Edmonton Minute: Transit Safety, Tax Petition, and an Urban Park Bill

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

This Week In Edmonton:

• This morning, at 9:30 am, there will be a City Council Public Hearing to deal with several zoning amendments. With 2024 right around the corner and the new zoning bylaw scheduled to take effect, perhaps these types of meetings will become less frequent.
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 9:30 am, there will be a City Council meeting - the final one of the year. There are several public reports on the agenda at this meeting, including a 2022 Edmonton Police Service Annual Report, the Edmonton Business Improvement Areas 2024 Budgets, and the Surplus School Sites Policy Review and Recommendations. If this meeting doesn’t conclude on schedule, there is additional time allotted on Wednesday at 9:30 am.
  
  
• On Thursday, at 3:00 pm, there will be a Special Audit Committee meeting. The sole item on the agenda is due to be discussed in private. It’s entitled External Auditor - Non-audit Service Request. Finally, on Friday, at 9:30 am, there will be a Non-Regular City Council meeting to discuss, in private, candidates for the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority and the Edmonton Police Commission.

Last Week In Edmonton:

• Transit safety was back in the news after two separate, random attacks took place at the Coliseum LRT station. Police data also showed that there have been more than 500 cases of violent crimes reported at Edmonton transit centres this year. Councillor Tim Cartmell said that he intends to propose a turnstile pilot at some LRT stations to see if that helps. It’s well past time for the City to do something! We’ve been calling on them for months to Declare A Transit Safety Emergency. If you agree, please sign our petition and let’s end the madness.
  
  
• An important Private Members’ Bill passed first reading before the Provincial Legislature wrapped up its fall session. Bill 204, the Municipal Government (National Urban Parks) Amendment Act, was tabled by Brandon Lunty, the MLA for Leduc-Beaumont. The Bill aims to prevent municipalities from entering into agreements with the federal government for the purpose of creating a National Urban Park. We started a petition to Keep Ottawa Out Of Our River Valley back in August, and we’re very pleased to see our advocacy picked up by the Province. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, you can do so here, and if we keep the pressure up, hopefully, this Bill will pass early next year!
  
  
• After Council passed a 6.6% hike to your property taxes, we received hundreds of emails from Edmontonians telling us how this tax increase was going to impact their families. Council hinted at potentially reassessing the budget again in the spring - unorthodox, but a good window of opportunity to get the tax increase cancelled. We’re calling on Council to Cancel The 6.6% Tax Hike, and yes, we have a petition for that too! Lots going on this week!

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