Edmonton Minute: Budget Overruns, Hot Housing, and a Football Bid Backed

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

This Week In Edmonton:

• There is action again at City Hall after a brief adjournment last week. There will be a City Council meeting on Monday from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm to discuss a rather large agenda which includes capital budget updates for the 50 Street CP Rail Grade Separation, 124 Street Renewal, and the bridge to nowhere - the Edmonton-Strathcona County Pedestrian Bridge. The rail crossing at 50 Street is estimated to have increased in cost by more than $34 million.
  
  
• Tuesday will begin with the Agenda Review Committee meeting at 8:00 am, followed by a resumption of the previously mentioned City Council meeting from 9:30 am until noon. Following that, there will be a City Council Public Hearing from 1:30 pm to 9:00 pm to discuss several zoning amendments and a closure of 156 Street SW in the Chapelle Neighbourhood. If the Council meeting doesn't finish, it will resume Wednesday at 9:30 am.
  
  
• On Thursday, there will be a Non-Regular Meeting of the Community and Public Services Committee at 9:30 am to discuss appointments to several boards and commissions the Committee oversees. Finally, on Friday, the Urban Planning Committee will hold a non-regular meeting at 9:30 am to appoint members to its boards and commissions, and at 1:30 pm, the Executive Committee will hold a meeting for the same purpose

Last Week In Edmonton:

• Edmonton is considering building a monument to victims of COVID-19. The City will begin work with the Edmonton Arts Council to select the artist who will create the permanent public piece of art. Is this a project worthy of City funds? You tell us.
  
  
• After grumblings by Edmonton’s mayor last week that Edmonton was going it alone, while other cities received substantial backing for their bid to host the FIFA World Cup, the provincial government did, in fact, announce it would back Edmonton’s bid to host some of the games. The provincial government agreed to kick in a substantial $110 million, provided the federal and municipal governments also contribute.
  
  
• Edmonton’s housing market is heating up, making it hard for first-time homebuyers to get in the door. An influx of out-of-province buyers and low inventory has made homes hard to come by, and offers that are well over asking price have become the norm. Ontario recently instituted a tax on foreign home buyers, but Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said that Alberta doesn’t face the same challenges as Ontario, and is not considering a similar tax.

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