Platform

I believe City Council should know when to lead, support, or get out of the way. Through your advice and my commitment to responsive, transparent decision-making, we have the potential to accomplish a bold, progressive vision of inclusion and community wellness.

My promise to you:

● Regular information sessions and town hall meetings hosted online.

● Build Partnerships with businesses, community associations, and labour to support innovation and grassroots solutions.

● A belief Council should know when to lead, support, or get out of the way.

● Create communities that celebrate Edmonton as a diverse, intersectional community.

For me, it’s all about taking care of the people who call our city home. Let’s invest in housing strategies that centre community care, cultural sensitivity, and long-term solutions that address the harmful barriers preventing Edmontonians from feeling a sense of belonging. We need to acknowledge that houselessness disproportionately affects Indigenous populations, and the need for trauma-informed strategies that are developed through a lens of Reconciliation.

● Invest in supportive and affordable housing solutions that centre cultural sensitivity and knowledge, particularly Indigenous communities who are disproportionately affected by houselessness.

● Invest and promote harm reduction and mental health supports.

● Invest in community outreach programs.

● Invest in public infrastructure that puts people first – public washrooms, water fountains, sharps containers, and put an end to hostile infrastructure.

● Develop a coordinated youth response to provide upstream solutions with agency partners. Studies indicate that anywhere from 40 to 60% of unhoused adults experienced houselessness as youth.

● Establish a Shelter User Bill of Rights that protects the diverse needs of the community.

O-day’min is the beating heart of our city. As O-day’min goes, so too will our city. We need to continue investing in our people, who have built an Edmonton that is strong and open for innovation. Let’s leverage our strengths, and collaborate with partners to attract new investments in emerging fields, prioritize and protect our local workforce, build capacity for new ideas, and keep the leaders of tomorrow in our city. Let’s build for the future.

● Make our spaces more welcoming by activating our spaces with music, art, and festivals.

● Leverage the hospitality, live entertainment, and creative industries’ expertise, to increase economic activity in O-day’min through a “Night Mayor”.

● Attract new investments in emerging fields such as agri-tech and machine learning.

● Promote economic development and tourism attraction strategies in partnership with Indigenous organizations, post-secondary institutions, and regional partners.

● Retain our city’s brain trust through partnerships with post-secondary institutions, businesses, and the public service.

● Encourage and incentivize adaptive reuse such as refitting vacant office space for childcare, retail, residential, or student/affordable housing uses, by working with local stakeholders to identify opportunities.

● Better planning on infrastructure projects to reduce impacts to businesses and residents, ensure the city provides relief to businesses impacted by city infrastructure projects.

● Make permitting more streamlined and clearer to reduce confusion in proposing new initiatives.

● Develop an unsolicited proposal framework to encourage new ideas and initiatives in our city.

Our summers are getting hotter and drier, and our winters are getting colder. Let’s tackle climate change and build our city to weather the surprises of tomorrow’s storms. Let’s introduce programs to understand and enjoy our River Valley. Let’s do the work to be a leader in climate resiliency, and keep our city’s heart beating strong for generations to come.

● Complete O-day’min’s sidewalks and bike lane network.

● Electrify the ETS fleet through Federal funding.

● A new River Valley Ambassador program to focusing on environmental stewardship, sustainable recreation, and traditional Indigenous land uses to learn our River Valley's history.

● Invest in technologies and building practices that rise to the challenge of shifting climate trends such as FireSmart, flood resiliency, and waste reduction initiatives.

● Invest in public infrastructure that puts people first – public washrooms, water fountains, sharps containers, and put an end to hostile infrastructure.

● Update O-day’min’s drainage infrastructure to weather Edmonton’s storms.

● Empower communities to pilot programs such as green technology and climate resiliency initiatives.

● Protect our city’s tree canopy and trees in our communities.

● Deliver on amenities such as recreation facilities and community gardens - and keep them accessible and publicly city operated.

You deserve to live in an amazing community, and have city services that work for you. Let’s work together to protect our green spaces, and to build places where we can gather and connect with each other. I will fight to make sure neighbourhoods are safe, accessible, and have the resources they need so that you can focus on living your life to the fullest.

● Invest in proper lighting, sidewalk cleaning and repairs, and prompt snow removal.

● Increase vibrancy along our main streets and reduce parking pressures

 ○ by introducing a piloted program of fare-free transit system-wide on weekends,

 ○ and exploring the potential of a fare-free dedicated circulator route, connecting the heart of our city.

● Ensure that every community has:

 ○ Dedicated green space

 ○ Community hubs

 ○ More dedicated dog parks

● Strengthen City Council’s relationship with community leagues and community organizations

● Deliver on amenities such as recreation facilities and community gardens - and keep them accessible and publicly city operated.

● Invest in public infrastructure that puts people first – public washrooms, water fountains, sharps containers, and put an end to hostile infrastructure.

● Build our city using sensible infill strategies and housing solutions that make sense for our neighbourhoods, focusing on family-friendly density options.

Every policy, proposal, and initiative should be developed through a lens of Reconciliation. We need to build trust with Indigenous communities, and use Council’s powers as a tool to further Indigenous self-determination and prosperity. We need to do the work to honour the heritage of these lands as a gathering space, a space for sharing knowledge and building community.

● Ensure that City Administration includes Reconciliation considerations in policy developments.

● Partner with Indigenous organizations on initiatives like housing, infrastructure development, tourism promotion, and economic development.

● Integrate Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge into City developments in and around the River Valley.

● Investigate opportunities for Urban Reserves in the ward and around the city.

● A new River Valley Ambassador program to focusing on environmental stewardship, sustainable recreation, and traditional Indigenous land uses to learn the history of these lands.

● Establish Indigenous public art throughout our city, reflecting our location on Treaty Lands.

● Uphold any municipal jurisdiction Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action.

We need to build a city where everyone feels safe, celebrated, and included. We need to address that our city still has work to do to ensure that we are equitable and inclusive.

● Ensure our city’s policies, programs, and partners are actively anti-racist, anti-homophobic, and inclusive of the diversity of our communities.

● Improved infrastructure maintenance that centres accessibility and mobility.

● A joint Action Plan to stop race-motivated violence, working with community partners and all levels of government.

● Introduce arts enrichment grants for seniors and continuing care facilities

● A centralized directory for caregivers providing support to loved ones and family members to make navigating the system easier, to provide the best possible attention to loved ones.