Time to `step up,' Sohi tells province
UCP government treats Edmonton like it doesn't matter, mayor says
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi on Tuesday used his state of the city address to blast the provincial government for not adequately investing in Edmonton.
As the city works to heal from the global COVID-19 pandemic, Edmonton's economic recovery — and solutions to difficult social issues including housing and homelessness — depend on the province's help, Sohi said at the annual Edmonton Chamber of Commerce's mayor's state of the city address at the Edmonton Convention Centre.
“We need our provincial government to step up because tackling houselessness, mental health, addictions and trauma is their responsibility.
“They need to show up for our most vulnerable. People's human dignity and our economic recovery depend on it,” he said.
“Edmonton is a regional hub for social services.
“We carry a disproportionate burden providing servicing to Alberta's most vulnerable for which we receive no recognition or financial support.
“Edmonton deserves a fair deal. Please work with us. We are your capital city …
“Please stop holding Edmonton's economy back.”
After thanking Municipal Affairs Minister Ric Mciver and associate minister of red tape reduction Tanya Fir for attending the event, Sohi said Edmonton has received $1.1 billion less than Calgary under two provincial municipal funding formulas, and just one-third of the infrastructure investments.
As the city prepares for a tough municipal budget later this year, Sohi noted the province doesn't pay property tax, meaning Edmonton is missing out on $14 million in revenue because “our provincial government is not paying its fair share of property taxes on the buildings they occupy.”
“Too often we are made to feel that Edmonton does not matter to the province,” Sohi said.
CONTEXT NEEDED: MCIVER
Responding to the mayor's comments, Mciver said Tuesday that Edmonton receives less in municipal transfers than Calgary because the funding formula is based on population.
Mciver noted how the province committed $110 million toward Edmonton's FIFA World Cup 2026 bid, pooled in with the federal government to give the city money to make up for millions of dollars in transit fare shortfalls this year, and gave the city money for the Yellowhead Trail upgrades and funded University of Alberta's dentistry program.
“The mayor said he wanted to be friends and then proceeds to not give any recognition for the good treatment that we give every municipality in this province,” Mciver told reporters Tuesday.
“One of his jobs is to complain to get more money from the province. On that front, I guess he did his job, but he didn't really put any of these things in context.”
Asked about Sohi's comments on needing the province's help to support people with addictions, Mciver said this Alberta government “has taken addictions more seriously than I think any government has in the history of Canada.”
The Alberta government has honed in on a recovery-based approach to drug use while cutting harm-reduction services.
A record-breaking 674 Edmontonians died of accidental drug poisonings last year.
FIGHTING HATE
Sohi told Tuesday's attendees that council and the community can build an economy and Edmonton “where no one is left behind.”
“While I love Edmonton and this community has lifted me up, we are not a perfect city. This pandemic has revealed that we are also a city of systemic inequalities,” he said.
“Ending racism, discrimination and hatred are integral for our economic growth.”
Speaking to reporters after the mayor's speech, CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Jeffrey Sundquist said the chamber and the city are on the same page about drawing in business to help the city recover.
However, he wishes the mayor's speech included more on Edmonton's economic outlook.
“A little bit about a plan on investment attraction, the investment in getting businesses to locate (here), get the vibrancy back downtown — and all our business districts — so that we can retain talent,” he said.
Getting people to return to the downtown and getting the activity going again requires investment from the city, Sundquist said, including continuing improvement on transit safety.
“Workers need to come (to) work. If we're asking them to come to our business districts they've got to be able to get there safely and comfortably.”