Old Scona Academic.

Since then, Old Scona has continued to educate the city's high school students, consistently ranking as one of the top high schools in the province. As the school year begins to wind down, Edmonton's public schools are preparing for the future academic year — one that includes a change to the province's education funding formula, which administrators say will have a marginal effect.

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.

• May 2: Amplify Poetry Open Mic Night starting at 6:30pm at Confections Cake Co.
• May 2: An Evening of Edith Piaf Music with Dana Wylie starting at 7pm at Gateway Theatre
• May 3: RVA Spring Trail Cleanup starting at 9am at Emily Murphy Park
• May 3: Climate Chats starting at 3pm at Audreys Books
• May 3: Mr. Vampire starting at 3:30pm at Metro Cinema
• May 3: Viva La Tequila Fest starting at 7pm at Renaissance Edmonton Airport Hotel
• May 3: Let It Spin - Vinyl Dance Party starting at 8p at CKUA
• May 4: Petals and Pastels Market starting at 11am at Alberta Aviation Museum
• May 4: Pilgrimage for Reconciliation and Renewal starting at 12pm at St. Paul's United Church
• May 4: Edmonton in Song starting at 3pm at First Presbyterian Church

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• May 7: Understanding Implementation: Key Considerations around Implementing Technology in LTCs online
• May 8: YEG Startup Community Awards at Art Gallery of Alberta
• May 20-23: Upper Bound 2025 at Edmonton Convention Centre

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