Edmonton Minute: Bailout Blues, Summer Reopening, and a New Edmonton Fair Deal

Edmonton Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Edmonton politics

This Week In Edmonton:

• Today at 9:30 am the Executive Committee will be meeting to discuss the Annual Financial Statements of 13 Business Improvement Associations, a Program and Service Q2 review, a small amendment to the Valley Line West LRT Contract, a more general update on the LRT Expansion and Renewal, and more.
  
  
• Tuesday at 9:00 am there will be an Agenda Review Committee meeting, followed by a meeting of the Urban Planning Committee at 9:30 am. Urban Planning will discuss the Downtown Vibrancy Strategy as well as various reports on Inclusive Transit.
  
  
• On Wednesday at 11:30 am there will be a Community and Public Services Committee meeting that will discuss the Exploration of Operation Options at Rundle Golf course. They will also discuss strategies for aging recreational facilities. Finally on Friday at 9:30 am the Audit Committee will meet to discuss an Audit of Environmental Strategies.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• At the suggestion of Edmonton Global, City Council agreed to give the Edmonton International Airport just under $10 million to subsidize airport costs for airlines who create more direct flights to Edmonton. To be clear, this is one taxpayer-funded organization (Edmonton Global) convincing another taxpayer-funded organization (the City of Edmonton and surrounding municipalities) to pay taxpayer money to another taxpayer-funded organization (the airport) to pay private companies. The mind boggles. One of our board members wrote an excellent piece on this issue.
  
  
• It was announced that Explore Edmonton (a City of Edmonton tourism and venue management organization) had reached agreement with Northlands to run K Days and Farmfair in the future, and that Northlands will wind up operations after more than 140 years. We're sad to see Northlands go, and left wondering that there must be some better alternative than having the City run these events.
  
  
• A breath of fresh air and a sigh of relief for residents and small business owners as Alberta moved to Stage 2 last Thursday. Under Stage 2, outdoor gatherings of up to 20 people are now permitted and outdoor concerts and festivals can welcome as many as 150 people. Indoor gatherings are still prohibited, but capacity limits on funerals and weddings have increased to 20 people. Gyms and fitness studios can reopen for solo and drop-in activities so long as social distance requirements are met. Restaurants can now offer indoor dining with restrictions, while casinos, museums, and libraries can also reopen.

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