Weekly Update - Oct 31

Welcome to the weekly round-up! Last week was packed full of interesting and important reports at Committees.

At Community and Public Services Committee, we heard an update on the Indigenous Cultural Wellness Centre being led by the Indigenous Circle at End Poverty Edmonton. I’m grateful to everyone working on this important project and look forward to future iterations of the business plan.

I was also thrilled to speak in support of two motions that will move us towards applying higher property taxes for derelict properties. These buildings have a significant negative impact in our community and we need to bring all the tools we can to the table to help address them

Urban Planning Committee had just one item but it was an exciting one - Ashley Salvador made a motion for staff to look at how we can accelerate the redevelopment of vacant land in the city core, particularly unlicensed surface parking lots that can detract from the vibrancy of Edmonton downtown.

I’ve asked staff to consider the overall parking supply downtown as part of this work - a recent Leger poll reinforced that parking is an important part of bringing people to the heart of our city, along with a range of other mobility choices to visit the core.

At Executive Committee, I was pleased to support a motion to allow anyone 12 and under to ride transit free - this removes barriers, provides equity, and is a great way to get more kids riding Edmonton Transit. Thanks too to the Province for extending the Ride Transit program another year!

I was also glad to hear that staff are working to provide passes to Edmontonians without documentation - helping us to further realise our Access to Municipal Services Without Fear policy, something I’m a strong advocate for.

I supported the City officially adopting the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. This decision builds on the great work that’s already being done and reinforces our organization’s commitment to the safety and well being of staff.

We also decided not to move forward with an administrative change to the boundaries between O-day’min and Anirniq. The addition of the CN railyards would have added complexity to the ward and it’s simpler to leave the maps as-is when no constituents are affected.

There was lively discussion about my code of conduct review at the Police Commission. I’m not able to comment while it’s in progress but I look forward to reviewing and discussing the findings. I’ll also do what I can to ensure the report is made publicly available.

Thanks for tuning in and hope you all have a spooktacular week!