MayorSohi
Mayor Sohi announced the formation of a 16 member task force on housing and houselessness saying they need to look beyond the issue which has been studied time & again. This task force is to look at reducing bureaucratic roadblocks, implementing solutions and finding creative, innovative ways of unlocking solutions including more non-market, supportive housing, as well as affordable housing. The task force is tasked with issues & problems that many communities are facing and we can only hope they offer solutions that don't depend on more from the public purse.
Mayor Sohi, elected officials and political scientists react to Bill 20 introduced to the Legislature on Thursday. They say it would affect the way municipalities govern and Mayor Sohi says it is an attack on local democracy.
The Blatchford development was touted to be a showcase "green" development site but has not lived up to its initial hype and has become a real drain on Edmonton taxpayers. Projections were that nearly 3,000 homes built would be built by this time and to date there are only 84. This is in spite of the city already spending more than $200 million on Blatchford. Lorne Gunter lists a Its number of reasons why Blatchford does not appeal to home buyers and why it the city should look count their/our losses and offload it at a "white elephant" sale.
Like many others Mayor Sohi used X (Twitter) to comment on Hamas' invasion of Israel. Sohi's comments were measured In his attempts to show himself neutral and non offensive to supporters of both sides of the Israeli/Hamas conflict.
#MayorSohi, #Israeli/Hamasconflict
When he was a Liberal cabinet minister in 2018 Sohi helped pass the law that makes it next to impossible to keep even the most violent suspects in jail while awaiting their trails.
Now that he is having to clean up the mess he helped create Sohi is asking the federal government to pass reforms that would make it harder for violent criminals to be granted bail while awaiting trial.
Lorne Gunter's article makes one wonder if Mayor Sohi has acknowledged that his vote for bail reform and early release was wrong or does he still stand by his vote?
For the 2nd time in a matter of days Mayor Sohi has reiterated his plea to Provincial and Federal leaders for help in curbing rising violence in Edmonton. On the face of it this plea is warranted but it does bring to mind an old saying, no matter how thin you slice it balony still has 2 sides that should be considered which will be addressed in the next post.
Media reports are that Mayor Sohi and Premier Danielle Smith has a "positive meeting" during which comparisons were made between Calgary & Edmonton with regards to addictions and homelessness. To address the discrepancies Mayor Sohi outlined seven points that need to be addressed. Premier Smith's office hass said she is "committed to working with the city of Edmonton on the issues they raised, but identified the need for detailed plans to address their specific asks."
Addictions and homelessness are rampant and jurisdictions everywhere are seeking ways to effectively address the problems.
#MayorSohi #PremierDanielleSmith, #addictions, #homelessness