With the adoption of Policy C518 (pdf) in March 2006, City Council started identifying and assigning Council Initiatives, “projects that Council deems would benefit from having a Councillor as a sponsor.” At its December 11, 2013 meeting, our current City Council approved the list of initiatives for the 2013-2017 term.
The following initiatives from the 2010-2013 term were renewed (the Councillor assignments, as volunteered, are in brackets):
- Northern Relationships/Circumpolar (Gibbons, Iveson, Caterina)
- Arts & Culture (Henderson, McKeen)
- Economic Development
- Heartland (Iveson, Gibbons)
- Startups (Oshry)
- Port Alberta (Nickel)
- Housing (Iveson, Henderson)
- Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination (Iveson, Henderson, Sohi)
- Indigenous Peoples Strategy (Iveson, Caterina, Henderson)
- Multiculturalism (Iveson, Sohi)
- Next Gen (Oshry, Knack*)
- Public Transit (Knack, Sohi)
- Recreation (Anderson)
- Seniors (Knack, Sohi)
- Traffic Safety (Esslinger, Loken)
The following initiatives are new (the Councillor assignments, as volunteered, are in brackets):
- Child Friendly Edmonton (Esslinger)
- Communities in Bloom (Nickel)
- ELEVATE (Esslinger, Walters)
- Public Engagement Initiative (Henderson, Walters)
- Urban Isolation/Mental Health (McKeen)
- Winter Cities (Henderson, McKeen)
- Women’s Initiative (Iveson, Esslinger)
- Post-Secondary Relations (Iveson, Knack, Esslinger)
Here’s a look at all the initiatives by Councillor for the 2013-2017 term:
| Councillor | Initiatives |
|---|---|
|
Anderson (Ward 9) |
– Recreation |
|
Caterina (Ward 7) |
– Northern Relationships/Circumpolar – Indigenous People’s Strategy |
|
Esslinger (Ward 2) |
– Child Friendly Edmonton – ELEVATE – Women’s Initiative – Post-Secondary Relations |
|
Gibbons (Ward 4) |
– Northern Relationships/Circumpolar – Economic Development – Heartland |
|
Henderson (Ward 8) |
– Arts & Culture – Housing – Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination – Indigenous People’s Strategy – Public Engagement Initiative – Winter Cities |
|
Iveson (Mayor) |
– Northern Relationships/Circumpolar – Economic Development – Heartland – Housing – Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination – Indigenous People’s Strategy – Multiculturalism – Women’s Initiative – Post-Secondary Relations |
|
Knack (Ward 1) |
– Next Gen* – Public Transit – Seniors – Post-Secondary Relations |
|
Loken (Ward 3) |
– Traffic Safety |
|
McKeen (Ward 6) |
– Arts & Culture – Urban Isolation/Mental Health – Winter Cities |
|
Nickel (Ward 11) |
– Economic Development – Port Alberta – Communities in Bloom |
|
Oshry (Ward 5) |
– Economic Development – Startups – Next Gen |
|
Sohi (Ward 12) |
– Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination – Multiculturalism – Public Transit – Seniors |
|
Walters (Ward 10) |
– ELEVATE – Public Engagement Initiative |
The following initiatives from the 2010-2013 term were considered complete and are now discontinued:
- City of Learners (mandate complete and to be continued by EPL)
- Community Sustainability (to be re-focused through ELEVATE)
- Environment (moving into implementation)
- External Affairs (covered with board appointments)
- Transforming Edmonton (mandate complete and operationalized)
- Agri-Food/Urban Agriculture
Council approved the above initiative assignments and closures unanimously. The next step is for Administration to bring forward updated Terms of Reference for each.
One impact of declaring these initiatives is that Administration is required by the policy to include all Council Initiatives in business plans and budgets. That makes it possible (to an extent) to track resources and progress on each.
These initiatives aren’t highlighted and assigned just for show. You can expect to see Councillors at any media events related to their initiatives of course, but there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that each will do as well.
In addition to the initiatives above, Councillors are also appointed to various boards and committees. There is a limited amount of overlap.
I am a little surprised that the Environment initiative was closed, with no related initiative put forward to replace it. Especially given the direction Edmonton is heading as a leader in sustainability and waste management. I am very pleased to see a new initiative focused on public engagement, however.
* – Though the documents do not reflect it, Councillor Knack has confirmed that he too is on the Next Gen initiative.
MasterMaq's Blog 
What is ELEVATE?
Good question, I should have posted a link. It’s a report that was generated by the Community Sustainability Task Force. The name is now used to refer to the report’s recommendations and community sustainability more generally. http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/initiatives_innovation/elevate.aspx