Category: A fiscally responsible city

Winter/Spring term wrap-up

Council held its last meeting for the winter/spring term last week and, upon reflection, it struck me as a term when we moved mountains and, at the same time, pushed difficult inches forward on important initiatives. We head into summer break with a busy fall in front of us. Here are just a few of… Read More

Shaping a more equitable region

In my annual State of the City address this spring, I spent a good portion of my speech talking about how a more functional, balanced Edmonton Metro Region is vital to ensuring our shared prosperity. On this theme, our City Council recently evaluated a report by an independent panel commissioned by nine of the region’s… Read More

Modernizing the MGA

Most people don’t realize that the actions of any municipality – whether it’s Edmonton or Evansburg – are governed by a piece of provincial legislation called the Municipal Government Act (aka the MGA). As far as documents go, they don’t come much thicker than the MGA – mainly because of the incredible complexity that comes… Read More

Rolling out a better transit system

Imagine it’s -10º and you’re standing at a bus shelter, travel mug in hand, waiting patiently for a bus to take you to work. You’re not a regular transit user, but you’re curious whether you can reduce your car expenses, relieve roadway congestion and make a dent in your carbon footprint. Within a few minutes… Read More

Calculating the real costs of our growth

Yesterday, city administration released a report that estimates the expected costs and revenues the city’s recently approved ‘greenfields’ (i.e. new suburban developments) will generate over a 50-year term. These are called our ‘Urban Growth Areas’ and they are essentially the outer 3 corners of our city, and they are very large in scale. It should… Read More