2021 Platform
Pledge to Transparency and Ethics
As I have done since 2010, I will disclose all donations before the election on Monday, October 18th. Several candidates have committed to the full disclosure of donations after the election, but that is already the legal requirement. I believe that candidates should commit to disclosing donations before the election so that Edmontonians know who is funding our campaigns. It should be a basic expectation of any candidate that values transparency.
During the 2017 election, I also committed to refusing any corporate and union donations. Very few candidates took this step, but I felt it was essential to take that step to help create a more fair campaign for all candidates. While candidates for this election can no longer accept corporate and union donations, corporations and unions can donate to third-party advertisers (political action committees or PACs). Therefore, I will not accept support from political action committees. The new election laws will allow these groups to have far greater influence with no requirement to disclose who is funding them prior to the election. This increased influence will drown out the voices of everyday Edmontonians. To accept the support of a group that doesn’t have to be transparent removes the independence necessary to help make the most informed decisions.
Commitment to Diverse Perspectives
I have committed to learning and hearing from people with diverse perspectives and lived experiences throughout my terms. Building consensus on decisions is a value I hold. If re-elected, I commit to implementing these platform points through an intersectional lens - understanding that policy impacts people differently depending on their class, socioeconomic status, race, ability, gender, age, and many other and interconnected factors. I am fully committed to listening to and providing support to people from equity-seeking groups.
Growing the Economy Together
+ Supporting Edmonton's Economic Diversification
City Council can create an economic environment that encourages all types of investment and centers Edmonton as a desirable place to build a life.
Edmonton has a culture of entrepreneurship that is unrivalled. If you have an idea and are looking to start a business, our city offers unique opportunities and supports. With a population nearing 1 million, people are always willing to help bring a project to life. The City of Edmonton has been making ongoing improvements to the licensing and permitting process to ensure that the City is not a barrier to those looking to start or grow their businesses.
Small business owners and the innovation community have called on the City to streamline the licensing and permitting process. The feedback we’ve received is that it is often cumbersome and delays well-timed innovation.
During my time on Council, we’ve worked hard to listen and improve processes. If you want to learn more about the many improvements made to the City’s licensing and permitting process, please visit this link to review the detailed series of reports. At the October 26th, 2020 City Council meeting where these reports were presented, various industry groups expressed their approval for the changes made, stating that they felt the changes made it easier for them to do business in Edmonton.
These changes impact many areas, such as moving to remote video inspections for residential and commercial properties. The City also rolled out an online dashboard to easily track a building permit’s application status and created single points of contact for large-scale industrial and commercial development.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will support the innovation sector by:
- Working with Innovate Edmonton to allow the City of Edmonton to be one of the first customers for start-up businesses. This benefits new businesses and will enable them to test their product while introducing innovative solutions to our city’s different challenges.
- Continuing to improve the licensing and permitting process ensures that the City is not a barrier to those looking to start or grow their businesses.
- Expanding on work that is already underway through Edmonton Global, Edmonton Tourism, Innovate Edmonton and others. They work towards promoting innovation in Edmonton and showcasing what makes Edmonton an attractive place to live.
+ Strengthening Regional Collaboration and Intergovernmental Relations
We need to apply our spirit of collaboration and innovation across the region as we compete with cities worldwide that are already working together effectively. For example, large cities in Europe & Asia often collaborate to make their territories more attractive. To remain globally competitive, we have to develop more formal partnerships with other municipalities and work with the provincial government to attract investment.
The Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Board helps us strategically coordinate growth for the greater Edmonton area. Similarly, the Edmonton Global organization has brought together most municipalities in the region to attract new investment. These groups represent a new approach to collaboration that sees municipalities in the region as partners in development instead of competitors.
In the Be Ready or Be Left Behind report from 2018, municipalities in the region were able to better understand that we miss out on more significant opportunities to attract investment when we are too focused on what is happening in our municipality exclusively. The rest of the world will pass us by if we are not working together, and Edmonton Global has shown that we can grow the economic pie when we collaborate.
