The Pulse: March 20, 2026

This week's batch of calls for public engagement includes new additions to Edmonton's Vision Zero Street Labs project, a housing survey in St. Albert, and one last chance to weigh in on the future of Gibbons amid an expedited viability review.

Edmonton has begun gathering information about traffic safety concerns in seven neighbourhoods until March 31. The city's Vision Zero Street Labs asks residents to populate interactive maps by marking intersections and streets with safety concerns, such as low visibility, speeding, and bicycle safety.

"Each Street Lab project is tailored to the unique needs of the community to creatively address neighbourhood traffic safety concerns," the city's Street Labs website reads.

The project is requesting input from residents in Abbottsfield and Rundle Heights, as well as Terrace Heights, in the east end; Lendrum Place and Argyll on the south side; and Casselman and McLeod in north Edmonton.

Traffic calming improvements in these areas could include curb extensions, centre medians, speed bumps, and two-stage crossings.

Street Labs began in 2021 as a group of community-led initiatives. The west-end neighbourhoods of Rosenthal and Westmount, south Edmonton's Avonmore, and Balwin on the north side were early adopters of the project.

"Street Labs before 2023 were primarily community-led with the process varying across neighbourhoods," its website reads. "The life cycles of these Street Labs did not follow the current steps or the documentation available to the public."

The five-step process, which is now completely overseen by the city, selects neighbourhoods in need of traffic safety improvements, engages residents, builds a plan, installs safety improvements, and assesses the installations for adjustments.

The predicted installation timeline for the seven participating neighbourhoods is sometime in 2027.

• The City of Edmonton's operating budget ended 2025 with a $31.1 million surplus, defying earlier deficit predictions. The surplus was partly attributed to low fuel costs and increased recreation centre participation. Council voted to allocate $19 million to the financial stabilization reserve, bringing it to $87.4 million, and to carry $12.1 million into the 2026 budget.
• Edmonton Police Service Chief Warren Driechel faced intense criticism at a March 19 Edmonton Police Commission meeting regarding his February trip to Israel. Speakers expressed increased distrust in the police service and safety concerns amidst the ongoing violence in Gaza, with some calling for Driechel and commission Chair Ben Henderson to resign. Driechel, defending the visit as a learning opportunity, said he will not apologize or resign.
• The Edmonton Police Service announced a joint operation with other police and national agencies that led to the deportation of two men in connection with a wave of violent extortion crimes targeting Edmonton's South Asian community. A 22-year-old alleged ringleader and a 25-year-old were deported from Canada, while three others remain under investigation. Police said 51 suspects are tied to the criminal network responsible for extortions across Edmonton, Calgary, the B.C. Lower Mainland, and Ontario.
• The City of Edmonton and the Canadian Red Cross are offering free Get Ready in the Neighbourhood workshops through October to equip residents with emergency preparedness skills. The workshops help Edmontonians create family emergency plans, prepare emergency kits, and strengthen local support networks. Spring workshops are scheduled for March 26 at YWCA Cushing House and April 9 at Meadows Community Recreation Centre, from 7-9pm.
• The Ottewell Farmers' Market in Edmonton has announced a hiatus from operations this year due to scheduled EPCOR sewage and drainage upgrades. "Alternative options were explored, yet, these introduced additional accessibility challenges for patrons, vendors, and volunteers," the Ottewell Community League said in a statement.
• RCMP officers executed multiple search warrants at the west Edmonton offices of MHCare Medical and Carver PA Corporation, CBC News reported. The searches come amid an ongoing investigation, which began in February 2025, into alleged contracting irregularities at Alberta Health Services. Businessman Sam Mraiche controls the companies at the centre of probes by the RCMP, Alberta's auditor general, and a retired judge concerning contracts for personal protective equipment, children's medication, and private surgeries.
• The Otipemisiwak Métis Government welcomed its three newest elected officials on March 19. Gabrielle Blatz, previously interim chief of staff to the mayor of Edmonton, was sworn in as provincial women's representative. Bernie Ouellette became the first district captain for the Red Deer Métis District, and Kevin Metz was sworn in as the first district captain for the Calgary Nose Hill Métis District. These elections bring 17 of Alberta's 22 districts under the new governance structure.
• The Edmonton Oilers hosted their Celebrating Pride game on March 19, against the Florida Panthers at Rogers Place. The 50/50 proceeds will benefit Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity at MacEwan University. The Oilers also said Edmonton's Pride Festival and Pride Cup ball-hockey tournament will return to ICE District from Aug. 21 to 23.
• The Edmonton Oilers announced they have recalled forward Roby Jarventie from the AHL's Bakersfield Condors on an emergency basis, placing Leon Draisaitl on long-term injured reserve. Jarventie, 23, was acquired from the Ottawa Senators in July 2024 and has recorded 17 goals and 19 assists in 52 games with the Condors this season.

