Sohi and Smith present very different solutions for downtown Edmonton
Downtown needs more than just more police to be a place people want to go
I’m Dave Cournoyer and this is the Daveberta Substack.
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Dave
PS. I’ve been busy with a lot of election related commentary recently, including an interview with Reuters reporter Nia Williams’ about Take Back Alberta’s role in the election and with CBC’s Ottawa Morning to discuss how the UCP and NDP are reacting to the wildfires.
tl;dr
If you don’t have time to read today’s column right away, here are some of my main points:
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and UCP leader Danielle Smith presented two different visions of how to face the challenges in the capital city’s downtown core.
In his State of the City Address, Sohi presented an optimistic approach, which aims to create a vibrant downtown through providing supports, affordable housing, grants for events in the core, and a stabilized police budget.
Smith released part of the UCP’s Safe Streets Action Plan, which focuses on crime, an increased police presence and an ankle bracelet program for dangerous offenders out on bail.
The UCP has been trying to use crime and “social disorder” in the downtowns of the province’s two largest cities as a club against the NDP.
Boots on the ground is probably part of the solution, but more law enforcement alone isn’t going to solve the problems facing downtown. Police shouldn’t be forced to do the jobs of health care and social workers.
Today’s column
Sohi and Smith present very different solutions for downtown Edmonton’s problems
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and United Conservative Party leader Danielle Smith presented two very different approaches on Tuesday morning to address the challenges facing the capital city’s downtown core.
No one will deny that there are big social problems facing Edmonton’s downtown. You can take a walk down almost any street downtown and see people facing mental health or addictions challenges. It’s sad and troubling.
Delivering his State of the City Address to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Sohi presented an optimistic approach to solving the core’s problems, including $6.5 million available for Downtown Vibrancy Grants and the launch of a new Meet Me Downtown campaign.
“I hope this campaign inspires you to invite a colleague, family member, or potential investor to meet you in the economic and cultural heart of Edmonton,” Sohi told the audience at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
Sohi also spoke about the city’s role in housing more than 1,600 people and investing in the building of supportive and affordable housing, and supporting Downtown and Chinatown with additional funding for cleaning, business improvement initiatives, and activation of public spaces.
Despite a sometimes challenging relationship between City Council and the Edmonton Police Service leadership, funding for the police service has increased and stabilized in recent years. The city had also increased the number of Transit Peace Officers and outreach teams on the transit system.
“Our goal is to make our city a safer place for all Edmontonians including those who are struggling on our streets,” Sohi said.
Sohi’s speech also touched on economic and business issues that the Chamber audience would have been keenly attuned to. It felt like a soft-launch for Sohi’s re-election campaign.
Edmonton isn’t getting as much attention as Calgary in the provincial election.
Calgary is seen as a key electoral battleground that will determine whether the UCP or NDP form government. Edmonton, on the other hand, is safe NDP territory. Rachel Notley’s party is widely expected to win every seat in the city, including Edmonton-South West, where UCP candidate Kaycee Madu is running for re-election.
At the same time Sohi was speaking to the Chamber luncheon, Smith and Calgary-West candidate Mike Ellis were a few blocks away at the Delta Hotel, where they released part of the UCP’s Safe Streets Action Plan.
The UCP is calling for a tough on crime approach to the challenges in Edmonton’s downtown. The plan includes more funding for police and sheriffs and a repackaged pledge from the UCP’s 2019 platform to implement bracelet monitoring of dangerous offenders out on bail.
“Safe communities require more funding for robust and diverse police services, not their defunding,” said Mike Ellis, UCP candidate for Calgary-West. “While Rachel Notley’s NDP refuses to back down from their ‘defund the police’ rhetoric, United Conservatives will continue to support Alberta’s men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities.”
Ellis spoke about taking action against what he described as the “Liberal/NDP catch-and-release bail system” and the crime caused by it. It was a grim, pessimistic image of Edmonton’s downtown.
The UCP has been trying to use crime and “social disorder” in the downtowns of the province’s two largest cities as a club against the NDP.
It’s a far cry from some previous conservative governments, like that of Premier Ed Stelmach, who proposed a ten-year plan to end homelessness. Now, that was more than ten years ago and homelessness hasn’t ended, but a lot of people were housed. It was an ambitious and compassionate plan that focused on the positive role a wealthy government like Alberta’s could play in helping some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
More law enforcement boots on the ground is probably part of a solution but police officers are not health care workers or social workers, nor should they be forced into those roles.