Track Record: In my role as Vice-President and Director of Cities over 500,000 of the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA), I championed the creation of the Economic Resiliency and Recovery Task Force . The task force helps municipalities across the province work together on common economic goals to work through the challenges of the current pandemic and financial crisis. The Task Force’s work will be a permanent part of AUMA’s ongoing work, which is critical to help us set up the city and the province for economic success.
As we work with municipalities through the AUMA, we should explore a partnership with the City of Calgary to attract more businesses to both cities. We each have individual strengths that, when combined, could make us even more attractive to new global investment. For example, no other city in this country has such a diverse range of excellent post-secondary institutions. No matter the talent a company is looking for, our graduates from U of A, MacEwan, NAIT, Norquest, Concordia, The King’s University, Yellowhead Tribal College, etc., can fill the needs of any company looking to grow their business.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will work to establish more formal regional economic development relationships by:
- Exploring a partnership with the City of Calgary and other interested Alberta municipalities beyond the Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Board.
- Continuing to advance economic development work within the AUMA so that all municipalities across the province can be more globally competitive.
+ Continued Excellence in Financial Stewardship
Cities must balance affordability with excellent services. I have always strived to keep tax rates low, with any increase around the inflation rate, while not sacrificing the maintenance, renewal, or growth needed to provide Edmontonians’ necessary quality of life.
Track Record: During my time on council, I have saved the City of Edmonton approximately $85 million through motions to streamline budgets. In 2019 and 2020, these savings allowed Edmonton City Council to approve the lowest tax increase 23 years (2020).
No other councillor has found more savings via efficiencies since 2013.
Examples of areas I have saved money include:
- In 2020, I put forward a motion to reduce middle management within the City of Edmonton. This motion resulted in savings of approximately $10.3 million.
- I suggested not filling City of Edmonton staff positions that have been vacant or redundant for more than six months, resulting in millions of dollars saved.
- In 2018, I directed our City Administration to find efficiencies which resulted in approximately $65 million of savings over four years. These savings included reducing the amount we set aside for emergent items and several workforce strategies.
To continue these savings, I would like to see the provincial government consider different funding approaches to make it easier for the City to budget long-term. For example, they can redirect the provincial education tax. Currently, this tax goes into the province’s general revenue and is administered to municipalities through grants. These grants are often subject to abrupt administrative changes that can slow their delivery. Allowing cities to collect these funds directly ensures a more efficient and transparent method that reduces bureaucratic costs and gives greater financial autonomy to municipalities.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will: Continue to find savings in the current & future budgets, allowing City Council to address our current and growing needs. Ask the provincial government to reduce red tape by allowing municipalities to collect the provincial education tax directly.
+ Keeping Taxes Low
The economic conditions in our city and province are worse than they have been in decades. We have seen many people lose their jobs, with Edmonton having one of the highest unemployment rates across major Canadian cities. This means that many households are unsure how they will make the necessary payments and that many small businesses are struggling to keep their doors open.
Given this reality, we need to ensure our tax dollars are used as effectively as possible.
In Edmonton, just over 50% of the City’s budget comes from property taxes, with user fees and transit fares covering approximately 18% of the budget. The remainder comes from funding from other levels of government. Before 2021, the last year without a tax increase was 1997.
Taxes form a sizable expense for individuals & small businesses during these challenging times. I will work to ensure taxes remain low.
We can keep our taxes low by reducing middle management and looking for lower-cost solutions to different challenges. We can also create partnerships with community organizations to help provide necessary services and programs while keeping a close watch on our budget.
If re-elected as your Councillor,
- I will work to freeze our City budget in 2022.
- I will work to keep any future property tax increases beyond 2022 to the rate of inflation.
+ Supporting Businesses Impacted by City Construction
Construction is essential for continuing to grow, develop and maintain our city. Unfortunately, this sometimes impacts businesses that may incur costs or face reduced revenues during these projects. Finance assistance for companies in these circumstances can mean the difference between turning a profit or struggling to pay rent.
I first brought an idea to Council in June 2018 to address this problem. Council did not support my motion to explore the pros and cons of creating a program similar to the City of Montréal. I felt it was important to revisit this, so I put forward a motion to complete a review of how the Montréal program was going. After that report came back, I put forward a motion that was approved in a 12-1 vote that directed the City of Edmonton Administration to prepare a draft financial assistance policy based on the City of Montreal’s policy.
