Edmonton Minute: Canada Day, Stage Three, and Reimagining Cost Savings

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

This Week In Edmonton:

• Thursday is Canada Day and also the start of Stage 3 of the Province's reopening plan. We still don't know exactly what the rules will look like in Stage 3, but we've repeatedly been told that "almost all" rules will be repealed, so we're looking forward to it!
  
  
• At City Hall, at 9:30 am this morning there will be an Executive Committee meeting which will cover a Q2 Program and Service Update, a policy on Remuneration for Civic Agencies, the Urban Reserve Strategy, and more. Tomorrow at 9:30 am there will be an Urban Planning Committee meeting which will cover a restricted parking program, an update on the Business License Bylaw, amendments to the Cannabis Store Fee structure and more. This will be followed at 3:45 pm by the remainder of last week's City Council Public Hearing.
  
  
• The last meeting of the week will be a Community and Public Services Committee meeting at 9:30 am on Wednesday. The Committee will discuss a Snow and Ice Policy Refresh, the EndPovertyEdmonton 2020 annual report, and more.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• On Tuesday, Council voted 7-6 to end Edmonton's mask mandate when the Province's rules are removed on July 1st, but a procedural move by Councillor Aaron Paquette prevented the matter from being finalized. After originally planning to meet to finalize the vote on July 5th, a last-minute emergency meeting was instead held on Friday and the decision confirmed (again by 7-6) meaning that the City will indeed be ending masking rules in tandem with the Province on Thursday.
  
  
• City Council got an earful from the public sector unions over the City's plan to find cost savings by privatizing services like bus cleaning, using different vehicles for firefighters responding to medical calls, and more. The City's full Reimagine Report, which includes these suggestions and others, will go before Council for a vote on July 5th.
  
  
• Finally, several recreational facilities reopened throughout the City last week, providing more opportunities for residents to get some exercise. The Commonwealth Community Recreation Centre, Clareview Community Recreation Centre, Fred Broadstock Outdoor Pool, Mill Woods Recreation Centre Aquatic and Fitness Centre, Bonnie Doon Leisure Centre, and Jasper Place Leisure Centre have all reopened at 33% capacity. The City said that due to the extended shutdown it will take some time to fully ramp up the facilities.

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