Edmonton Headlines: Thursday, May 18, 2017

16 of the 18 decalred candidates (who have active websites or social media we could snag a photo from)

We get to start the day with some good news. More women are running for office in Edmonton’s election this year. We’ve already got more women signed up to run than made it onto the ballot back in 2013. This is excellent news! There are still four wards without a woman announcing a campaign – but it’s all women right now in Ward 5 – and there’s still plenty of time before the September deadline to get into the race. And this bodes well for us getting more than one woman on city council this fall. (It would also be great to have more than one person who isn’t white.)

If you are thinking about running, or know a great candidate, bounce some questions to the Equal Voice team behind the Yegparity campaign. They should be able to point you in the right direction if you’ve got interest in running for city council or a school board this October.

Speaking of our school boards, Dave Cournoyer’s added them to his candidate tracker.

As we predicted back on Monday, stories continue to roll in about our (three) departing councillors.

Around the city

There are a couple of stories this week that mean more investment and more jobs in the Edmonton area. Ford is opening a new distribution centre south of the city in Leduc, and Champion Pet Foods is building a new plant to the west of the city.

There are questions about the cost of moving an immigration office to Edmonton from its current location over in Vegreville.

This summer will be our first look at an increasing Indigenous experience at Fort Edmonton Park. We’ll also be getting our first look, and swim, in Edmonton’s new natural pool this summer.

Bike theft is a problem in any city, but as Edmonton increases the opportunities to ride, we’ll need to make sure we all know how to properly lock up our bikes, and register them for recovery.

Public engagement

The City is hosting a session on what infill development could look like and how it’s working in our older neighbourhoods, 6-9 p.m., at the Northgate Lions Seniors Recreation Centre.