I believe the City of Edmonton must have a similar program in place to support our small businesses. For more information on how this program would work, please visit the link above.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will propose creating a financial assistance program for small businesses dealing with long-term construction impacts.
+ Reduce Red Tape
Red tape places a burden on businesses, individuals in our communities, and the city administration itself. While the city needs to ensure the safety and well-being of Edmontonians, it must also be agile and responsive to the needs of our business community. Over the past few years, there has been a transformation within the city administration to change a culture that was far more risk-averse. That previous culture resulted in too many examples of businesses looking to start-up or expand, only to be bogged down by a long and often unnecessary process. Small business owners don’t have the luxury of waiting months to get permits in place.
COVID-19 has shown us that not everything needs to be a long process. Sidewalk patios were a great example of this; instead of a lengthy application process and charge to the business wanting to do it, City staff simply asked for a short, one-page application and then approved it without further costs. This is one small example of the changes that have been taking place and that need to continue in the coming years.
The City will charge a person or business the cost for issuing a permit. However, suppose there are low-risk actions (such as creating sidewalk patios). In these cases, we can save the person/business time and money, which will, in turn, save the City time in reviewing a lengthy application for something that has minimal risk. This way, our City staff can focus their time and efforts on more complex applications, which will help speed up the process and provide more certainty for those larger businesses that are expanding.
The city is at a crossroads, and with a clear vision looking to the future of red tape reduction, we can continue to build on the immense progress we have made to make life easier for businesses and individuals alike.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will reduce red tape by:
- Reviewing best practices from our regional partners and other major Canadian cities.
- Working with Business Improvements Areas (BIA) in Nakota Isga (ex: Stony Plain Road BIA, Northwest Industrial BIA, and Winterburn Business Association) to review existing regulations and determine where unnecessary challenges can be removed.
+ Supporting our Main Streets and Downtown Core
Almost everyone has felt the impacts of the pandemic. Our Main Streets (ex: Stony Plain Road), which play a critical role in our city’s economic health and vibrancy, have also felt the brunt. Like the red tape reduction section, our City Administration has made significant progress in supporting our Business Improvement Areas and Main Streets.
The City will often use liability concerns as a reason to prevent things from happening. Safety is paramount, but beyond a safety concern, the default answer the City of Edmonton should be providing businesses and community groups when they present unique ideas is, “Yes, if” instead of “No.”
Although our downtown core only has 1% of our population, it accounts for approximately 10% of our overall tax base. The City has a critical role to play in helping to ensure there is not a massive tax shift to the businesses in the rest of our city. This shift is what happened in Calgary over the last few years, and we cannot allow that to happen in Edmonton.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will help our main streets thrive by:
- Bringing together the current Business Improvement Area Council to identify common roadblocks to increased activation.
- Making policy changes to ensure opportunities for programming year-round.
In a post-pandemic world, we may not see the same need for office space. That shift does not mean we no longer need a vibrant downtown core; what it means is that how we activate our core will evolve. One of the best ways to help with this shift is to have more people living downtown.
Encouraging residential development in our core will likely involve converting older office towers into mixed-use residential/commercial developments. While some conversions have already been taking place, if they do not occur at a reasonable pace, the City could experience a property tax shift similar to what the City of Calgary has had to deal with over the last few years. This tax shift had a significant negative impact on businesses outside of the core in Calgary, which saw their property taxes increase disproportionately.
Expanding Bill 7 would lock in a tax rate for large developments based on leased space instead of the assumed value.
Bill 7 proposes expanded provisions in Alberta’s Municipal Government Act (MGA) to enable municipalities to offer multi-year property tax exemptions for non-residential properties. The challenge is that it is currently focused on industrial properties. I believe that expanding it to include large residential and mixed-use developments would help spark additional economic development in our core and along our Main Streets.
This is important because when a new development is complete, they are often not fully leased once construction is done. This means that the taxes paid on large developments do not accurately reflect the market conditions. We should consider making this change because these new significant developments bring in new tax dollars that aren’t in our existing budget. Therefore, if we delay when they start paying the full tax rate, this would help create an incentive for development when our economy needs it.
