Edmonton Headlines: Tuesday, May 23, 2017

We’ve been mentioning the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls a lot recently, because things appear to have gone off the rails. The commissioner of the inquiry says delays and lack of communication with families is due to operating in ways unusual to an inquiry, incorporating an Indigenous approach. Although, many in Canada’s Indigenous communities are questioning the process, so I would say more of the blame appears to be on the communication side

Meanwhile… the Alberta government has tapped into money from the inquiry to fund four social workers to help families to get information on their loved ones and connecting them to elders and counselors.

Getting around

Edmonton’s new bike lanes are going to save lives and make people healthier. That’s not just me saying that, that comes from a real doctor.

“Driving… is a privilege, not a constitutional right.” That’s a quote from the dissenting judge on a case that’s just been decided at the Alberta Court of Appeal over our province’s immediate suspensions for someone suspected of driving impaired. The new rules have been challenged in court since they came into force a few years back, and now we’ll see if this will be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Right now a driver loses their license if they’re charged and the law hangs on whether this infringes on someone’s right to remain “innocent until proven guilty” (which the majority on the Appeal decision think it does impede). The provincial government has one year to decide on new rules.

Leduc is looking into the safety of its stretch of the QE II Highway. Inside the City of Leduc, roads are getting safer.

Edmonton’s southwest LRT extension planning is up for some discussion this week at City Hall. Councillors will talk about whether to move ahead with both legs of that extension separately (as planned) or in one shot to save about 5% of expected costs. It’s probably not worth it, since moving ahead right now on the further south portion might get hung up on some land that belongs to the province.

Around the city

Edmonton’s garage suites are creating some affordability, and even more for family and friends of homeowners. The more of these we build, of course, the more affordability we might see across the board (and basement suites too).

“Welcome to Riverdale, the city’s fire hydrant.”

Edmonton’s already got a busy summer festival season, but it’s always nice to see a new one hit the scene.

I’m not one for massive government investment in sporting games, but the World Indigenous Games has so much more going for it that makes it worthwhile for the three levels of government to support. And it’s not a multi-billion dollar effort, so it’s a reasonable ask.

Ghost signs are great! And now it will be easier to find out where all of Edmonton’s are haunting us (on the northside of the river, so far).

While Edmonton is among the cities moving forward with urban chicken programs, our suburb city of Sherwood Park won’t likely be doing the same because of its proximity to chicken farms in Strathcona County.

Public engagement

Edmonton’s Executive Committee meets today, at 9:30 a.m. You can see the agenda online. The meeting will stream live from City Hall’s River Valley Room.

City Council also has a special meeting today, to look at a new economic development entity for the capital region. That meeting is at 3:45 p.m. The agenda is online and the meeting will stream live from council chambers.