Danisha Bhaloo is the right choice for Ward 12

Much has already been said about the large number of candidates running for Council in next week’s Ward 12 by-election. Choosing from 31 names is certainly daunting, but fortunately there are some quality candidates to consider. Irfan Chaudhry has run a solid campaign and would bring a strong focus on diversity and inclusion to Council. I continue to be impressed by Lincoln Ho‘s passion for Edmonton and his thoughtful ideas. Moe Banga would bring solid credentials in addressing crime & safety. But there’s one candidate who I believe stands out as the right choice for Ward 12. And that’s Danisha Bhaloo.

danisha bhaloo

After receiving her BA in Criminology from the University of Alberta, Danisha went on to become Alberta’s youngest Probation Officer. She made the move to the not-for-profit sector shortly thereafter and for the last few years has been the Manager of Fund Development with Boys & Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton. BGCBigs is an organization Danisha has a lot of history with. “My teenage years were difficult,” she wrote in 2013, but thankfully her mother enrolled her in the Big Sisters program. Danisha credits the experience with helping her overcome the challenges she was facing at the time.

Danisha’s experience has fueled her committment to improving the lives of Edmonton’s children and families ever since. I first got to know Danisha when she was the President of the Youth Restorative Action Project and Director of the Inner City Children’s Project. I found her to be very driven and compassionate. She has continued to make important community contributions in the years since, joining the Edmonton John Howard Society board, the Edmonton Opera board, and the University of Alberta Senate, among many others. The common thread throughout her work has been a focus on community and ensuring others have the support and opportunities they need to lead happy, healthy lives here in Edmonton.

Along the way, Danisha has earned a number of awards and honors. In 2009 she was chosen to receive the Distinguished Nominee for the Ron Wiebe Restorative Justice Award by Correctional Services of Canada. She was named one of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 and one of Edmonton’s Sizzling 20 under 30 in 2013. And in 2014 she recieved the Alumni Horizon Award recognizing “the outstanding achievements of University of Alberta alumni early in their careers.” This is just a small snapshot of the recognition she has received.

“My life, both professionally and personally, centers around improving the lives of children and families in our community. That’s what keeps me motivated,” she said in a 2014 interview.

I think Danisha has run a solid campaign. She has heard from residents about the need for crime prevention and community safety and she understands that different parts of the ward experience these issues differently. Danisha is supportive of building LRT and of ensuring that Ward 12 has great connections to the Valley Line. She’d also like to review DATS and has spoken about the important work of the Transit Strategy review that the City is currently conducting. She views the cultural diversity of Ward 12 as an asset and something to be celebrated. She is supportive of the service review that Council has asked for, but understands the need for balance.

I really like Danisha’s position on public engagement and the fact that she has joined one of the working groups as part of the Council Initiative on Public Engagement. “We need to be as diverse in how we connect with Edmontonians to reflect the diversity of Edmontonians themselves,” she wrote in response to my survey on the issue.

Her position on women’s issues is also encouraging. She agrees with many of us who feel that we need more women in leadership positions throughout the city and her approach to achieving that is focused on mentorship and leadership. “I will look for ways to ensure we are asking the tough questions of ourselves for the agencies and boards to which we appoint Edmontonians,” she responded, “where we have opportunities in the City to mentor strong female leaders, and set a good example of leadership on this issue for members and organizations in our community.”

I don’t agree with Danisha on everything. She’s a little more sympathetic to the taxi industry than I am, and I don’t think she’s tough enough on the issue of police spending. But what’s important is that she is able to have a healthy, constructive debate about these and other issues. Danisha is open to new ideas and information, and she’s willing to consider alternative perspectives. These are important skills and attributes that any City Councillor needs to have in order to work collaboratively to get things done for Edmontonians.

danisha bhaloo

It’s true that Danisha does not live in Ward 12. She did grow up in the ward and does still own property there, however. I asked Danisha about this and her position was that the ward is very diverse, so living in one neighbourhood doesn’t mean you automatically understand the needs and challenges of the others. Whether you live in the ward or not, you’re going to have to work hard to represent your constituents effectively. My preference is definitely for a Councillor to live in the ward that he or she represents, but it’s not a deal-breaker for me. What’s more important is, can they do the job and are they willing to put in the work? I think the answer for Danisha is a clear yes.

I believe Danisha is in this race for the right reasons. She’s running to contribute to her community and to help move Edmonton forward. The reason that Danisha was first to announce her candidacy was because this is not a decision she made on a whim. This is not just a stepping stone for her. This is a logical step forward in a career built on public service.

I do think increasing the cultural and gender diversity of City Council would be a good thing, but I don’t believe we should accept candidates less suited to the role just to achieve that. Fortunately with Danisha, that’s not an issue.

Amarjeet Sohi represented Ward 12 very effectively during his time on Council. He brought important leadership and perspective to the table, both for his constituents and for all Edmontonians. No candidate should seek to fill his shoes, but should instead bring their own ideas, strengths, and abilities to the table. I know that Danisha will do all of that and that Ward 12 residents would be very well represented if they chose her as their Councillor. I also know that like Amarjeet Sohi, Danisha will consider the bigger picture in serving as a member of City Council.

If I were voting in Monday’s election, I’d be voting for Danisha Bhaloo.

A closer look at the issues Ward 12 candidates care about

I’ve been looking through all the Ward 12 candidate websites (well, those that have websites) to find information on their platforms. As expected there are a few common themes, but not a lot of detail.

I’d say the top three issues that candidates talk about is community safety, transportation, and fiscal responsibility. Nearly every candidate says they want to reduce crime, improve roads or transit or both, and ensure citizens receive good value for money. Quite a few candidates mentioned reducing or eliminating poverty and/or homelessness, but never as a top priority.

Most candidates mention the Valley Line LRT one way or another. Some like Brian Henderson highlight the importance of LRT expansion, while others like Jag Gill say that the Valley Line needs oversight to ensure it is completed on time and budget. Don Koziak would “reallocate LRT funding to improve vehicular traffic flow.” David Staples spoke with a number of candidates on this issue, as did Vue Weekly.

I thought that the Vehicle for Hire issue would come up more, but only Moe Banga, Dan Johnstone, Nav Kaur, Balraj Manhas, and Nicole Szymanowka mention it on their websites. Many candidates shared their thoughts on Uber with Metro Edmonton, however.

Some eye-catching ideas include Mike Butler‘s “sky train idea”, Dan Johnstone‘s pledge to donate $10,000 of his salary, and Jason Bale‘s pledge to spend just $100 on his campaign. Shani Ahmad, Sam Jhajj, and Balraj Manhas, and Steve Toor all talk about fixing potholes. Mike Butler, Jag Gill, and Dan Johnstone all mention photo radar and either reviewing or banning the program.