If Bill 7 were amended to make this change, it would not cost us any tax dollars while it would create new jobs and create new property tax revenue that was not previously included in our budget.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will maintain the economic integrity of the downtown core by:
- Working with the provincial government to expand Bill 7 (Property Tax Incentives) to include large residential and mixed-use developments, including office tower conversions.
+ Supporting Industrial Development
Like the Winterburn Industrial Area, there are areas in Edmonton that pay property taxes but do not receive proper City services. These services include roads that can’t handle the weight of larger vehicles, no streetlights, no utility infrastructure.
Businesses that operate out of Winterburn pay into our Neighbourhood Renewal Program but do not receive neighbourhood reconstruction. For more than 30 years, these areas have received a level of service far below what our fully serviced industrial regions receive. This situation is unacceptable.
I led the creation of an Industrial Renewal Program. Since I was first elected, I have been working with the Winterburn Business Association to develop a plan to finally bring services to all unserviced industrial areas. With these businesses paying a comparable level of taxes to fully serviced areas, it is unacceptable to leave them in their current state going forward.
This program is similar to the Neighbourhood Renewal Program and will provide proper services to unserviced industrial areas. The first step of this work began this year by upgrading the roads to an appropriate urban industrial standard. This is the same type of road that we have in the Northwest Business Industrial Area. Investing in good urban services will allow new businesses to locate in this area and enable existing businesses the opportunity to grow. That new growth will bring in new jobs and new tax revenue to the City of Edmonton. While the program was approved, it is currently in the planning phase. Proceeding with this program is critical to the long-term economic viability of Edmonton.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will ensure that the Industrial Renewal Program is implemented in the next budget cycle (2023-2026).
Building Our City Together
+ Pursuing a 15-Minute City
If you left your home today and walked, cycled, or took a transit trip for 15 minutes, what would you be able to access?
The concept of the 15-minute city aims to provide everyday services to residents by walking, biking, or taking transit in 15 minutes or less. This is also a core concept in the City Plan, the plan that will chart out how we build our city in the future.
An article by the Globe and Mail (November 2020) compared Canadian municipalities and showed the percentage of residents who lived within “amenity-dense blocks” comparable to a 15-minute city. It showed that only 15% of Edmontonians live in a neighbourhood like this.
Despite all of these services, we still have the flexibility to use cars to access things outside of that range. Having a 15-minute city doesn’t mean forcing a particular lifestyle choice on anyone. Still, it does mean making sure everyone has the choice to live more locally and allow them to complete their daily needs easily.
Did you know: On December 7th, 2020, Edmonton City Council approved the new City Plan. This plan provides Edmontonians with a clear direction for how we will develop in the future.
While The City Plan has planned for a city of 2 million, it also recognizes that it may take some time to reach that mark and therefore, it is designed to be updated on an annual basis to respond to our changing world. There’s no way to know what technology will exist in a few decades and how it can impact where we live and how we experience our city. It is critical to have a flexible plan.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will commit to ensuring that we implement the City Plan and support the 15-minute city concept by creating the necessary regulatory environment and future strategic investments. This includes:
- Completing the renewal of the Zoning Bylaw in 2022
- Proactively aligning the zoning of nodes and corridors with the new bylaw to provide greater certainty for how our communities will develop and evolve.
+ Expanding Transit in Edmonton
In a city as large and as diverse as Edmonton, we need to have a multitude of affordable and reliable transportation options. One of those options needs to be a robust public transit system. Transit is necessary because some people cannot drive, cannot afford to drive, or choose not to drive.
Having an efficient and accessible transit system is critical to the long-term success of a city because high-quality public transportation:
- Gives people options;
- Is environmentally friendly;
- Reduces congestion;
- Connects people;
- Attracts investment;
- Makes Edmonton a more equitable city;
- Is fundamental to large urban cities.
Track Record: During the 2017 election, I committed to securing the funding for the Valley Line West LRT. As of December 2020, the contract to build the LRT has been finalized, and construction is already underway.
The Valley Line West LRT will be essential in connecting our ward to the rest of the city, providing better transit options for our neighbourhoods. We need to continue to enhance our primary transit network, even after the West LRT line is complete.
