A community tested, a hopeful future:
A look back at 2020 and what we have to look forward to in 2021
As the holidays near and we welcome in 2021, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on this past year and on the year ahead. 2020 has not been easy: it’s been a year that saw tremendous hardship and loss — a polarizing year, and one that has tested our humanity and community bonds.
I’ll never forget the tragic start to the year, with the downing of Flight 752, and tears rolling down the faces of those who lost so many loved ones and colleagues.
Or the traumatic events over the summer, including the death of George Floyd and the assault of Chief Allan Adam, that led to the Black Lives Matter rally here in Edmonton, prompting an important ongoing discussion about community safety and wellbeing in our city. Over the summer at our public hearing, Council heard from Edmontonians who don’t feel safe in our city simply because of their culture, how they look or where they or their ancestors come from.
In addition to these tragic events and uncomfortable truths we’ve all had to contend with, this year also brought with it a global pandemic that saw our most vulnerable put at risk, and hundreds of Albertans perish. And all of us are having to deal with stresses and strains, whether emotional or economic, or both.
2020 Milestones
It’s been a challenging year, no doubt, but despite all the hardships we’ve had to deal with, I still see in Edmonton a city filled with kindness, courage, hope, and with a promising future.
Some of the hopeful civic milestones we achieved this year include: Council’s approval of the City Plan. The City Plan is our vision and a map for Edmonton’s journey to become a healthier, more urban, climate resilient city of two million people that anchors a prosperous region. This plan provides us with a long term vision to drive growth to be more fiscally efficient for taxpayers, a city that is climate-resilient with lower greenhouse gas emissions. Ultimately, City Plan also aims to ensure Edmonton stays competitive and attractive to talent and investment, so that when we emerge from this pandemic we’re in a good position to recover and bounce back stronger than before.
We green-lit construction on the Blatchford LRT Extension as well as the West Valley Line to LRT. We also moved closer to the City’s revamped bus network begin this year — advancing our goal to deliver improved transit service. Better transit is an essential element in both City Plan and in our plan to combat climate change.
In fact, we’re in the final stages of updating our Community Energy Transition Strategy to achieve GHG reductions needed to limit warming to 1.5°C. As Edmontonians we have some of the highest per capita emissions in the world at approximately 17 tonnes per person. Along with this big footprint, we have opportunity and capacity for leadership and innovation… as long-time energy problem solvers in Alberta, we have an opportunity to be relevant and grow prosperity while we work to achieve climate stabilization.
To better support our entrepreneurs and business, we’ve completed restructuring of our economic development space. Innovate Edmonton has its new entrepreneur-led board in place, and they’ve just recruited the new CEO to support growth in our tech economy. This a particularly promising time in A.I and technology, and and in health, biotech where we have so much growth potential, as evidenced in part by DR. Michael Houghton’s recent Nobel Prize in virology.
We’ve also expanded our commitment to Edmonton Global, alongside our neighbouring municipalities, to bring more investment to our region, and work with the province on shared priorities to support jobs and the economy.
But economic growth that is not inclusive, an economy where people are left behind or marginalized, still creates big problems for society — and for cities —problems like chronic homelessness. But I’m glad to say that this year we saw the city make big progress on addressing homelessness in Edmonton.
When I renewed my call to end homelessness over the summer, my hope was to spur federal and provincial commitment for housing and social supports that address the root cause of homelessness. Through our advocacy, alongside the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Big City mayors, we were able to secure tangible investments as well as an elevated public commitment from the federal government to end chronic homelessness nationwide. This commitment came with a billion dollar investment in Rapid Housing — millions of which are now being invested in supportive housing here for those currently relying on our temporary accommodations at the Conference Centre.
To properly end homelessness however, we’ll need the commitment of all orders of government, which is why I’ll continue to press the province to commit to funding the embedded wrap-around support services, including addiction recovery services, so we can ensure those who do get a home can be stabilized, can heal, and can stay housed.
What I’m working on in 2020
There is still lots of work to be done on this issue — and on many others as we head into 2021, which will be an election year for the city.
I want to take a moment to express how grateful I am for the opportunity to serve Edmontonians. It has been an absolute honour, and while I’m far from finished my duties at City Hall, next year, voters will select some new councillors, and a new Mayor.
