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Edmonton councillor talks infill debate, increasing housing options across the city
Edmonton councillor talks infill debate, increasing housing options across the city

CTV News

time16-07-2025

  • Politics
  • CTV News

Edmonton councillor talks infill debate, increasing housing options across the city

Edmonton city coun. Michael Janz speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about the city's infill debate. This interview has been edited for clarity and length Michael Higgins: Why is infill suddenly such a contentious issue? What drove the considerable degree of tension we saw heading into the summer break? Michael Janz: This issue is a big issue in many, many municipalities across Canada when you talk about how we grow and how we rebuild our cities. Our cities are changing. There's more and more people moving here. Premier Smith's Alberta Is Calling campaign has been wildly successful. We've added 150,000 people in the last three years and where they live and what housing choices are provided, these are big questions that not just Edmonton but Calgary, Toronto, Winnipeg, even Fort Saskatchewan and Sherwood Park are trying to wrestle with. MH: Blanket rezoning. Your Calgary counterparts, their decision on that, it is considered by some to be their most contentious of last year. Were there lessons that you took from what Calgary went through on the infill issue? MJ: There's always challenges with how you deal with growth. I think generally, Edmontonians know that we need to build in, not out. That we can't keep doing more and more suburban sprawl. It's financially ruinous. It's environmentally ruinous. Everybody kind of agrees that more density should be concentrated around more LRT stations, but that's challenging when you live on those blocks and there's a building going up next door, that's where we really get the rub. MH: You proposed a policy change that would have cut the number of units from eight to six at the end of your sitting, though council voted six to five against that. Why did that fail? Why did that not go through? MJ: It's funny when we talk about these numbers, because even in Edmonton, a lot is not a lot. Many of our lots are very different, and the point I was trying to make is that there is no universal lot size. We should be talking more about what is the appropriate amount of housing on a lot. That's a conversation we should be having when we say eight units anywhere. That's not actually true. The vast majority of lots, they're not big enough to even fit the requirements for eight units. There's a number of important changes we made. We made the architecture of the infills better. We made them make sure they're facing the street, not facing the neighbours. There's many of them that already exist in our communities. You go to Bonnie Doon or Richie or others, there's many infills that are unrecognizable. They just look like new homes and that's sort of what I'm trying to get towards. So the eight to six was more of a communication saying this is what you could fit anywhere, especially when we constrained the size of the box, we shrank it to half the lot. MH: Surprised it didn't pass though? Six to five was the vote. MJ: I think part of it was a recognition that in some cases where you may be able to do eight closer to an LRT, closer to another location, my colleagues still wanted to preserve that opportunity, knowing that at the end of the day, when you get out your tape measure, in most cases, you may not be able to do more than six. MH: Where do you weigh in on the issue of members of council dropping off the radar before the voting is finished? Before you're done debate on issues as big as this one? MJ: I can tell you, we knew this was a hot one. I had told my colleagues back in the June 3 Urban Planning Committee and before. I've been door knocking a lot and I can tell you, Edmontonians are very sour at a couple of councillors who were not present for the vote, in particular one who's running for mayor. I think I wouldn't be surprised if skipping that vote caused irreparable damage to their campaign. MH: Water under the bridge where council is concerned, or do you see more coming of this? Might this even be something where the province kind of leans into the conversation? MJ: The province, in the past, has said that they want to see more housing. Minister Nixon has said to me that he's very impressed with how Edmonton has been trying to welcome more housing and build more homes, especially around transit. That Edmonton City Council is very focused on affordability, that we want to see more homes with more transit choices and more housing choices where you can live, maybe with one car, maybe not required to have two or three cars. Having options for families that are more affordable and in better locations where people want to live. The province has been very favourable to this. Pierre Poilievre and Prime Minister Mark Carney have both said they want to see more housing across Canada. The two biggest issues in poll after poll, it's not infill, it's housing and affordability. Those are the big issues. We're taking action in that at the city level where we can. Edmonton has been on an infill journey for almost 20 years. We will continue to be. There's always going to be refinements, there's always going to be changes working on it. MH: Where does that leave the conversation then on Edmonton growth? Calgary as well? The need for housing supply, housing affordability, when you know that when you come back, there's an election coming? MJ: I was talking to the other city councillors, and for me, I have 20 neighbourhoods that have infill under construction, but almost seven or eight councillors don't have any infill in their wards. This is a very hot topic for three or four councillors in the city, but citywide and province wide, the main topic is still the housing crisis, where we're going to build homes, how we're going to build a more affordable city and more affordable province. This is what this is about. It's about more affordability and more housing choices for more people and no matter who the mayor is of Calgary, Edmonton, we know that we need to keep building homes, and we need to keep building them in places where people want to live. It's figuring out how to do that better, and that's what we're trying to do.

