The Pulse: March 4, 2026

The developer and architect behind the Inglewood Lofts at the former Charles Camsell Hospital has sold the development for $60.5 million now that an art restoration project is complete.

"When this project was rezoned, this mural was recognized as sort of a masterpiece, but it was in pretty rough shape," said Gene Dub, the owner of Five Oaks and a principal at Dub Architects. "The mural, I think, is one of the most interesting things about the hospital."

The untitled mosaic mural by deceased Austrian-Canadian artist Alexander von Svoboda was completed in 1967, Dub said, around two decades after the hospital opened to treat Indigenous patients with tuberculosis. Many were hospitalized without their consent and without the knowledge of their families. The former Department of Indian and Eskimo Affairs operated the hospital until 1980, when it was transferred to provincial jurisdiction; it closed in 1996. The hospital has been described as horrific due to reported medical experiments, forced sterilization, and patients who vanished.

The city's heritage department stipulated that von Svoboda's work must be retained, protected during construction, restored, and incorporated into the building upon its conversion, a city spokesperson said. Dub told Taproot he satisfied these conditions with help from diligent workers who were able to clean the work and replace some missing tiles. (The artist has also produced works of note at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and NAIT.)

The work is now on display at the ground level of the Inglewood Lofts in a common area named for Jane Ash Poitras, a highly decorated Indigenous artist who has been named to the Order of Canada and whose mother was a tuberculosis patient at the hospital. The room is also home to works by Poitras, Ulayu Pingwartok, and Linus Woods.

"It's kind of an honour, right? The fact that he wanted to mention my name (in the space) was nice," said Poitras, before noting healthcare and art have parallels. "Art is a healing journey — when you look at art, it does heal people."

Fulfilling the city's heritage requirement allowed Dub to sell the rental development's 193 apartments and 20 townhomes to Strategic Group. A sale wasn't always the plan, he said, but project costs ballooned to $60 million over the years, making the $60.5-million sale far from a windfall.

"That's life," Dub said. "You win some, you lose some."

• Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack and Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas criticized provincial increases to education property taxes. The mayors highlighted their concerns about the lack of municipal input on this component of property tax bills, saying they had no say in the provincial decision-making process. In Edmonton, the 13% increase is expected to translate into an extra $154 annually for the average homeowner.
• Edmonton Public Schools plans to hire more than 100 new teachers by April, creating 303 teacher and education assistant positions. At a board meeting on March 3, trustees approved an initial $8.7 million from a provincial classroom complexity grant, part of a total $30.3 million for the division. The funding addresses high classroom complexity, as 34% of Edmonton Public Schools classrooms have 11 students or more with complex needs.
• Edmonton Cree singer-songwriter Donita Large discovered in February that an online publication about her new album, The Ancestors, had used a stereotypical, AI-generated image instead of her actual photo. Large called the unlabelled image, which depicted a generic Indigenous woman, a form of "Indigenous erasure." After she alerted the publisher, it removed the article without an apology. AI ethics expert Katrina Ingram of Ethically Aligned AI stressed the importance of labeling AI content and establishing clear usage policies.
• Traci Bednard, president and CEO of Explore Edmonton, addressed the International Indigenous Tourism Conference, where she highlighted Edmonton's Indigenous-tourism strategy, Alberta Native News reported. She emphasized collaborative partnerships with Indigenous Tourism Alberta, Travel Alberta, and local experience providers to ensure Indigenous communities remain central to tourism development. The strategy includes the "In Good Spirit" marketing campaign and guidance from an Indigenous advisory circle, aiming to build capacity, increase cultural awareness, and ensure sustainable growth and shared value for Indigenous tourism operators in the region.
• An Edmonton event for World Hearing Day hosted by the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association Edmonton Branch on March 3 offered hearing loss and health resources to attendees. The initiative aimed to broaden understanding that hearing impairment is not exclusively an "older person's illness" and to provide resources and information to the community.
• Alberta Hospitals Minister Matt Jones says he takes responsibility for delays in rolling out triage liaison physicians meant to ease emergency room pressures, but he does not blame doctors. The Alberta Medical Association says negotiations stalled over contract terms, including pay and liability, and disputes the government's characterization of the holdup. Premier Danielle Smith has pointed questions to the medical association, while Jones says talks continue with $20 million committed to fund the program. Critics accuse the province of deflecting blame as broader physician contract talks near a March 31 deadline.
• NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that Calgary and Edmonton have submitted a joint bid to host the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. Bettman said in Calgary that the bid was "very good" but that no final decision has been made. An announcement regarding the host city or cities is expected in the coming weeks. The Alberta cities are among North American contenders to host preliminary round-robin games, with knockout stages returning to North America after European round-robin games.

Correction: This file has been updated to correct the spelling of Traci Bednard's name in the item on Indigenous tourism.

Here are some events happening today in the Edmonton area.

• Jobber Summit starting at 8am online
• Menopause at Work: Supporting Midlife Women's and Employees' Well-Being starting at 10am online
• Edmonton & Area Land Trust Volunteer Info Session starting at 12pm online
• Unlocking Opportunity: How AWE Supports Alberta Women Entrepreneurs starting at 12:15pm online
• ASTech Awards Information/Office Hours Sessions starting at 1:30pm online
• VERS/E: A Queer Poetry Reading Series + Open Mic starting at 6pm at Felice Cafe
• The Ripple Effect: Stories of Giving & Gaining starting at 6pm at Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts
• Workshop Wednesday - Basic household tools and how to use them starting at 6pm at Earth's Refillery Coop
• Kindred Knits and Crochet Club starting at 6pm at The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse
• Learn to Advocate starting at 6:30pm online
• Two Coupe Society presents: DEEP DIVE starting at 8pm at Woodwork

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• March 12: Sort & Style Exchange: Sustainable Fashion is for Everyone at The Creative Hive Event Centre
• March 14: U of A MBA Open House at Alberta School of Business
• March 19: 2026 State of the Region at Heritage Park Hall

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

Test your crossword prowess and deploy a little of your Edmonton knowledge. Complete the puzzle.

This week's puzzles were made by guest constructor Jeff Nachtigall. If you need a hint for 4-Down and 7-Across, here you go.