A few candidates went with a slogan. Nick Chamchuk‘s is “Cold Hands & Feet, Warm Heart”. Lincoln Ho went with “Keep. Moving. Forward.” Yash Sharma‘s slogan is “People Living in Harmony”. And Preet Toor chose “Moving Forward for Better Communities”.

There are four candidates that actually provided some details behind their platform priorities. It’s one thing to say that you support improving transportation, for instance, and quite another to provide some ideas on how you’d go about doing that. I certainly don’t agree with all of the ideas presented, but I appreciate that these candidates made the effort to go a bit deeper.

Jason Bale wants to increase the fines for speeding in school zones, implement free 24-hour public transit, install city-wide video surveillance of public areas, and bring esports to Edmonton to boost tourism. If elected he would work to establish a cap on the amount election candidates can spend. I like his idea for saving money on signs, but unfortunately the weather hasn’t been cooperating: “In lieu of producing costly lawn signs, I am asking my supporters to write ‘100’ in the snow in front of their homes and businesses.”

Irfan Chaudhry would work to create incentive-based structures within agreements to ensure projects are complete on time and budget. He would work with EPS and the Chief’s Advisory Council to improve public safety. He would support creating share social spaces (such as community gardens) and would work with universities and colleges to enable the donation of unused U-Passes to the “Donate a Ride” program. He would work on developing “Edmonton for All”, a strategic plan for making Edmonton a welcoming and inclusive city, and he’d help Administration establish a Local Immigration Partnership Council.

Lincoln Ho has perhaps the most specific and wide-ranging list of priorities. He wants to establish text-to-911 for everyone, widen major roads and add additional access points to the Anthony Henday, add trams to the public transit mix, and utilize land along the Anthony Henday for urban farmland and large scale community gardens. He’d also like to implement free transit to the river valley, create specially designed parks/playgrounds for pets, vary speed limits on Whitemud Drive, and use traffic circles instead of traffic lights in new developments.

Steve Toor wants better lighting for pedestrian crosswalks, more citizens involved in neighbourhood watches, more thorough snow removal in school zones, to reduce or cap bus fares, to create more park ‘n ride locations for the LRT, to add more bus routes into newer areas, and to reduce interest rates.

If “progressive issues” are your jam, then check out the analysis from Progress Alberta. If you think gender diversity and women’s initiatives are importance, check out the Women’s Initiative survey. Metro Edmonton asked candidates for their thoughts on the police budget. And in case you missed it, here’s my candidate survey on Edmonton as an open, transparent, accountable, and engaged city.

Ward 12 candidate survey on Edmonton as an open, transparent, accountable, and engaged city

One of the issues I care a lot about is public engagement and ensuring Edmonton is open, transparent, and accountable to citizens. During the 2013 Municipal Election, the topic of public engagement came up frequently enough that it made quite an impression on most of the Councillors who were elected. I thought it would be useful to hear from Ward 12 candidates on this important issue.

I sent a survey to all candidates last week asking for their views on Edmonton as an open, transparent, accountable, and engaged city. Each of those topics is broad, so I decided to anchor each with a specific initiative – the Open City Initiative for open, the Open Data Catalogue for transparent, the Citizen Dashboard for accountable, and the Council Initiative on Public Engagement for engaged.

For each section, I asked three similar questions:

Before today, were you familiar with the initiative?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the topic/initiative
What are your thoughts on the initiative/topic?

Out of 31 candidates, 14 responded to the survey: Jason Bale, Moe Banga, Danisha Bhaloo, Victor Viorel Bujor, Nick Chamchuk, Irfan Chaudhry, Jag Gill, Lincoln Ho, Nav Kaur, Rory Koopmans, Rakesh Patel, Nicole Szymanowka, Laura Thibert, and Stephen Wutzke. You can view all the responses here.

I expected a lot of “yes” responses to the question about being familiar with a given initiative, and that’s what I got. After all, what candidate wants to admit they don’t know about something? Though a few did suggest that maybe the City hasn’t done enough to market or promote the initiatives, and that’s a fair point.

On the rating of each topic, I decided to adopt a Net Promoter Score-type approach to the results, primarily to help group the data. Here’s the overview:

ward 12 candidate ratings

As you can see, candidates feel the City is doing well on being accountable whereas they feel there is clearly room for improvement on public engagement practices.

Below is the preamble I included for each section, and a selection of candidate responses, edited for length. Again, you can view all the responses in full here.

Open City Initiative

Edmonton has an Open City Initiative, described as follows: “Edmonton is aspiring to fulfill its role as a preeminent global city: innovative, inclusive and engaged. Building such a city takes foresight, planning and active participation by its citizens. A great city is an open city.” You can learn more about the Open City Initiative here.

What are your thoughts on the Open City Initiative and/or on Edmonton being a more open city? Here are some of their responses (edited for length):

Moe Banga:

“This is an excellent initiative for not only the citizens of Edmonton but it also focuses on the City employees. I think the opportunity is offered to all of us if we want to be the recipient of extensive information available in the operation of the City. It certainly allows for transparency.”

Nick Chamchuk:

“I like freedom of information, but know all about VOIP laws, it’ll be tough to implement. I think info should be available to anyone, easily obtained. I think in most cases, transparency is a myth, a buzzword by people who are not transparent. This is a noble endaevor that I would support as Ward 12 Councilor.”

Irfan Chaudhry:

“I like the fact that the City of Edmonton has opened up access to data for residents to learn more about issues that impact our lives. My biggest critique with this, however, is that it is not very accessible to those who do not have familiarity with pulling data and analyzing it though various stats programs. I would like to build on the Open City initiative and find ways of making it more accessible for residents to use in order to assist community leagues and residents in being informed.”

Jag Gill:

“The Open City Initiative is an excellent program for the citizens of Edmonton. I believe we are ranked number one among all Canadian municipalities when it comes to open initiatives. There is room for improvement, like increasing public awareness that we have an open initiative programs.”

Nav Kaur:

“I believe strongly in open and transparent government, as well as open data. It is wonderful that all of this has been and continues to be made available to Edmontonians. That said, I believe [some] aspects of the initiative can be improved. Without attention to accessibility, communication, and focus of the work, the Open City initiative runs the risk of being limited in its scope and effectiveness, as it would only reach a limited audience.”

Stephen Wutzke:

“It’s a good idea. I like the idea of letting people give their feedback. I do not think they are hearing from everyone. This social media initiative only targets a very small number of people and won’t give an accurate view of what the overall population really think. It will take time before we start hearing from the majority. I sincerely hope that when the silent majority become vocal the city won’t simply dismiss what they have to say when they realize most of us want energy sector jobs, elbow room, and a place to park a truck.”

Open Data Catalogue

As part of its Open City Initiative, the City of Edmonton has made hundreds of datasets available for free to anyone via its Open Data Catalogue. You can learn more about the Open Data Catalogue here and you can see all of the datasets available here.

