A public washroom strategy lost in transitlation

The city deals with its abundance of public washrooms by closing several of them. Plus, the police revoke credentials of The Progress Report, council passes a bylaw that doesn't change mask rules at all, and council votes against developing active transportation options near a new development.

Show Notes

Here are the relevant links for this episode:

The river

• Why does Edmonton's water smell a bit funky?
• Walking on ice can be a life or death decision

Red Deer

• Further IIHF event updates
• UCP leadership to be decided by mail-in ballot, Jean accuses Kenney camp of cheating

NFTs

• Edmonton lays claim to world's first NFT book, written by Todd Babiak and donated to the EPL
• World's first book published as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) Available to Borrow Exclusively at the Edmonton Public Library

Mask bylaws

• Edmonton city council rejects mandating masks at recreation centres

Public washrooms

• City of Edmonton closes nearly all public washrooms in transit stations to reduce drug poisoning risk
• Feb. 22 agenda item
• 2021 Alberta drug poisoning stats
• How public washrooms help make a city work well

Jennifer Rice

• Troy's tweet

Progress Report

• Mack's tweet thread
• The Edmonton Police are trying to silence us, it won't work
• The Progress Report has filed a discreditable conduct complaint against Chief McFee

EVER Square

• Calgary Trail development gets zoning go-ahead but without bike paths some councillors wanted
• Agenda item
• EVER Square

Speaking Municipally is a proud member of the Alberta Podcast Network: locally grown, community supported.

This week we highlighted the Edmonton Community Foundation and its podcast, The Well Endowed Podcast. The ECF acts as a bridge between donors and charities to create a strong, vibrant community for generations to come. Departing CEO Martin Garber-Conrad spoke with Bloom recently about how the philanthropic innovation that started under his leadership will carry on into the future.

We also talked about The Future Of, a podcast from ATB that promises to give you insights to help navigate what is often an uncertain future. Hosted by ATB's chief economist Todd Hirsch, the podcast explores how our economy and communities can not only brace for change, but embrace the opportunity it creates.

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Taproot Edmonton presents a weekly discussion on key stories in municipal politics. We pay attention to City Council so you don't have to! Join us as we delve into conversations about the context surrounding decisions made at City Hall.