On this day in 1931, talk of secession was floating around the Alberta Legislature.

Bitter grievances with the federal government — both real and imagined — have been a part of Alberta's history since before there was an Alberta to be aggrieved. Frank Oliver, federal cabinet minister and publisher of the Edmonton Bulletin, wrote in 1885 that Canada's treatment of western Canada was "despotism as absolute, or more so, than that which curses Russia."

Edmonton has always been in an odd place when it comes to Alberta's various separatist movements. The city's population as a whole has had little tolerance for the idea, but, given its role as the provincial capital, it has nonetheless hosted many of its moments and key figures.

Some of that has played out in the halls of the Legislature, as with the 1931 debate. The comments came during a discussion about making Port Churchill, MB, a free port of entry to give Alberta more direct access to English markets. A representative from Vegreville accused the federal government of treating Alberta like a "milch cow", milking it of the profits of its agricultural exports. Tensions with the federal government were already high after Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King said he wouldn't give federal unemployment relief to provinces with Conservative governments during the early years of the Great Depression.

The 1970s and '80s are where most would mark the birth of the modern Alberta separatist movement. The grievances were once again mostly over resources, especially after the federal government's National Energy Program, which was seen as a disaster for the province's oil-based economy. While much of the secession movement was centred in Calgary, some of the notable figures came from Edmonton. Among them was Elmer Knutson, a businessman who founded the Western Canada Federation and held rallies that drew hundreds of people (although Knutson himself would claim he wasn't a separatist).

On Nov 20, 1980, a separatist rally drew 2,700 people to Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium. The "wild" event, as Postmedia columnist Don Braid described it, remains the largest separatist gathering in the province's history.

Separatist sentiment has resurged in the past few years, sparked by opposition to former prime minister Justin Trudeau and continuing after the federal Liberals' election win under Prime Minister Mark Carney. In May 2025, hundreds gathered for another Edmonton separatist rally, this time at the Legislature grounds. There's reason to believe, however, that much of the organizing and communicating is happening online as the pro-separatist Stay Free Alberta gathers signatures for a referendum related to Alberta independence, even though former Edmonton-Castledowns MLA Thomas Lukaszuk's Forever Canadian organization has already gathered more than 400,000 signatures on a petition asking "Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?"

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.

• March 20: Fava Fest - Screen Day 3 starting at 6pm at Capitol Theatre
• March 20-21: ᐋᒋᒧᐃᐧᐣ âcimowin at Fringe Theatre Arts Barns
• March 21: Transit Accessibility Town Hall starting at 10am online
• March 21: Seedy Saturday & Spring Craft Market starting at 10am at Sakaw Gardens Hall
• March 21: Indigenous StoryTelling Series starting at 10:30am at Fort Edmonton Park
• March 21: Hack Day starting at 11am at Edmonton Unlimited
• March 21: Love Pro Wrestling 46: Savage Love starting at 7pm at The Rec Room (South Common)
• March 21: Rising Sun's Annual Cabaret: Skits and Giggles starting at 7pm at Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre
• March 22: Seedy Sunday starting at 10am at Alberta Avenue Community Centre
• March 22: Bikes & Brunch - Nuestra Cafe starting at 11am at Oliver Exchange Building
• March 22: Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony starting at 2pm at Winspear Centre

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• March 26: CrimeTech: How Tech is Solving Crimes in Alberta at 9910
• March 31: Intellectual Property for Startups at University of Alberta ICE Engineering Incubator
• April 3: Good Friday with Pro Coro Canada at All Saints Anglican Cathedral

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

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