What are your thoughts on the Open Data Catalogue and/or on being transparent and open to citizens? Here are some of their responses (edited for length):

Jason Bale:

“Open data is great, though I’m not too sure how many people are aware of it.”

Danisha Bhaloo:

“It is a good opportunity for Edmontonians to participate in data analysis in new ways that we can take advantage of as a city for sourcing creative and unique ways of looking at how we do business as a city.”

Rory Koopmans:

“Its a rigged catalogue from what I can see, the questions are rigged to fit the progressive vision of Mayor Iveson & make Edmontonians even poorer.”

Rakesh Patel:

“Data has no meaning unless there are professionals to interpret and provide recommendations and trends based on the data. City’s red tape does not allow professionals to enter the fray.”

Laura Thibert:

“I think anything the city can do to be more open and transparent to the citizens of Edmonton is a great initiative. Independent analysis of information allows for a different perspectives of city issues. This initiative can assist in working with and for community members to improve city services and to get the best value for our tax dollars. The Open Data Catalogue allows citizens to have an open dialogue with Councillors on particular issues with facts. As a Councillor, I will work with administration to continually add data to the Open Data Catalogue.”

Nicole Szymanowka:

“The city has done a great job with the open data catalogue and synthesized the information in a way that is easy to understand by the general public. This initiative brought a lot of information together into 1 place where it can be found and I personally think it does a great job of providing essential information that citizens should be aware of.”

Citizen Dashboard

Building upon the information available in the Open Data Catalogue, the City of Edmonton has built a Citizen Dashboard that provides performance metrics against various goals identified in The Way Ahead, the City’s Strategic Plan. You can learn more about the Citizen Dashboard here, and you can see the dashboard in action here.

What are your thoughts on the Citizen Dashboard and/or on being accountable to citizens? Here are some of their responses (edited for length):

Jason Bale:

“I use the dashboard. I do not like the UI, but I don’t have suggestions for anything better. We need to be accountable to citizens and this is a great tool to do so.”

Irfan Chaudhry:

“I work for the City of Edmonton and did not realize such a tool was available. This is great and should be more widely known about. Again, I think a “how to” video might be helpful for users t understand how the data can be interpreted. Something very high level where when a user comes to the site, they know what the figures mean.”

Jag Gill:

“This is my favorite feature of the open city initiative. Very easy to use and informative for a wide range of data. Could use some improvement like the CPI should be compared to the national average and to other municipalities.”

Nav Kaur:

“It is fantastic that the City has developed a tool that shows how they can be more accountable to citizens and has been intentional in making a simple-to-use and plain language tool. With everything from the number of potholes filled to the City’s current greenhouse gas emissions, this dashboard provides citizens with a wealth of information about our city. Again, my questions about this particular tool are who is using it, and how often they access the data. The average citizen of Edmonton is not aware that the Citizen Dashboard exists. This needs to be improved upon. The City should absolutely be held to account by citizens, and this data source provides the opportunity to do so.”

Rakesh Patel:

“It is a pity that the city officials are wasting tax payers’ money in efforts like tabulating how many pets are returned to owners? This is ridiculous. This is the time to work towards new investments. To create and safeguard jobs. To hire efficient professionals. Citizen dashboard in the present form is just a westage of time and money.”

Stephen Wutzke:

“Livability is missing a section to discuss green space. What used to make this city special was the large volume of green space. We were on of the top cities in Canada for green space per capita. What I’m seeing today is that the city is ripping down our green space and giving the rest to dogs.”

Public Engagement

Improving public engagement was identified as a key area of focus for both City Council and City Administration following the 2013 Municipal Election. That has led to the creation of the Council Initiative on Public Engagement, a collaborative effort to define and implement public engagement strategies. You can learn more about the initiative here.

What are your thoughts on improving public engagement in Edmonton? Here are some of their responses (edited for length):

Danisha Bhaloo:

“There are many tools available to us that we currently do not use to reach out to citizens. We have opportunities to get this and it appears to me that we are still using old methods that don’t work in a modern environment. We need to go to the people, where they are, instead of asking them to come to us on our schedule. So I think we could be doing this very differently, more cost effectively, and with more community buy-in if we try some new ideas in public engagement.”

Irfan Chaudhry:

“I know the City of Edmonton is committed to public engagement. But we have to do it effectively and in meaningful ways. The Office of Public Engagement, for example, provides useful resources on how to publicly engage, however, they do not provide direct public engagement for city departments. To me, this is a huge gap. It is unrealistic to put the onus on separate departments to conduct community engagement sessions without the needed time and/or expertise. I would like to see how we can empower the Office of Public Engagement to provide this service to other city departments.”

Nav Kaur:

“When thinking about engagement and including the people who live in Edmonton in the decision making processes that affect our lives, we need to think about the systemic barriers that limit people’s engagement in the first place. As a community organizer who has lived in Ward 12 all my life, I have a detailed understanding of the population that calls the ward home and how it has been changing over the last several decades.”

Rory Koopmans:

“Frankly the way council takes in citizen input is a joke as they already do everything pre ordained behind closed doors.”

Lincoln Ho:

“I know the city hosts public engagement and consultation forums all over the city all the time. However, based on my experience attending some of these, it’s a waste of time. They make the citizen FEEL engaged, but change doesn’t happen. That’s the disconnect that needs to be addressed.”

Laura Thibert:

“I believe community engagement is critical to the role of city Councillor. It is important that we find different avenues to encourage community engagement, such making it easier to respond to on-line surveys. In addition to engaging the community with the initial consultation, it is vital that Councillors and city officials follow up with the community with the outcomes of the consultation.”

Nicole Szymanowka:

“I would like to see public engagement higher overall in Edmonton. Especially on gathering ideas and feedback before decisions are made instead of gathering reactions to decisions that were made.”

Additional Thoughts

I also gave candidates the opportunity to share any other thoughts they might have at the end of the survey. Here are some of their responses (edited for length):

Moe Banga:

“This is my home and my community. I will work to make it a thriving, vibrant part of Edmonton. I have the experience, I have the drive and I have the commitment needed to properly represent your needs on City Council. My track record proves that I am a person who gets things done.”

Danisha Bhaloo:

“As our city demographics change, we need to make sure our ways of reaching out are suitable to our population, that includes age, background and level of technology use. We also should engage different community leaders to be part of the conversations around how best to reach out to their communities in meaningful ways, including being aware of language barriers and cultural norms. We need to be as diverse in how we connect with Edmontonians to reflect the diversity of Edmontonians themselves.”

Nick Chamchuk:

“I think if politicians, and wanna-be’s lied less, the public would like them more, leading the way for progress, with these initiatives.”

