'Thriving and vibrant': Mayoral candidates throw final pitches to improve downtown
The frontrunner candidates for mayor all agree downtown Edmonton still needs work as they placed bets on how best to improve the core in the final week before the vote.
“I just can’t imagine a thriving Edmonton without a thriving and vibrant downtown,” candidate Amarjeet Sohi said.
Sohi wants to make sure every citizen has a park within a 10-minute walk. He‘s also proposing designating the river valley as an urban national park, and pitching a plan to activate unused space in the core.
“Festivals are so critical, that’s why animating our back alleys and empty parking lots are so critical, and that’s why safety is so critical,” he said.
Candidate Mike Nickel stirred controversy early in his campaign by issuing a “downtown travel advisory.” He insists downtown is not as safe as it should be.
“Everyone knows that if you’re downtown, you have to watch out. If you don’t have safety, you can’t have a marketplace, if you don’t have a marketplace you can’t do business,” he said.
Candidate Kim Krushell released a plan to reduce the concentration of supervised injection sites north of downtown and believes red tape for businesses is also hurting the core.
“One of the things that I would do is obviously reduce on the permitting side so that businesses can have more outdoor space options,” she promised.
Krushell supports a day pass for downtown attractions like the museum, art gallery and theatres to help increase traffic and vibrancy.
That’s the goal of candidate Cheryll Watson’s “central business neighbourhood” concept - which offers public WiFi, phone charging stations, and free transit downtown.
“Without a thriving downtown, and its enormous impact to the entire region and province, we are in for years of economic hardships, and we risk losing the incredible gains we’ve made in developing our city core,” her website read.
Candidate Micheal Oshry supports the $5 million “downtown vibrancy strategy” the outgoing council passed in June and he wants to redevelop the Rossdale Power Plant.
“I think we need to have a meeting place in the heart of the city where people can have a glass of wine or a coffee in the river valley and do something cool with that building,” he proposed.
Edmonton’s election is on Monday, Oct. 18.
A complete list of candidates for mayor is available on the City of Edmonton website.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.