WEEKLY UPDATE - APR 17

Welcome back to the Weekly Wrap Up! It was a short week last week, with some important items coming before committee.

At Community and Public Services, we heard about a new Enhanced Encampment Strategy that will focus on clear, consistent and rapid connections to supports and housing, and ensuring encampments don’t diminish individual and public safety. Recognising that encampments represent a lack of appropriate housing and supports is critical to responding effectively. I look forward to new initiatives rolling out this summer, including better communications with neighbours, better access to health, and better coordination. I’m grateful for the outstanding speakers who contributed their input as part of Committee - you can read more about some phenomenal work that’s been done to better understanding what leads people to being in encampments in the report Staying Outside is not a Preference.

Executive Committee gave us an opportunity to delve into the idea of creating a Municipal Development Corporation. Currently, the City has a group called Land Enterprise that manages development of some of our real estate portfolio. The Land Enterprise team is doing great work and delivering value to Edmontonians. I think the policy updates they proposed last week will strengthen their work even further. An MDC may be in our future but for now, I’m excited to continue to see Land Enterprise evolve.

At a Special City Council, we heard annual reports from our advisory boards, including the Edmonton Youth Council, which is currently recruiting new members! I’m so grateful to all the Edmontonians that commit their time and talents to these boards.

That’s all from last week - have a great first week of playoff fun! Go Oilers Go!