Lincoln Ho:

“While open data and engagement are great initiatives for the youth, it doesn’t capture the snapshot of the entire population nor its actual needs. Data can easily be manipulated and misinterpreted, so users and people who receive information from those who use open data need to understand that. Otherwise, it’s a great initiative other cities should follow.”

Rakesh Patel:

“Increasing property taxes should be the last resort but over the past decade, this has not been the case. My platform is logical though revolutionary and this is how I stand out from my esteemed prospective candidates. I advocate for lowering property taxes. I believe in developing new sources of revenue generation. I will be a change agent to bring new investments and re-brand the city; and be instrumental in re-naming our city as the ‘City of Champions’.”

Nicole Szymanowka:

“I personally have noticed and followed Edmonton’s effort in the past decade to modernize it’s image and create a lively, modern, livable city. We are slowly building a stronger and greater city everyday. All these initiatives are central to that movement, now lets get everyone on board.”

Stephen Wutzke:

“What made Edmonton special was it’s green space and by destroying that we are destroying Edmonton. Many large cities have made efforts to protect the feel of wide open spaces. We have engineered congestion and that needs to stop. Green space and elbow room were what made this city special and we need to recover that.”

Thank you to all candidates who responded, and good luck on Monday!

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #190

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

Here are some thoughts on the shuttering of local news from CKUA CEO Ken Regan. “Acquiring and distributing reliable, fact-based news content in any professional media organization is labour intensive and expensive,” he wrote. “Real news after all does not arrive at the doorstep of the media.”
While I think suggesting Ezra Levant’s The Rebel “has become one of Albertans’ top Internet sources of reporting and commentary in just its first year in operation” is a bit of a stretch, Lorne Gunter makes some great points about the NDP’s apparent actions to prevent The Rebel from participating in media events. “It is very dangerous in a free society to give politicians, bureaucrats or government lawyers the power to determine who is and isn’t a journalist,” he wrote.
There’s a celebration of the life of Dave “Crash” Cameron taking place on Tuesday at 7pm at Cook County Saloon. You can learn more and share your memories here.
Tom Braid has announced that his last day at the Edmonton Sun will be February 19. “Gonna miss the pace and the craziness of being in the middle of the Tabloid tornado that was the Edmonton Sun photo the past 28 years (26 years in helping to or running this award winning department),” he wrote.
Mike Ross wrote about his 25 years of covering music at the Edmonton Sun.
After 12 years at City Hall, Gordon Kent is now taking on the role of business reporter at the Journal, replacing Bill Mah who was let go during last month’s cuts.
Congratulations to Amber Bracken and Ryan Jackson on being nominated in the 2015 National Pictures of the Year Awards.
CTV Edmonton’s new weekend anchor team, Dan Grummett and Shanelle Kaul, debuted on Saturday. Here’s more on the duo.
Mont Thirty, “Edmonton’s premiere photography-based magazine”, is launching on Saturday, February 27. “Created and designed right here locally by three photographers, Dexter Da Silva, Redd Angelo, and Chan Rin (Vivid Ribbon Photography and Founder of UrbanYEG), Mont Thirty is a bi-monthly magazine that features the top 30 photos in each issue.” The first issue is slated to be distributed in mid-March.
Episode 29 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast features Lori Godin, the woman behind Frugal Edmonton Mama, among other sites.
The local film & television industry has been in the news recently. Some feel with the low Canadian dollar that we should be able to attract more productions. Council discussed the issue and decided (surprise, surprise) to gather more information about the film commissioner role and office before making any changes.
The First Kiss and other Rites of Passage, a ten-part documentary series filmed on location in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Grand Prairie, launched on TELUS Optik on Thursday.
APTN is “readying an offbeat new Canadian sitcom based on the webseries Delmer & Marta” which was shot in Edmonton and features Aboriginal actors and comedians Sheldon Elter and Howie Miller.
A new podcast from the Edmonton City as Museum Project launched on Thursday. For now they have committed to a three-part pilot, but I hope it sticks around longer than that!
The St. Albert Gazette is looking for an assistant editor.
The Aboriginal Commission on Human Rights & Justice held a dialogue on the role of media in reconciliation on Friday.
To help celebrate Family Day, here’s a look at how parenthood changed the Global Edmonton family.

Ricardo Miranda, Minister of Culture and Tourism, announces $10 million in funding to support non-profits, photo by Premier of Alberta

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

Here are Linda’s latest social media notes. Looks like it was a busy week for Twitter news, with much fretting about the algorithmic timeline, now in beta.
Rogers Media has begun the 200 job cuts they announced last month. And according to The Huffington Post Canada, Canadian Business magazine “may be on the verge of closing its doors after 87 years.”
Sirius XM Canada might be going private in deal that values it at $750 million, or it might have been approached with a takeover deal.
This one is on my “to read” list for the week: Inside Harvey Levin’s TMZ.
From Poynter: How BuzzFeed built an investigative team inside a viral hit factory.
If print is dead and digital isn’t the future, is there a viable economic model for a written news product? If your worldview depends on advertising, then perhaps not.

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for 2/14/2016

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Monday is Family Day, and the City of Edmonton is encouraging you to “turn off your devices and treat yourself to some face time with loved ones by pledging to share at least 2 hours technology-free.”
A total of 3,721 residents cast a ballot in the Ward 12 Advance Vote this week. Election Day is February 22.
Covenant Health issued “a fiery statement this week, in opposition to the Supreme Court’s rulings on physician-assisted death.” Paula Simons argues that if they aren’t going to obey the law, they shouldn’t get public funds to run public hospitals. I agree.
Details are expected to be released this week for Vision 2020, the Northlands plan to redevelop the entire 160 acre site including Rexall Place. Council has seen the “Ice Coliseum” concept and Mayor Iveson called the plan “creative”. I’ve seen the plan too, and would describe it as ambitious. Realistic? Maybe not.
Hundreds of newcomers to Edmonton, including many from Syria, were welcomed on Saturday at a big event at Rundle Park featuring Mayor Iveson, Oiler Andrew Ference, Deputy Premier Sarah Hoffman, and many more.
Nine new schools are slated to open in September 2017, and EPSB is looking for help naming each school. The deadline for suggestions is February 28.
“From a single small power plant in 1891 to a power and water company in more than 100 communities today.” EPCOR is celebrating 125 years in 2016.
This is pretty cool: “The City of Edmonton and Enoch Cree Nation announced the renaming of 23 Ave between Anthony Henday and 215 Street to Maskêkosihk Trail, pronounced ‘Muss-Kay-Go-See’.” There’s more in the news release here.
From OilersNation: Could the Edmonton Oilers survive a $4MM drop in the salary cap?
The University of Alberta’s Sexual Violence Review Group has released a report that contains 46 recommendations to enhance the campus community’s response to sexual assault.
Avenue Edmonton’s Best Neighbourhood Survey is back for 2016. The survey closes April 30 and you can fill it out here.
Here’s a feature on the energy downtown, including a video featuring Mayor Don Iveson racing the Big E.
ICYMI: Here’s my look at what’s coming up at Council in the week ahead.
For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Stand With Ghosts, photo by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