Until then, my focus remains on keeping Council and the City working to advance our priorities around the economy, climate, urbanism and community health, while responding as best we can to COVID-19.
This Council still has significant work before us: We need to make the most of the economic opportunities that come with an urgent transition to a low carbon future, from our work to develop the hydrogen industry in the Edmonton metro region, to the construction and retrofitting of more high efficiency buildings.
I will work to further strengthen metropolitan collaboration with neighbouring municipalities as we get even more focused on attracting investment to our region.
We are also continuing to tackle systemic racism in our institutions while enhancing community safety and police accountability, with advice from our Community Safety and Wellbeing task force and our Anti-Racism Advisory Committee.And I will continue to serve as chair of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Big City Mayors Caucus, where I will focus on advancing our important work with the Federal Government on creating jobs while building infrastructure, expanding transit, affordable housing, and enabling cities to do more to tackle climate change.
Even though my time here will end next year, I still love, and will always love City Hall because it often feels like the last place in politics where you can find real open debate, where an idea can grow and change and improve with input from the public and from council members different perspectives, and where experts in our civil service and industry and labour leaders can make a transparent and constructive impact on community decisions.
City Hall is still the best place to build a shared vision for our community, which is essential to hope, and to overcoming short-termism. Sadly, however, I do see more toxic division, wilful misinformation and even bullying all leaching into our civic discourse.
I ran for Council in 2007 to help raise the level of public debate in this city, and for me one of the most important tests of leadership is a fidelity to facts and the truth, allied with openness to different perspectives and values.
Open, respectful debate that doesn’t attack personalities is the culture I have worked to build with our civil service, other governments and with council, and I sincerely hope that civility endures and grows beyond next year. As citizens, as candidates, and as elected leaders, that culture will always be in your hands. So choose wisely next fall!
Light at the end of tunnel
In the meantime, in the midst of partial pandemic shutdown, it might be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. COVID-19 continues to ravage our communities, unemployment is high, many households are struggling financially and emotionally, and we’ll be separated from loved ones this holiday season as we hibernate for health to keep the virus at bay.
But, remember this too shall pass — just this month we saw the first Edmontonian receive their COVID-19 vaccine and while there is no doubt the virus has had an enormous economic impact, your city remains committed to helping see you through. Which is why Council and administration worked so hard during our recent budget discussions to reach a property tax freeze for the year.
The 2021 Budget strikes a difficult balance between finding efficiencies during these trying economic times, while also ensuring we’re supporting economic recovery and protecting key city services and infrastructure you rely on.
We are going to get to the other side of this virus, and when we do I hope that what we take from these trying times is a sense of what community can accomplish when we pull together. And we have seen that strength of community continue through the pandemic — whether that be your support of local businesses, or looking out for neighbours and elders.
Once the vaccine is widely available, many things will return to a new kind of normal — resurgent community life, our festivals and arts community, and our epic food and hospitality scene — will continue to shine — if we show up for them. Yes some things will be changed, but I’m hopeful many will be for the better, because we’ll be better for this shared experience and strengthened community bonds.
I’ve been reflecting a lot on the history of the last pandemic, and remember the ‘roaring twenties’ followed the Spanish Flu, and were testament to the pent up demand for life and experience and community after the quarantines, the masks, the tragedy and the hardships the world endured. And few among us have been through anything like this before, many will remember the recession of the 80’s — and most importantly, what came out of it: Our festival scene, the arts community that we have here, and a massive growth in volunteerism and civic engagement that came from
Edmontonians taking the destiny of their city into their own hands, and not just assume that it was all going to take care of itself. That do-it-yourself spirit is still in our DNA — and it’s that spirit that will see us through this hardship.
Thank you
I want to end by saying thank you. Thank you to Edmontonians who are going above and beyond to help and support their fellow residents. Thank you to our health care workers, first responders, and other key front-line workers who have so diligently, and with great sacrifice, seen us through and will continue to see us through this pandemic.
And thank you to the many Edmontonians who are doing their part to save lives, by staying home as much as possible, wearing a mask, following other public health orders, and remembering to stay kind.
Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Edmonton!