The Pulse: May 26, 2025

Andrew Knack, the city councillor representing Ward Nakota Isga, joined the hosts of Episode 309 of Speaking Municipally shortly after announcing that he's running for mayor in the October municipal election. Here's a quick look at the conversation:

1. Why now?

In September, Knack tearfully announced that he wouldn't be running for re-election as a councillor in Ward Nakota Isga in 2025, saying it was time for a new voice to come forward to represent the ward.

Co-host Troy Pavlek asked Knack why he's aiming for the mayor's chair, and why he's announcing now.

Knack said that he already spends significant time talking to constituents in his ward, but wanted to speak to people across Edmonton before deciding whether to run for mayor. "I wanted to make sure that if I was going to do this, I fully understood what everyone is saying across the city, so that I could come out with a message that would apply to all Edmontonians," he said.

Knack said affordability, safety, and Edmonton's booming population were common concerns that people raised. He added that he started to reconsider his decision not to seek re-election around the beginning of 2025. Since then, United States President Donald Trump's tariffs, and rhetoric, have grown more aggressive, Canada has had a federal election, the prospect of Alberta seeking to separate from Canada has become more serious, and Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has announced he's not running for re-election, meaning there would not be an incumbent progressive candidate for mayor on the ballot.

"All of these factors over the last four months have been playing into me thinking about putting my name forward," Knack said.

2. What's driving Knack's campaign?

Knack told the co-hosts that he's shown through his 12 years on council that he can address the common concerns he hears from Edmontonians. "I know how to take action on these things so we actually can address growth, we actually can create a more affordable city, we can create a safer city. These are all things I've done in my time on council, and looking at where we were headed, I felt that what I wasn't seeing was somebody that was looking to fill that particular void."

Knack said his campaign will be about delivering for the "everyday Edmontonian." When asked to define that, he said there is a perception that citizens have less of a voice at city hall than do wealthy companies, especially real estate developers. He also mentioned the event park proposal, which would give $137.8 million in public funds to the Oilers Entertainment Group, to make his point.

"There is a concern right now from Edmontonians who are feeling like particular developers are sort of running the city," Knack said. "I've been doing this for 12 years — that has not necessarily been an uncommon refrain, but it's certainly different now, and it's more prevalent than I've ever heard before."

• Edmonton city council voted to keep the names of recreation centres like Meadows, Clareview, and Lewis Farms, rather than selling their naming rights. A clause in the motion passed permits naming interior facilities for a fee, subject to council approval. Mayor Amarjeet Sohi stated that selling exterior names wouldn't address the City of Edmonton's fiscal gap and would diminish community pride. Councillors Joanne Wright, Aaron Paquette, and Ashley Salvador supported the decision. Councillors Tim Cartmell, Andrew Knack, and Sarah Hamilton opposed the motion. The decision does not affect existing contracts, such as Rogers Place and the Booster Juice Community Centre in Terwillegar.
• Edmonton city council is grappling with unexpected costs related to the province's mandate for police body cameras. While the province is covering the cost of the cameras for Edmonton police officers, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi says the City may need to hire 30 to 40 people to manage and redact footage, calling the bill "shocking." Interim Chief Devin LaForce also expressed concern that the province's Traffic Safety Act, which eliminated automated enforcement of speeding violations, has negatively impacted traffic safety in Edmonton.
• A year after the City of Edmonton's new zoning bylaws came into effect at the beginning of 2024, the City reports a 30% increase in new dwelling units, with a significant rise in row house applications. However, groups like Edmonton Neighbourhoods United have concerns about a lack of consultation and poor integration of new developments, particularly eight-plexes, in established neighbourhoods. The City's urban planning committee will review the zoning bylaw on June 3.
• The Northern Bricks Lego convention brought together 100 Lego builders from across Canada to Edmonton's Glengarry Community League hall on May 25.
• Alberta Health Services issued a public alert on May 24 after a confirmed measles case was identified in a person who had been at the Connect Care Medical Clinic in Spruce Grove on May 16 between 8:45am and 1pm. Anyone potentially exposed should self-monitor for symptoms and review their immunization records. As of May 17, 89% of people with confirmed measles cases were not immunized. Alberta has recorded 560 known measles cases as of noon on May 24.
• The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 6-1 on May 25, taking a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Final series. Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid each scored two goals, while Evan Bouchard and John Klingberg also scored for Edmonton. Stuart Skinner made 33 saves for the Oilers. Jason Robertson scored the lone goal for the Stars. Game 4 is scheduled for May 27 in Edmonton.
• A new oral history details the making of The Boys on the Bus, the iconic 1980s documentary that captured the Edmonton Oilers at their peak. The documentary, produced and directed by Bob McKeown, with cinematography by Michael Boland, followed the team through their 1986-87 season, capturing intimate moments with Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and other key players. Featuring interviews with the filmmakers and Oilers personnel, the oral history recounts how the crew gained unprecedented access, the challenges they faced after the team's initial playoff loss, and the lasting impact the film has had on sports documentaries.
• A dispute has emerged among paleontologists regarding the authenticity of a mosasaur fossil discovered in Morocco. Paleontologist Nicholas Longrich identified the fossil as a new species, Xenodens calminechari, but University of Alberta researchers Henry Sharpe, Mark Powers, and Michael Caldwell suggest the fossil may be a forgery, pointing to irregularities in the teeth placement. Longrich defends the fossil's authenticity, stating that a CT scan will be conducted in Paris to address the concerns.
• A Canadian strain of coyote-borne tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis, is raising concerns for doctors in northern Alberta due to a 40-fold increase in cases. According to infectious diseases physician Dave Waldner of the University of Alberta, the first case was identified in Edmonton in 2013, and the majority of Alberta's 40+ cases are in the northern half of the province. The disease spreads from animals to people through contaminated food or water and can cause lesions in the liver.
• Talks between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are set to resume after the union evaluated Canada Post's latest offers, which include a pay increase and a plan to introduce part-time workers. The nationwide overtime ban by the union remains in effect, causing parcel volumes to drop by 50% compared to last year, according to Canada Post. The previous agreement between the parties expired on May 22, and the union issued a 72-hour strike notice before implementing the overtime ban.