If you haven’t yet visited the Ice Castle at Hawrelak Park, you may want to do that soon! The warm weather means the castle may not be around for much longer. They wrote on Facebook: “We plan to be open through Silver Skate Festival. Beyond that remains uncertain, due to the changing weather conditions. We will stay open as long as we can.”
Of course tomorrow is as good a day as any to visit, being Family Day! There are also activities at City Hall and at the Legislature.
The Silver Skate Festival started on Friday and continues at Hawrelak Park through Sunday, February 21.
The Oil Kings host the Tri-City Americans at Rexall Place on Family Day!
The Wildfire Festival continues starting Tuesday at the Citadel Theatre.
The Oilers host the Ducks on Tuesday evening, the Wild on Thursday, and the Avalanche on Saturday.
EEDC is hosting an International Trade Seminar on Friday at the Mercer Warehouse.
On Friday the Bellevue Social Club presents Old Wives & Gateway Boulevard.
The Hypothermic Half Marathon takes place again on Sunday at the Highlands Golf Club.
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Lunar New Year in Chinatown with Councillor McKeen, the God of Fortune

Recap: Jasper in January 2016

A few weeks ago I spent a couple of days in Jasper with Sharon. We were invited by Tourism Jasper to experience Jasper in January, the 27th annual festival that aims to showcase everything Jasper has to offer. Guests are encouraged to “stave off the urge to hibernate” and to “embrace winter”. The weekend getaway came at the perfect time for us, as we needed a couple of days to unwind.

Tourism Jasper put us up in the Crimson Hotel, a part of the Mountain Park Lodges family, and covered our transportation and event tickets for the culinary events we visited during our stay. They also arranged for our travel to Jasper, via the SunDog Tour shuttle that regularly travels between Edmonton and Jasper, with stops at Edson and Hinton along the way. We simply took ETS to West Edmonton Mall where we met the shuttle outside the Fantasyland Hotel (their other local stop is the Edmonton International Airport). The only downside of taking the shuttle is that we were on their schedule of course, so we didn’t arrive in Jasper until nearly 8pm.

Had to take a pic with Wayne Gretzky!

Our weekend was themed “appetites”, sandwiched between the “adventure” and “arts” weekends. First on the agenda was the Wine in Winter Welcome Reception. After checking into the hotel, we made the short walk over to the Chateau Jasper and found the event well underway. The reception featured wines from around the world, plus a small selection of cheeses and appetizers. The food was not very memorable, but we had fun with Linda & Mike trying to figure out who was giving the largest pours of wine!

My breakfast at Wicked Cup

Our first stop in the morning was at Wicked Cup. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, and our coffee and breakfast was delicious. I think most people in our group were surprised at the portion sizes!

Mike, Linda, and Sharon getting ready for snowshoeing

After breakfast a shuttle took us out to Marmot Meadows where we had the opportunity to do some snowshowing! The area features 9km of cross country ski trails and a new winterized warming shelter. It’s also part of the Jasper Dark Sky Preserve, the second largest dark sky preserve in the world.

Sharon snowshoeing

We had fun snowshowing, especially as we got to use the new, modern, aluminum style snowshoes!

Linda and Sharon racing

We walked through some of the grounds as a group, then had some free time to explore on our own. Linda and Sharon used the opportunity to race! It was close, but I think Sharon won, mainly because Linda stumbled and fell!

Behind-the-scenes at the Jasper Brewing Company

For lunch the shuttle took the group to the Jasper Brewing Company. It opened in 2005 and was Canada’s first National Park brewery. They brought us all a ton of appetizers, and I ordered the beer sampler to try their six brews. It sounds like their Jasper the Bear Ale is the most popular, but I preferred the Liftline Cream Ale. After lunch, we got a quick tour of the (surprisingly small) brewery downstairs, where we learned that they don’t do anything to the water except remove the chlorine added to it. Makes sense considering they have natural mountain water from the Rockies!

Learning about backcountry cooking

After lunch the shuttle took us back out to Marmot Meadows where we were slated to learn about backcountry cooking. We had the opportunity to sample the stew and look at some of the backpacking cooking gear. We didn’t end up spending very long though, so that meant we had a couple of free hours to explore the town.

Linda taking an #elkie

Sharon and I walked around and did a bit of shopping, then we met up with Linda and Mike for a beer. It was nice to just relax for a bit! On the way back to the hotel we encountered a group of elk near the train tracks, and Linda couldn’t resist taking an “elkie”. Eventually a train went by and the elk were completely unphased, they must be used to it.

Dinner at the JPL

That evening we took a shuttle out to the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge for dinner. We were supposed to be having an “Orso Italian” dinner, but for whatever reason it was cancelled. They still put together an interesting menu for our media group though! Unfortunately the meal was rather inconsistent. My lobster pasta dish was great, with enough liquid and flavor, but others found theirs dry and a bit bland. Similarly the entrees were a mixed bag – it sounds like the ravioli prima vera was the best of the bunch.

After getting back to the hotel, Mike and I decided to head down to the Atha-B at the Athabasca Hotel where Tupelo Honey was playing. It made for a late night, but we had fun!

Athabasca Falls

Had we gone home on the same bus that took us to Jasper, Sharon and I would have left bright and early Sunday morning. But lucky for us, Phil and Robyn offered to let us catch a ride back with them. That meant we had a bit more time to explore Jasper! We started at Athabasca Falls, beautifully covered in snow and ice. It was a little tricky to find, but I’m so glad we did. Athabasca Falls “is not the highest or the widest waterfall in the Canadian Rockies but it is the most powerful.”

Possibly the most Canadian scene ever

After the falls, we made our way to Pyramid Lake. Ice skating, hockey, curling, skiing, sleigh rides – it was a winter wonderland!

Sharon curling at Pyramid Lake

We had lunch inside the lodge, then took the 40 minute sleigh ride along the shore. We also stopped to do a bit of curling on the lake! It was a very picturesque place to spend our final hours in Jasper. Thanks to Phil & Robyn for letting us tag along!

A real sleigh ride at Pyramid Lake

Here are a few clips from our trip:

Thanks to Tourism Jasper for a great weekend! You can see more of my photos from the weekend here. Also be sure to check out Linda’s recap here.

Coming up at City Council: February 15-19, 2016

It has been a couple of months since my last “Coming up at City Council” update – time to get back into the routine. Thanks to everyone who has provided positive feedback on this series!

Photo by City of Edmonton

Here’s my look at what Council will be discussing in the week ahead.