We can further complement the LRT with cost-effective Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines which will connect even more areas of our city. Bus Rapid Transit can be as simple as providing a space for the bus to jump the queue at traffic lights or installing dedicated rights-of-way as we have on a few roads in the city. These changes will allow for more direct and reliable transit service.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will put forward a motion at the beginning of our next budget cycle (2023-2026) to start installing the necessary infrastructure to allow for a city-wide BRT system.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will work to ensure public transit is as affordable for users as possible. This means we have to take the sliding scale approach we currently offer for our Seniors Bus Pass and expand that to other categories of people. Those with the greatest need will then be provided with the most significant discount.
+ Championing Community League Agency
Community leagues and the residents who run them know better than anyone else what their neighbourhoods need. City Hall should empower these groups to implement creative ways to make our communities more active and engaged. When community league halls are permitted to open up to normal operations again, leagues should have the ability to activate them in ways they see fit.
The lack of flexibility in how hall space may be used has resulted in many of our community halls sitting empty more than half of the time.
Track Record: In late 2020, I brought forward a motion with Councillor Cartmell to help community leagues activate their spaces in ways they weren’t previously permitted to. Until recently, if a group was interested in renting out their space to a local business (ex: a yoga instructor), they were not permitted to do so unless very specific requirements were followed.
By easing these restrictions, it creates new opportunities for community leagues to establish partnerships and activate their spaces for the benefit of the neighbourhood. Maybe your community hall has a commercial kitchen and is without a local cafe nearby. Why shouldn’t the league lease out space to a start-up chef or baker who could fill a gap in the community? That’s just one small example, but we need to support our leagues to use their spaces better.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will commit to ensuring community leagues have greater ability to make decisions about how to better use their space by embedding this flexibility in the tripartite agreement with the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.
+ Taking Care of our Neighbourhoods
Although the overall state of our infrastructure has improved over the last 20 years, we still have more work to do. In this ward, several communities are waiting for their turn at the Neighbourhood Renewal program. This program includes funding to implement appropriate traffic safety measures (ex: curb extensions and raised crosswalks on local roads), mobility choices (ex: active pathways, bus rapid transit, etc.) and efficient traffic flow. These improvements are necessary because they improve the flow of people and goods across the city and reduce the need for short-term repair work.
Track Record: When running to serve as your City Councillor in 2013, I committed to developing a Back Alley Renewal program that would be modelled off our Neighbourhood Renewal program. In 2019, that program officially started with the communities of Belmead and La Perle being some of the first to experience fully reconstructed back alleys.
Did you know: In late 2014, Edmonton City Council more than doubled our arterial road reconstruction budget to begin catching up on a lack of investment over the last few decades. Over the last few years, we have seen a measurable shift in the overall condition of our arterial roads. We peaked at almost 20% of our arterial roads rated in poor condition. With the proper investment in place, we have seen the overall condition of our arterial roads improve, with only 11% of our arterial roads rated in poor condition.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will:
- Ensure the various programs for the renewal of our infrastructure and roads are appropriately funded in our next budget cycle (2023-2026) to allow proper ongoing lifecycle maintenance while also addressing the necessary quality of life improvements when reconstructing our inventory.
- Prioritize the expansion of Winterburn Road, Webber Greens Drive, and Whitemud Drive between Lewis Estates Boulevard and Winterburn Road from two-lane roads to four lanes
+ Investing in Snow Removal
Regardless of if you are a senior who cannot drive, a person using a mobility aid, or a parent with a stroller, everyone should be able to move around our city safely.
As a winter city, we need to constantly evaluate how we provide snow removal. Currently, many sidewalks and trails are the City’s responsibility, but they do not receive any clearing all winter long. These uncleared routes make it challenging to navigate our city safely.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will bring forward a motion at the beginning of the next budget cycle (2023-2026) to improve snow removal services on our roads and active pathways by investing in the proper equipment and staffing resources.
+ Establishing Access to Services in New Neighbourhoods
Even though the pandemic has made for a challenging financial situation, we can still do many things to build a stronger City responsibly. This includes ensuring all communities have access to the necessary services to flourish.
