Edmonton Minute: Home Ice, Opinion Polling, and a Police Commission Audit

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

This Week In Edmonton:

• This afternoon, at 1:30 pm, there will be a Public Hearing. The agenda includes a number of zoning amendments, including allowing a range of small and medium housing in Keswick and Cy Becker. On Tuesday, at 8:30 am, there will be a meeting of the Agenda Review Committee. 
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 9:30 am, the main meeting of the week, a City Council meeting, will take place. Council will discuss designating the Field Log House as a Municipal Historic Resource and adding a sanction hearing process to the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw. The agenda also includes the Spring 2024 Supplemental Capital Budget Adjustment. Administration is recommending various adjustments to the 2023-2026 Capital Budget, including funding new projects, making scope changes, recosting, and changing funding sources, ultimately resulting in a net increase of $262.6 million. Council will also discuss the Edmonton Police Commission Audit (more on that below!). If the meeting doesn’t conclude on Tuesday, it will continue on Wednesday at 9:30 am. To end the week's meetings, the ​​Special City Manager Recruitment Committee will meet at 12:00 pm on Thursday. 
  
  
• In a development that seems almost impossible to believe, Edmontonians will have a chance to see their team play for the Stanley Cup on home ice! Unfortunately, tickets for the first home game start at $1,321 and climb from there. Due to the astoundingly large distance between the teams (some 4,000 kilometres) the series will be quite drawn out. The first game was played in Florida (Edmonton lost 3-0), and Game 2 is also being played there this evening. Games 3 and 4, on Thursday and Saturday, will be here at home. Let’s Go Oilers!

Last Week In Edmonton:

• A recent Leger poll indicated that Mayor Amarjeet Sohi may struggle to win re-election if the vote were held now. Only 22% of respondents feel the City is headed in the right direction. Key issues for Edmontonians include housing affordability, property taxes, homelessness, the economy, and public safety. The poll also revealed that while some believe Sohi is performing well in areas like alternative transportation and infrastructure, many are dissatisfied with his handling of property taxes and housing affordability.
  
  
• The Edmonton Police Commission has declined to participate in an internal audit and program review requested by City Councillors, leading to a dispute over transparency and governance. The Commission argued that revealing details about its audit processes could compromise their effectiveness and insisted on maintaining independence from political influence. This refusal has disappointed Councillors seeking greater public transparency and accountability, particularly regarding police budgeting. The issue will be addressed further at tomorrow’s Council meeting.
  
  
• The permit for the "Wolf Den" overdose prevention site in Edmonton, operated by Boyle Street Community Services, has been revoked again. The organization expressed disappointment and is considering legal consultation and future actions to maintain the service in the community. Last year, the same organization lost a permit for renovations at their Strathcona Health Hub. The City of Edmonton's Subdivision Appeal Board said that the site needed either more detailed analysis or a special exception (variance) to improve security and surveillance in its parking areas. However, because the necessary consultations with stakeholders or the public had not been conducted to justify granting a variance, the Board decided to revoke the development permit for the project. Local residents have also expressed concerns about the site.

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