Meetings this week

Feburary 16 at 9:30am – City Council Meeting
February 17 at 1:30pm – City Council Public Hearing
February 19 at 9:30am – Council Services Committee Meeting
February 19 at noon – City Manager Recruitment Committee Meeting
February 19 at 1:30pm – Audit Committee Meeting

You can always see the latest City Council meetings on ShareEdmonton.

Infrastructure Report Card

Every year the City compiles an annual inventory of its infrastructure. The report for 2014 is now available while the 2015 inventory is still under development. The 2014 Report indicates that the City’s replacement value for all of its infrastructure assets is $42.8 billion. Of that, $29.4 billion is drainage and road right-of-way, hence the phrase “roads and pipes”.

The average state and condition of the City’s assets are as follows:

57% of the City’s assets are in good or very good physical condition, 30% in fair condition and 13% in poor or very poor condition
65% of the City’s assets have very good demand/capacity, 19% have fair demand/capacity and 16% have poor or very poor demand/capacity
79% of the City’s assets have good functionality, 9% have fair functionality and 12% have poor or very poor functionality

How does that compare to other municipalities? “In comparison to national averages in the 2016 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, the City of Edmonton generally has fewer assets in good and very good physical condition and more assets in fair condition.”

There are lots of charts and other information in the report, which you can read here (PDF).

ETS Bus & LRT Review

Well this report from the City Auditor is just depressing. I use transit and want to support ETS, but this just makes it extremely difficult to do so. The auditor found that “the reliability of service has been declining” and worse that “actions being taken to address reliability issues (i.e., on-time performance and overcrowding) are not improving the overall system performance.” Combine that unreliability with the cost of transit (which just went up yet again) and the value proposition isn’t very appealing. The single cash fare in 2011 was $2.85 and today it’s $3.25.

ets reliability

This chart shows that:

“Adherence to service schedules has declined from 2012 to 2015.”
“The best overall performance period was in the June to August period. In 2012, 74% of service was on-time. In 2014, performance declined to 69%.”
“The worst performance was experienced in the December to January period. In 2012, 60% of service was on-time. In 2014, performance declined to 58%.”
“The 90% performance target for arrival was not achieved in any time period measured.”

Why is the performance so bad? ETS says it is “a reflection of an increase in the number of persons with mobility devices and strollers, construction activity, and increased traffic congestion on city streets.” Sounds like a lot of excuses to me. On top of that, they suggest that operating budgets did not include funding to address these issues.

Capacity issues are also a problem. “In total there were 1,328 pass-by incidents reported in 2014,” the report notes. “Bus Operators estimated that more than 21,700 customers were affected.” While the current ETS fleet meets “the majority of ridership capacity needs” the report notes that “35% of customers rated overcrowding as unsatisfactory.”

Here are the auditor’s three conclusions:

ETS services are generally delivered in an efficient and economical manner when compared to other public transit organizations.
Service reliability expressed in terms of on-time performance was lower in 2014 than in prior years.
A lower percentage of ETS operating expenditures are funded by revenues than for comparable public transit organizations, single ride cash fares are comparable to that of other public transit organizations, and monthly pass prices are below average for comparable organizations.

You can find the auditor’s report here and Administration’s response here.

Designating the Molson Brewery as a Municipal Historic Resource

Bylaw 17507 “is to designate the Edmonton Brewing and Malting Company Ltd. Building as a Municipal Historic Resource and to allocate financial incentives for its restoration.” This bylaw is ready for three readings.

Photo by Connor Mah

Here are the details:

“The heritage value of the Edmonton Brewing and Malting Company Ltd. Building, built in 1913, consists in its association with the formation of the brewing industry in Edmonton and Alberta, its functional, yet artistic design, and its association with Chicago architect Bernard Barthel.”
“The Province has initiated the process to designate the building as a Provincial Historic Resource.”
“A payment of $417,550 annually over a ten-year period will be made to the owner to encourage the designation of the Edmonton Brewing and Malting Company Ltd. Building as a Municipal Historic Resource in accordance with City Policy C450B.”
“Annual rehabilitation grant payments of $417,550 will be made from the Heritage Reserve Fund to the owner starting in 2016, and will extend to 2025. However, the owner will be required to complete the identified rehabilitation work to the building by December 31, 2021.”
“The total estimated cost of the restoration portion of the project for the Edmonton Brewing and Malting Company Ltd. Building is over $8,350,999. Other non-heritage work is estimated at another $3,590,462.”

Great to see this moving forward!

Other interesting items

A review of the City’s Debt Management Policy finds that it “is consistent with debt management practices in other Canadian cities.” I wrote about Edmonton’s debt back in 2013 during the municipal election.
Executive Committee has recommended that the funding agreement between the City and EEDC for the Edmonton Film Fund be approved. They also voted on February 2 to have Administration, the Edmonton Arts Council, EEDC, and industry work together to develop “a preferred model to replace the Film Commission.”
Bylaw 17527 is an amendment to the Zoning Bylaw to “add Urban Gardens, Urban Outdoor Farms and Urban Indoor Farms to additional zones.” Council approved the three new classes back on October 19, 2015 as well as the zones they apply to. Additionally, they asked for special area residential zones like Terwillegar to allow Urban Gardens and for Commercial Shopping Centre zones to allow Urban Farms, which is what this bylaw will allow, among other minor changes.
As of February 4, there are 34 recommendations from the City Auditor outstanding, 10 of which are overdue. Administration has completed 13 recommendations since November 2015 and has provided an update on recommendations that are more than 6 months overdue.
The Coin Processing Audit report suggests that “the City’s coin processing operations are effective in mitigating the risk of mismanagement of City cash” and that “the services Coin Processing Operations provides are economical compared to other municipalities.”
Council’s furniture budget remains unchanged for 2016 at $11,278. Only $3,073 of last year’s budget was spent.

Wrap-up

You can keep track of City Council on Twitter using the #yegcc hashtag, and you can listen to or watch any Council meeting live online. You can read my previous coverage of the 2013-2017 City Council here.

Update on the race to join Edmonton City Council in Ward 12

With just 11 days to go until Election Day in the Ward 12 By-Election, let’s take a look at what has happened so far in the race to replace Amarjeet Sohi.

More than 3000 advance votes cast

The City of Edmonton held advance voting this week from Monday through Thursday at the Meadows Community Recreation Centre. Election officials told me today that more than 3,000 voters have cast a ballot. That’s a little less than anticipated, but is nevertheless a good start considering a total of 17,815 votes were counted in the ward in the 2013 Municipal Election.

The weather today didn’t help with advance turnout, and neither did the “overwhelming number of campaign supporters” present at the Rec Centre that may have intimidated voters earlier in the week. Election officials took action and setup a barrier to help deal with the situation.

