Edmonton council upholds deal to build underground pedway to new highrises
Downtown Edmonton's new city councillor lost her attempt Monday to kill a new $26.5 million underground pedway that is planned to connect a new housing development to the Churchill LRT Station.
Coun. Anne Stevenson presented the motion, but City Council defeated it in a vote of 10-3.
A previous version of council negotiated a deal that would see the city borrow the money and build the tunnel to the Station Lands development owned by Qualico.
City staff predict the investment will be paid back over 20 years through a rise in tax revenues as part of a Community Revitalization Levy.
"I felt that the public benefit that was coming out of this deal, wasn't high enough to warrant supporting the borrowing," Stevenson argued before the vote.
Qualico plans to build 485 rental units in the first phase of Station Lands, which the city said is an investment of $185 million. That phase would be immediately north of EPCOR tower on 101 Street.
Future phases of the project could see more towers built north of the Royal Alberta Museum, in an additional private investment estimated at $657 million.
"This project is going to lead to so many jobs, so much uplift of communities, food on the table, bills being paid, and people actually being able to get through this economic storm," said Coun. Aaron Paquette.
He voted to reaffirm the pedway deal along with Councillors Tim Cartmell, Andrew Knack, Sarah Hamilton, Karen Principe, Jennifer Rice, Erin Rutherford, Ashley Salvador, Keren Tang and Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.
"It's almost like I flip over every rock to make sure that there's not what we might call 'corporate welfare.' This is not that," Paquette argued.
"I'm really concerned that even contemplating going back on this set of decisions, what kind of message that is going to send to (investment) dollars that are very mobile," Cartmell told council.
"We can't just walk away from our end of the bargain at the 11h hour when our partner, in this case Qualico, has been negotiating in good faith. And they have spent millions of dollars on this," Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said.
Councillors Jo-Anne Wright and Michael Janz voted along with Stevenson to have the pedway deal scrapped.
City staff didn't provide a date for when the pedway would be completed, and the CRL deal needs to be signed off by the province before it can happen.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Touria Izri
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.