A safe downtown core will require a lot more than increased law enforcement. It will require increased programs for people facing mental health and addictions challenges, affordable housing for people to live in, and people living and working downtown with the goal of making it a vibrant place.
Danielle Smith’s Hitler comparison is deeply offensive and extremely weird
Could it be Danielle Smith’s next Lake of Fire?
A 2021 video showing Smith comparing people who chose to get vaccinated for COVID-19 to the followers of Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler was circulated on the internet this week. The comments were made by Smith in a podcast for an investment management company and also included her admitting to not wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day to protest the COVID-19 public health measures.
Smith apologized but her comments were roundly condemned by groups including the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, B’nai Brith Canada, and the Royal Canadian Legion.
NDP leader Rachel Notley was asked about the comments.
“There’s no question that peoples tolerance for these indiscretions have seemed to have grown over the past couple of years,” Notley said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a premier running for office 18 months after she told 75 percent of Albertans that they were like the followers of Adolf Hitler.”
The comment are deeply offensive and extremely weird. They are also similar to comments the UCP disqualified a candidate for last November.
It’s not clear whether Smith’s Hitler comment will produce a major shift in voting intentions, but a close race like the polls show we have would only require a small percentage of voters to change their votes or stay home on Election Day in order to have a big impact.
Another video of Smith laying out plans to privatize the operations of Calgary’s big public hospitals also made headlines this week. It’s just the latest example of how Smith’s own “Public Health Guarantee” is being undermined by her own words.
This video was recorded at the 2021 FreedomTalk convention, an annual libertarian convention organized by two-time Wildrose Party candidate Danny Hozack. Other speakers at the gathering included People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay, and then-leader of the Wildrose Independence Party Paul Hinman.
Hozack tried to run for a UCP nomination in 2018 but was deemed ineligible by the party after a review of his social media accounts and online statements.
It was revealed last week that Hozack is the founding president of a new right-wing party, the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition, and will be the party’s candidate in Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright. The party is led by Hinman, who also preceded Smith as leader of the Wildrose Alliance Party.
Campaign promises
Calgary-Klein UCP candidate Jeremy Nixon and Calgary-Peigan candidate Tanya Fir announced their party's plans to increase investments in women’s shelters and sexual assault counselling centres. The plan is part of the UCP's Safe Streets Action Plan (already mentioned in today’s column).
Calgary-North West UCP candidate Rajan Sawhney and Calgary-Mountain View candidate Pamela Rath joined Smith to announce a Seniors 25% Discount Plan that would decrease the cost of personal registry services, provincial camping fees, and medical driving exams for senior citizens (the press conference was crashed by a person chanting “hospitals are not for sale!”).
Notley announced plans to create Hometown Alberta to replace the current Community Facility Enhancement Program. The program would build and improve local community facilities, including hockey rinks and cultural centres. She also announced a $500 Kids Activity Tax Credit, which appears to be aimed at upper middle class families in North West and South West Calgary.
Notley was in Lethbridge to announce her party's plans to create a new Lethbridge Teaching Clinic for medical students and 20 new family medicine residents to serve Southern Alberta. Notley held a rally with Lethbridge-West candidate Shannon Phillips and Lethbridge-East candidate Rob Miyashiro on the same day.
Red Deer-North NDP candidate Jaelene Tweedle and Red Deer-South candidate Michelle Baer announced their party would not raise income taxes or personal costs on seniors and would expand home care and medical coverage.
St. Albert NDP candidate Marie Renaud announced her party's plans to protect pensions and restore drug benefits for seniors.
Liberal Party leader John Roggeveen released his party’s affordability plan.
A few more things…
Notley and Smith will face off at a televised leaders debate on May 18.
This week featured two big deep dives into Take Back Alberta, one from Jason Markusoff for CBC and another from Jeremy Appel for Jacobin Magazine.
Take Back Alberta is hosting Jordan Peterson in Red Deer on May 22. Tickets are priced between $89.35 and $556.85.
Lethbridge NDP candidates Shannon Phillips and Rob Miyashiro posted their own versions of the “You better not be making this into a Wes Anderson film” meme.
Calgary-Acadia UCP candidate Tyler Shandro posted a video endorsement from Manitoba Conservative MP Raquel Dancho.
Retiring Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview NDP MLA Deron Bilous has a new job as Senior Vice President for Western Canada at Counsel Public Affairs. Bilous was first elected in 2012 and served as Minister of Economic Development and Trade from 2015 to 2019.