The city wants more power to deal with builders behaving badly. Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack says he has asked the provincial government to expand the city’s enforcement powers so it can revoke business licences and impose heavier fines on builders who repeatedly break the rules. Currently, the maximum fine the city can issue is $10,000. “We are asking for the province to change the rules so that we can hold bad builders accountable,” Knack told reporters Tuesday during a break from a council public hearing. “It should be more than simply the fines. It should be actually the threat of losing your business licence, and that I think will ensure a much higher standard of construction.” Knack said giving the city more meaningful enforcement tools would help it shut down builders “who clearly aren’t interested in complying.” He also wants sanctions that would prevent builders from simply folding their companies and reopening under a new name. “We want to make sure they can’t build in the city because they aren’t interested in adding value to the city,” Knack said, adding stronger enforcement powers could help address some of the criticism surrounding infill development. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson
