Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack speaks to CTV Your Morning Edmonton’s Kent Morrison about the recent releases of inmates into Chinatown, how snow clearing will fit into the upcoming budget discussions, and former mayor Stephen Mandel’s criticism of the current council. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Kent Morrison: You talked with the public safety minister about inmates being dropped off in Chinatown. What did he have to say? What was your message to the province? Andrew Knack: He expressed great disappointment – as I think many Edmontonians were also feeling – and had committed to working with his deputy minister to take action. Obviously, what I’d shared is that we want to see what that action plan looks like. This is not the first time we’ve heard about this. I’ve heard from frontline police officers who are hearing about this not just in Chinatown but in other spots across the city. We are essentially the jail capital of Canada, and so we need a plan for both the provincial and federal governments. This isn’t picking on any one order of government; it’s actually both that need to have a clear release plan (for) how the folks who are getting released are getting the necessary support to ensure that they’re not getting dropped off into homelessness, or they’re not getting dropped off and unable to deal with maybe a mental health or addiction. We’re a willing partner to support them, but they need to really step up, and we need to see that action quickly. KM: What can you do as a city? Are you hands tied in this? AK: Yes, because at the end of the day, the provincial government is responsible for things like housing and social supports, mental health and addictions. And so we can support them: We’ve been making land available for the provincial and federal governments to build more affordable housing and supportive housing and recovery centres. But realistically, when it comes to the success of anyone being discharged, it’s both up to the provincial and federal governments to have a clear strategy and also follow through and track the performance. Is the person getting dropped off and then two days later getting back out onto the street, or are they actually getting into recovery, getting the support they need, and two years later getting their own place? That’s what we need to see, and that involves an investment from both orders of government. But I expect that from them, and I think Edmontonians expect that from them. KM: We’re going into another budget cycle discussion. Snow clearing is the number one priority for Edmontonians, according to a survey, heading into this budget. How are you balancing this? AK: One of four council strategic priorities that we approved back in January was what we call quality services. Those are things like snow removal and grass cutting. I expect you’ll see an enhancement in this upcoming four-year budget. We’ve already heard from administration that they plan on recommending a significant increase in the budget for snow removal. At the same time, we know there’s the tension on property taxes, and that’s why I’ve committed to doing this whole new budget process. We’ve been building the budget over the last year. We’ve got a whole new system setting a new foundation. My expectation is that while we will continue to see some level of increases, they won’t be the level of increases we saw over the last four years. So we’re going to get better quality services. We’re going to get better safety. We’re going to get better in economic development. We’re going to get better in how we manage our growth, and we won’t have to see the increases that we saw over the last four years. KM: Yesterday, five of your predecessors all gathered together to talk about things in the issue, the state of Edmonton. Some sharp criticism came from Stephen Mandel, who called the current council a mess. What do you think about that? AK: At the end of the day, there were five mayors there, and everyone’s going to have their own opinion, right? I worked with former Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and former Mayor Don Iveson, and there were days I very much agreed with their opinions, and there were days I didn’t agree with their opinions – and that’s the beauty of local politics. I come back to this: Over the last five years, this city has added about 250,000 people. People don’t move to a city if they think it’s on the decline. We see so much excitement about the city. We have our challenges. No city is without challenges, but we have so many positive things going for us. At the end of the day, that was one of five mayors’ opinions; the other four didn’t seem to share that opinion, and that’s the beauty of politics. We’re going to find that within Edmontonians. Some will hate it, some will love it. KM: Do you think your job is harder than it was for them? AK: The world has changed drastically. There is greater polarization. I love our local media, but local media has even changed in how we cover the work that gets done. So the world is very different. They had their own challenges. We have our own unique challenges. I’m just happy to get to work with 12 other city councillors to try to make sure we’re building the best Edmonton possible.