Signs, signs, and more signs

Much has been made in this by-election about the number of signs that are appearing around the ward. Signs are not supposed to be placed close to intersections, bus stops, schools, or polling stations, but they have been. Election officials had to take action because so many signs had been setup close to the advance voting location, and drivers and others have complained the large number of signs are distracting. Campaigns can face a $250 fine for poorly placed signs.

I was in the ward on Sunday, and observed dozens and dozens of signs that had fallen down or otherwise been damaged. The intersection at 34 Street and 35A Avenue did feature quite a lot of signs along the fences. But overall I saw fewer signs than I expected, based on the online chatter I was seeing about them. Campaigns have 72 hours after the election to remove all of their signs and other ads.

Lots of candidates

Most of the discussion about the by-election thus far has centered on the large number of candidates running. A total of 32 will be listed on the ballot, and that makes it difficult for a candidate to “break from the pack and distinguish themselves” let alone for voters to get to know all of the candidates in order to make an informed decision. The Journal has a pretty good introduction to each candidate, and while that may help to narrow down the field, it’s not enough.

So far, just one candidate has dropped out of the race. Shani Ahmad announced he is supporting Irfan Chaudhry instead, but because he dropped out after the nomination grace period ended, Ahmad will still appear on the official ballot.

I did not attend the forum last week at the Mill Woods Seniors Activity Centre, but it must have been quite the sight to behold. “The ratio of observers to candidates at Tuesday night’s Ward 12 Forum…was around five to one, and that’s with only 21 of the 32 candidates in attendance,” wrote Claire Theobald. Understandably, many people left early or otherwise complained about the unmanageable number of candidates.

Vote for a woman

One way that voters may reduce the number of choices is by focusing only on female candidates. There are six running, a ratio that isn’t too dissimilar to what we see on Council currently where Bev Esslinger is the only woman. Danisha Bhaloo, Nav Kaur, Nicole Szymanowka, Laura Thibert, Preet Toor, and Jeri Stevens are your female candidates.

Getting more women elected has been the focus of Equal Voice as well. Their goal is to have “half of Edmonton City Council and School Board candidates to be women” in the 2017 election and they have launched yegparity.ca in support of that effort. They recognize that if the by-election is any indication, things are not off to a great start. “Out of the current 31 candidates, only six are women…meaning only five percent of candidates,” they wrote (as a commenter points out below, that’s actually 19% of candidates). “That’s nowhere near close enough to meet our goal of 50 percent gender parity in 2017.”

Woman’s Initiative Edmonton also highlighted this issue with a feature on Nisha Patel, a young woman who lives in Ward 12. “The fact that there’s only a handful of women running amongst all these people who put their foot forward means that I want to support a progressive woman, because I think it’s about time,” she said.

Partisan-free civic politics

Do you think partisan politics should be kept out of the civic realm? That’s the issue everyone was talking about last week as Environment Minister Shannon Phillips took part in a fundraiser for candidate Nav Kaur. “This seems to be quite over the top,” is what Councillor Oshry told CBC Edmonton. Most of the comments I saw about the issue were overwhelmingly against the event and the NDP’s involvement.

On the other hand, Dave persuasively argues that it’s a “popular and misinformed myth that ‘there is no partisan politics in municipal elections.'” He notes that it “is natural for politically engaged people to be involved in elections for different levels of government” and that many current and past Councillors have had affiliations in provincial and federal elections, or endorsements from provincial or federal politicians.

Still, it’s hard to look at Nav Kaur’s incredibly orange website and list of key supporters and not immediately think the NDP is running for Council.

Where do they live?

For some voters, candidates simply must live in the ward to be considered. I generally feel that way too, but for me it’s a preference, not a hard and fast rule. And clearly it hasn’t hurt campaigns in the past, as both Councillor Nickel and Councillor Anderson do not live in the wards they represent, for example.

It turns out that about a third of the candidates running in this by-election do not live within the ward boundaries, according to an informal poll conducted by the Journal. With such a large number of candidates running, I don’t think this is that surprising. I also don’t think it’s such a problem. What’s more important than where a candidate lives is whether or not they can do the work necessary to represent their constituents.

There’s an awful lot of variation within Ward 12 as it includes new neighbourhoods like Summerside where median household income is $110,374 (average is $127,128) and also older ones like Minchau where the median household income is $81,139 (average is $89,686). Living in one part of the ward doesn’t mean that candidate will understand all of the challenges facing other parts of the ward any better than an outsider might.

Run-ins with the law

According to CBC Edmonton, six of the candidates running have had issues with the law. “While many of the incidents were minor, one candidate was convicted of assault, another was the subject of two court-ordered peace bonds and a third pleaded guilty to more than a dozen public health charges,” wrote Janice Johnston.

A second article by CBC Edmonton says that candidate Yash Pal Sharma is being sued “over his involvement in an alleged scheme to smear the reputation of a local Punjabi-language journalist.” He denied any involvement.

What do they stand for?

Considering we’re less than two weeks from Election Day, there hasn’t been much discussion about ideas or platforms. Candidate Nav Kaur did not like the fact that Council moved forward on the Uber decision without a Ward 12 Councillor, but clearly she’s not just running on the Uber issue. It’s probably a safer bet to suggest that’s why Balraj Manhas is running, but his website doesn’t include any platform information.

The other item I’ve heard/seen many candidates talk about is the Valley Line LRT and ensuring we get good value for money on that project. The Valley Line isn’t going to enter Ward 12 as it terminates at Mill Woods Town Centre in Ward 11, but it will have a big impact on transportation to and from the ward, of course. Still, it’s pretty easy for a candidate to say “we need to do better than the Metro Line” and just leave it at that.

But maybe there’s still time for more substantial discussions with candidates to take place. Edmonton’s NextGen has a set of questions they are asking candidates this week, I’ve sent a survey to candidates that I will share the results of next week, and I’m sure others are gathering input as well.

If you’re a voter in Ward 12, there’s not much time to get to know the candidates hoping to earn your vote. If you’re a first time voter, Edmonton’s NextGen has a good roundup of important things to know. Good luck to all!

