Edmonton Minute: Tourism Funding, Aviation Heritage, and a Public Safety Plan

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

This Week In Edmonton:

• The week at City Hall kicks off this morning with a Community and Public Services Committee meeting at 9:30 am to discuss a proposed bylaw about fireworks, a report on free admission to City recreation centres for youth drop-in activities, and a proposed sidewalk maintenance framework, amongst other things
  
  
• Tuesday, the Agenda Review Committee meets at 9:00 am, followed by an Urban Planning Committee meeting at 9:30 am. The Urban Planning Committee will discuss 102 Ave LRT Pedestrian Crossing Recommendations. The City is considering closing 102 Avenue to cars between 99 Street and 100 Street. City Administration recommends piloting the closure before fully committing. The Committee will also discuss River Valley Planning Modernization, as planning for most of the lands in the area is more than 30 years old. There seems to be no mention of how establishing an urban national park would factor in.
  
  
• On Wednesday, at 9:30 am, there will be an Executive Committee meeting to discuss a confidential settlement related to the 50th Street Grade Separation Project. The Committee will also discuss possible amendments to the retroactive municipal tax relief policy, such as increasing the amount of relief from $1,000 to $5,000 when the City has made a substantial error or the property is rendered uninhabitable. Administration will also present a report on municipal tax relief, not related to the aforementioned bylaw, in which they recommend no relief for property owners.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• The federal government announced roughly $17.5 million in funding to boost tourism around Alberta. The biggest beneficiary is the K-Days Fair which will receive $10 million, some of which is earmarked for “turning Klondike Park into a year-round destination” and “expanding programming to be more inclusive to Indigenous peoples, new Canadians, Francophones, and LGBTQ2S+ communities.”
  
  
• Residents of Chinatown and other concerned citizens packed City Hall to express their opinion on security and policing services in the wake of recent violent crimes and a budget cut to Edmonton Police Services. To address the crime wave, Alberta’s Minister of Justice, Tyler Shandro, invoked the Police Act to force the City to present a public safety plan within two weeks. Mayor Amarjeet Sohi called the Province's intervention “overreach” and plans to present Shandro with a list of things the City is already doing. Sohi says the problems in Edmonton are rooted in social issues neglected by the Province.
  
  
• Edmonton City Council voted to designate Hangar 11 at the Blatchford Field a municipal heritage resource. The hangar was built in 1942 and played a significant role in WW2, seeing over 900 flights land each day. The building supported the transfer of Lend-Lease aircraft from the United States to the Allies. It’s believed that Hangar 11 is the last building of its type in Western Canada.

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