Hydrogen Naturally is using a $3-million provincial grant to study its plan to build processing units that break waste from the forestry industry into hydrogen and carbon, allowing it to sell the former and capture and store the latter.

"We're trying to make sure that we have CO2 in the ground and hydrogen in use before 2030," Brett Jackson, the president of Hydrogen Naturally, told Taproot. "For every kilogram of hydrogen we would produce from this process, we're sequestering 20 kilograms of CO2. It's really a carbon-negative opportunity that you can't get anywhere else."

Jackson said the first processing unit – which will largely be pre-fabricated, though some assembly is required – will be co-located at an industrial facility in either Alberta's Industrial Heartland or the Foothills region in southwest Alberta. The $3 million feasibility study, allotted in the Technology, Innovation, and Emissions Reduction Regulation and disbursed by Emissions Reduction Alberta, will help Hydrogen Naturally decide on its first site.

Here's how the Hydrogen Naturally process works: The company sources waste fibres from the forestry industry, such as burnt timber or those discarded in manufacturing. It then gasifies these fibres in the units it's building, which separate pure hydrogen from CO2, capturing the carbon for storage and blending the hydrogen with natural gas for use at the co-located industrial facility. The carbon would then, ideally, enter the Alberta Carbon Trunk Line, if the unit is built in the Heartland, or at sites that would have acid gas disposal, or depleted natural gas reservoir disposal, Jackson said.

Hydrogen Naturally has trademarked the term Bright Green Hydrogen to describe the ratio of carbon offset and hydrogen production that its planned technology will offer. The conventional colour scale for hydrogen describes how hydrogen is made, with green denoting hydrogen that comes from renewable energy sources; grey hydrogen, which is the most common form, is made from fossil fuels. So if Hydrogen Naturally can produce such green hydrogen, why blend it with natural gas?

"If you're looking at power generation today, turbines can use up to a certain amount of hydrogen — not 100% hydrogen," he said. "If you could go to straight 100% hydrogen, that's great, but there are still other processes out there that are 100% natural gas. So, if you can blend it and not have to redevelop the technology or put in significant capital to go and use that blended component, you're still getting the net benefit of displacing natural gas."

While the hydrogen product is novel, the tech is already proven, Jackson said. "We're using a licensed gasification technology," he said. "A variant of this technology has already been put into commercial operation over in Denmark. It's been running for years, really reliably, using biomass."

The real innovation of Hydrogen Naturally, Jackson said, is creating a viable business model between industries. "There's not much for science going on here; it's basically how to put the commercial pieces together – that's really the challenge."

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• Roundtable on Relational Research Methods in the Face of Climate Crises starting at 8am at University of Alberta (Education Building)
• Exploring the Overnight Visitor: Farm Stays, Host, and More starting at 10am online
• Callingwood Farmers' Market starting at 10am at Callingwood Farmers' Market
• Housing Information Session (Southwest) starting at 4pm at Booster Juice Recreation Centre in Terwillegar
• Orchards Farmers' Market starting at 4pm at 4059 Orchards Drive SW
• Board Ready: Trustee Edition — Learn to Lead as an Elected School Board Trustee starting at 4:30pm at YWCA Edmonton Cushing House
• Shake It Up: Margarita Edition starting at 6pm at L'OCA Quality Market (Sherwood Park)
• Meeting of the Secret LongTree Society starting at 7pm at Felice Cafe

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• May 31: Bloom: Haskap Festival at Rosy Farms
• June 5: Homeless Memorial at Homeless Memorial Plaza
• June 7: Art on the Empowered Block at Art Gallery of Alberta

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