‘An exciting time': Interim NDP leader says review a chance to strengthen party
‘An exciting time': Interim NDP leader says review a chance to strengthen party

CTV News

time11-07-2025

  • Politics
  • CTV News

‘An exciting time': Interim NDP leader says review a chance to strengthen party

Federal NDP Interim Leader, Don Davies, speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about the party's upcoming review and search for a new leader. This interview has been edited for clarity and length Michael Higgins: We saw you at the Calgary Stampede. What did the experience open your eyes to from a political standpoint? Don Davies: I'm an Edmonton boy and I was a Klondike Days person, so that was my first visit ever to the Calgary Stampede. It was a fabulous event. The spirit in that town, the ability to connect with people, meet them where they're at in a very fun environment, was great. It was an exciting time to be in Calgary and a good chance to learn about what people are thinking and saying in Alberta. MH: I have to think a lot of the conversation revolved around the federal election, the reduction of your caucus to seven MPs and loss of official party status. There's a lot to reflect on in the wake of the election. What's your approach to finding answers, and finding a way forward? DD: There's no question it was a tough election for the federal NDP. There's no sugar coating it, but there's a lot of great opportunity in front of us. There's a real chance for us to connect with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, and reimagine what a progressive federal option looks like for Canadians. That entails looking backwards and figuring out what caused us to get to the point we're at, but more importantly, it allows us to enter into a discussion about what ideas we have for the path forward. In that, I'm really looking forward to engaging with people across the country and building a really strong NDP. One thing I heard during the election is Canadians don't want a U.S.-style two-party system. One of the strengths of our democracy is we have a multiplicity of parties, a diversity of views. I think that makes our governance stronger. People want a strong NDP and we look forward to engaging with people to help determine what that looks like. MH: Jagmeet Singh announced his resignation on election night. You're filling the gap in the interim. So where does that leave the timeline for finding a new leader? DD: Our federal council is meeting right now. They started meetings a few weeks ago, and they're engaging in the process now. They will set the rules for the new leadership race. I anticipate it will start sometime in the fall, and I know there's already several candidates who are starting to organize. It's going to be an exciting time for the NDP to do that rebuilding process and see where we want to take our party in the 21st Century. MH: You touched on your Edmonton roots a moment ago. What do you make of grassroots support pushing Edmonton MP Heather McPherson to make a run for leadership? DD: I was with Heather at Stampede and I've worked with her for a number of years now. She's an excellent parliamentarian. She's a great representative and champion of Alberta and our country, and if she does decide to run, I think she's going to be an excellent candidate. MH: Given your role in fronting the party the past several weeks, what do you feel will be needed most in your next leader, if your party is to recover beyond the blow of the last election? DD: We've just started a review and renewal process. I don't really want to prejudge all of the ideas and thoughts that are going to come from our membership, from progressive allies, from stakeholders, but I think one thing that I've identified that I think is clear to everybody, is that we want to strengthen our relationship with working people in this country. That means meeting working people where they're at, listening to them. For instance, at Stampede, I got a got a real chance to do that and talk to a lot of different people from a lot of different occupations and professions in Alberta and hear how their lives are, and understand what their aspirations are, and what their thoughts are. I think that that's critical for the NDP moving forward, that we reconnect with our roots. We're a party that began in 1961, started by working people, for working people. I think returning to that fundamental route is really important for the path forward. MH: Pierre Poilievre, the federal Conservative leader, is pursuing a return to Parliament through our province. How much effort will your party put into the fight for Battle River- Crowfoot? DD: We have an excellent candidate nominated; Katherine Swampy. She's an Indigenous leader, she's a community activist and she's up and running already. Every election, whether it's a byelection or general election, is a chance for Canadians to have their say. I think it's really important that they always have a choice. We're a proud, long-standing democracy and people get to choose who governs them. It's a chance to have a debate about different policies and pass forward. I very much respect Mr. Poilievre, and I know the kinds of policies he's going to champion. We're going to be bringing forth some different ideas for the people of Battle River-Crowfoot, and we look forward to a rigorous campaign. MH: Where do things stand with your counterparts here in Alberta, the Alberta NDP? What does the conversation with Naheed Nenshi look like on the contentious issue of the Alberta NDP severing its ties with your party? DD: I had a chance to meet with Mr. Nenshi, and I had a chance to meet with a lot of NDP MLAs when I was in Calgary, and I can tell you I think it's very healthy to have a discussion about the relationship between the provincial and the federal sections. I understand that they resolved that at their convention. What I think is really important is that we share the same general goals. We want to build a strong Canada, we want to build strong, family-sustaining jobs, we want a good health-care system, we want to have a united, strong response to the threats coming from south of the border. Mr. Nenshi, and my colleagues in the Alberta NDP, share those. We're looking forward to working together to build a stronger Alberta in a stronger Canada, and one that works better for all Canadians. The NDP is about fairness. We're a wealthy country. We have a lot to be proud of, and we want to make sure that all Canadians have a chance to share in that.

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