The new financial reality in the City requires us to develop more creative ways to address the needs of new communities. This potentially means opening ourselves up to work with non-profit partners to fund infrastructure projects to bring these neighbourhoods in line with the rest of the city. By looking at alternative solutions to our fiscal problems, we will ensure we can still invest in our growing communities and provide access to baseline city services that they may otherwise not have.
Track Record: In my 2017 platform, I committed to and successfully reviewed different options to provide transit to communities without transit. Since then, we have been able to introduce transit service to the communities of Big Lake (Hawks Ridge, Starling, and Trumpeter). With limited financial resources, we must bring forward new solutions like the one above.
To move forward with essential infrastructure projects such as the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre and Library, we will need to work with partners. In February 2021, I put forward a motion asking our City Administration to engage non-profit partners to determine if there would be any interest in working together to build and operate this facility. While not a revolutionary idea in many other cities, this is not something the City of Edmonton has looked at for many years. A report is scheduled to come to the new council in late 2021, which details non-profit partners’ interests.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will put forward a motion to advance the construction of the Lewis Farms Recreation Centre/Library, assuming there is interest from non-profit partners. We must ensure that all communities have access to the necessary infrastructure.
Supporting Our Communities Together
+ Housing as a Human Right
Housing is a fundamental right that is crucial for the success of our city. No Edmontonian should have to experience houselessness, and all of our neighbours deserve a permanent place to call home.
The provincial and federal governments are primarily responsible for housing. However, municipalities and community agencies across the province have had to step up over the years to try and fill the gaps left by these other levels of government as best as possible. Edmonton is no exception to this.
In the past, our city’s role in helping to ensure everyone has access to housing was focused on providing land where available. At the same time, the other orders of government would fund the construction of the actual units of housing. Unfortunately, this approach has resulted in the uneven development of affordable housing dependent on the other orders of government. Considering the social and financial benefits of ensuring every person has a home, there is no logical reason to prolong the construction of affordable housing units.
Did you know: In 2020, Edmonton City Council decided to start investing property tax dollars to help fund the construction of approximately 200 units of permanent supportive housing on 4 City-owned sites. This is still well short of the approximately 916 units needed, but it is moving in the right direction.
In early 2021, the federal government was willing to help fund the construction of an additional 420 units of supportive housing in partnership with the City. To access that money, the provincial government would have had to commit $6 million/year to fund the ongoing operations of those supportive housing units. Since that funding did not materialize, we will miss out on that opportunity.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will call on the provincial and federal governments to turn over housing jurisdiction to the large municipalities, including the associated budget and staff resources. The housing file needs to be more agile and flexible to help expedite the necessary construction of affordable housing in Edmonton.
Suppose the federal and provincial governments continue to abandon their responsibility on this file. In that case, the alternative is to bring together the orders of government and develop a clear funding plan that provides certainty for every municipality to build the necessary units of affordable housing. The program should be treated like other core services with consistent funding provided on an annual basis instead of a series of ‘one-offs’ that often result in long breaks of affordable housing construction.
+ Supporting Seniors in Edmonton
Seniors are an integral part of our community and deserve the ability to age in place and live with dignity. They should have the freedom to choose where to live, how they access city services and how they communicate their concerns to Council.
Andrew’s Anecdotes: My grandmother had to leave the Meadowlark area after spending almost half her life there because there weren’t supportive living sites close by. Seniors deserve the opportunity to age in place, and this is another area that the City could help with if given a chance.
We need to recognize that, like any other demographic, there is no single solution when it comes to the type of housing for seniors. Seniors residences don’t always have to be an apartment-style building and might instead be courtyard housing like we see in Belmead, Glenwood, Lewis Estates, Rosenthal, and Terra Losa. Courtyard housing is typically a collection of duplexes that are often just one floor but operate as a condo association. While seniors’ housing is a provincial responsibility, the City has land available that is ready to go once the funding for the construction of those units is made available.
Track Record: Before being on Council, I was fortunate to work with many seniors in the west end and wanted to bring forward the issues I heard about to the rest of our City Council. Immediately after being elected in 2013, I asked to lead the Seniors Initiative. In this role, I often heard from seniors who could not stay in their homes and were forced to leave the area they raised their family in to get the care they needed. Since starting on this initiative and before COVID-19, I visited every seniors’ residence in the ward and almost every seniors’ centre across the city every six months to talk to seniors about issues that affect them.
