'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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.