Media Monday Edmonton: Update #189

Here’s my latest update on local media stuff:

ICYMI: Here is Margo Goodhand’s article on Postmedia, an “inside look at the damage being done to Canada’s newspapers.”
Sheila Pratt is the latest to announce her departure from the Edmonton Journal (as mentioned last week). And just a few days before that, it was Karen Kleiss who announced she’s leaving both the Journal and journalism itself.
But here’s a bit of good news: Liane Faulder is back at the Journal ~~on a part-time basis~~ full-time, splitting her efforts between food and features. “I’ll still be doing food notes on Wednesdays, and my weekday blog so that people know what’s up on the culinary scene,” she wrote on Facebook. Just this evening I was speaking to someone who cancelled their subscription because Liane had been let go, so this is welcome news indeed.
Ryan Jackson, who was let go from the Journal after nearly 9 years, is blogging about his time at The Journal.
The Gateway, the official student newspaper at the University of Alberta, has decided to cease weekly printing and will focus instead on digital and online, augmented by a monthly print magazine. The final weekly print issue of The Gateway will appear around campus on April 6. The Gateway “has filled University of Alberta newspaper racks since 1910” but “will now be optimized and prioritized for consistent, daily online consumption in the 2016–17 publishing year.” Here’s what the Gateway going digital means for campus media, according to J-Source.
Nominees have been announced for the 2016 Alberta Magazine Awards. Congrats to all! The winners will be announced at a gala event on March 3.
Episode 28 of the Seen and Heard in Edmonton podcast features Ben Proulx and Dan Taylor, the comics behind 30 Minute Week.
The City of Edmonton is looking for two Social Marketing Coordinators to join its Community Relations team.
93.1 The One FM in Leduc is looking for a Program Director / On Air Personality.
Edmonton Ice Road Trucker Mike “Bad Apple” Simmons is shooting another season of the popular History Channel show. New episodes will being airing in August.
Here’s a clip of CFRN-TV’s Popcorn Playhouse from 1978, courtesy of Vintage Edmonton. The popular kids variety show was resurrected by CTV a couple of years ago as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations.
From Josh Hickmore in The Gateway: Local TV news offers little more than superficialities.
Global Edmonton’s Morning News crew had a little dance party recently. Well, everyone except Slav!

Minister Deron Bilous speaks to the media at NAIT last week, photo by Premier of Alberta

And here is some slightly less local media stuff:

In Linda’s latest social media notes, she links to all the Twitter news and points out that Instagram now lets you toggle between different accounts.
Here’s a memo sent to Postmedia staff last week by CEO Paul Godfrey in which he wrote “the Toronto Star has made several scurrilous claims about our company, its investors and our products.”
For a somewhat more optimistic take on the state of the newspaper business, check out Stephen Kimber’s piece for The Walrus. “The more I see what’s happening with the newspaper business, the more I’ve begun to believe it may simply be necessary for the old to implode in order to make psychic and fiscal space for the new and, hopefully, better.”
Should the feds step in to “help democracy’s watchdogs”? That’s what Nick Fillmore argues.
In the Globe and Mail, Peter Miller argues that the “CRTC’s ruling on Canadian ads during the Super Bowl is a fumble” and suggests that the regulator should reverse its decision on simulcast. I do agree that getting access to the American ads is much less of an issue now (they were online right away) but I still don’t think many will support his stance on this issue.
I have to admit, I haven’t really been following the Ghomeshi trial. But so far at least, it doesn’t look good for his accusers.

You can follow Edmonton media news on Twitter using the hashtag #yegmedia. For a great overview of the global media landscape, check out Mediagazer.

So, what have I missed? What’s new and interesting in the world of Edmonton media? Let me know!

You can see past Media Monday Edmonton entries here.

Edmonton Notes for 2/7/2016

Happy Lunar New Year/Super Bowl 50! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

Advance Voting in the Ward 12 By-Election starts tomorrow, Monday, February 8. Eligible voters who are unable to vote on Election Day (February 22) can cast a ballot at the Meadows Community Recreation Centre through Thursday this week. About a third of the 32 candidates running don’t actually live in the Ward.
Edmonton gained about 1,000 new jobs last month, though the unemployment rate rose from 6.3% in December to 6.5% in January. Alberta’s unemployment rate rose to 7.4% during the same period, the highest rate since February 1996 and the first time it has been higher than the national rate since December 1988.
Premier Rachel Notley announced a cabinet shuffle this week, adding six new ministers and making Health Minister Sarah Hoffman the Deputy Premier. Here’s the full list of cabinet ministers and changes.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Rachel Notley issued a joint statement after their meeting in Edmonton this week, which focused on “jobs and the economy, clean growth and climate change, and energy infrastructure and market access.”
Mayor Don Iveson is the new chair of FCM’s Big City Mayors’ Caucus, replacing outgoing chair Gregor Robertson, mayor of Vancouver.
It’s great to such an increase in attractive architecture here in Edmonton! City Architect Carol Belanger has created a driving tour that you can take to check it all out.
Starting today, ETS schedule changes for routes 8, 9, 39, 100, 117, and 125 took effect.
UAlberta North launched on February 1 and replaces the Canadian Circumpolar Institute with a refreshed mandate.
Sherbrooke Liquor Store has been chosen as Alberta’s best bottle shop at the RateBeer awards show.
From The Local Good, here’s a recap of the winter-themed Green Drinks that took place recently.
The Province is gathering input on Budget 2016. You can fill out the online consultation until March 4.
The final regular season Oilers game at Rexall Place will take place on April 6 and to celebrate the team has invited “every player who has ever donned the Oilers sweater back to Rexall Place for a very special celebration of the franchise’s time in the building.”
Designs for the planned $40 million expansion and renovation of the Telus World of Science are expected to be released this week.
For more recent headlines, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton Chinese New Year 2016, photo by IQRemix

Upcoming Events

Don’t forget you can still check out Ice Castles at Hawrelak Park!
Head over to City Hall on Tuesday evening for the launch of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation’s 5th annual Top 30 Under 30 Magazine.
The Creative Practices Institute is hosting a Relief Printing Workshop on Wednesday evening.
It was not a great weekend for the Oilers as they lost 5-1 to Montreal on Saturday and 8-1 to the Islanders today. Their road trip wraps up Tuesday in New Jersey, then they return home to host the Maple Leafs on Thursday and the Jets on Saturday.
The Edmonton RV Expo & Sale takes place at the Edmonton EXPO Centre from Thursday through Sunday.
Winefest Edmonton takes place at the Shaw Conference Centre on Friday and Saturday.
The Silver Skate Festival kicks off another year at Hawrelak Park on Friday! But due to the lack of snow, this year’s edition of the Birkebeiner Ski Festival has been cancelled.
Friday is Winter Bike to Work Day! If there was ever a winter in Edmonton to do it, this is the year. Here’s a feature on winter cycling in Edmonton from Transforming Edmonton.
The Oil Kings host the Lethbridge Hurricanes at Rexall Place on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday is Valentine’s Day! Looking for a date idea? Check out Linda’s list of 30 ideas in Edmonton!
For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Rogers Place under construction

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Open City Initiative

Open Data Catalogue

Citizen Dashboard

Public Engagement

Additional Thoughts

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Headlines

Upcoming Events

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Meetings this week

ETS Bus & LRT Review

Other interesting items

Wrap-up

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More than 3000 advance votes cast

Signs, signs, and more signs

Lots of candidates

Vote for a woman

Partisan-free civic politics

Where do they live?

Run-ins with the law

What do they stand for?

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Headlines

Upcoming Events

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