Andrews Anecdote: Another concern I would often hear about was rising costs to access services or programs. I still remember a visit to the Central Lions Seniors Centre where I listened to a personal story from someone who had just turned 72 and was required to take out her RRSPs. Before that, she had always qualified for the Leisure Access Program, but she found herself $500 above the income threshold for this particular year. But while she had a bit more money coming in, she was no longer eligible for benefits, and she found herself worse off than other years.
Track Record: I brought this issue forward to Council and asked them to consider putting in a sliding scale for our Leisure Access Program. That motion was approved, and the Leisure Access Program was expanded to add another 50,000 Edmontonians who weren’t previously eligible. These visits provide opportunities to learn about issues like this and then take action.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will:
- Identify additional programs that would benefit from a sliding scale model to increase seniors’ access to City services.
- Continuing the work to have City land prepared for the construction of new housing options as part of the ongoing advocacy for additional housing choices so that people can age within their community.
- Ensure that diverse housing options are easily implemented throughout our city as part of the Zoning Bylaw renewal in the 15-Minute City section.
- Continue these regular visits to listen to and understand the needs of seniors in our community to ensure that their needs are being met.
+ Empowering Youth to Build our City
We must remove barriers to allow young Edmontonians to fully connect and participate in the city today so that they stay and become part of our economy and enrich our city in the future.
Track Record: As soon as I was elected in 2013, I became the council advisor on the City of Edmonton Youth Council (CEYC). CEYC is made up of youth ages 13-23 who provide policy recommendations to Edmonton City Council. While other cities may have youth councils, it is rare for them to make policy recommendations directly to City Council. Attending meetings of CEYC is easily one of the best things I get to do because every month, I get to be inspired by these leaders who are helping to build an even better city.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will:
- Put forward a motion to provide free transit to youth 12 and under regardless of whether a fare-paying customer accompanies them.
- Continue to champion and amplify the voices of youth through the City of Edmonton Youth Council.
Improving Collaborative Decision-Making
+ Continuing to Listen and Engage with Nakota Isga
As your City Councillor, I have prided myself on staying connected with the people in our communities. Listening to people at the doors, on the phone, and over email has been one of my favourite parts of my past eight years as a Councillor.
Track Record: In my 2017 Campaign Platform, I committed to:
- Host quarterly Community Conversations with residents;
- Hold live social media conversations (for those who may not be able to attend public meetings);
- Door-knock regularly throughout Ward 1 to gather feedback on past, current and upcoming items of discussion;
- Attend community meetings, annual general meetings, and events; and
- Continue to respond to calls and emails promptly.
I’m proud to report that I followed through and exceeded all commitments. I attended almost every single community league Annual General Meeting (AGM) over the last four years. I also regularly attended different community events, including Community League Day events across the ward, and hosted my quarterly Community Conversations until the beginning of the pandemic. Since the pandemic started, I have hosted a virtual town hall almost every week to stay connected with residents and gather feedback. Finally, while there have been some periods where door-knocking was not permitted (ex: December 2020-February 2021), I was able to continue knocking on doors an average of at least twice per month.
This level of engagement helped me better understand a variety of views on a wide range of topics. I never shy away from conversations with residents. I have and will continue to proactively and respectfully communicate with constituents, including having an open mind and having fulsome conversations about why decisions are made.
If re-elected as your Councillor, I will commit to setting the highest standard possible for regular engagement. This includes: Continuing to host quarterly in-person Community Conversations with residents when Covid-19 restrictions allow.
- Continuing to host virtual Community Conversations at least every month through a variety of different video streaming services.
- This will provide an opportunity for people who can’t attend in-person events to stay informed about what is happening in our city, ask questions, and provide feedback on various topics.
- Continue to door-knock at least once a month across the Ward.
- Continue attending community meetings, AGMs, and events.
- While serving as a councillor, I attended almost every community league AGM every year. Beyond attendance at community AGMs, I will also be attending various community events across the ward throughout the year.
- Continue to respond to emails and calls from constituents actively.
- I have received positive feedback from Edmontonians that I am easy to get a hold of during my terms
