Week in Review - May 20, 2016
May 20, 2016
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped in at the City of Edmonton’s reception centre this past Friday where he met with Wood Buffalo region wildfire evacuees. Mayor Iveson welcomed the Prime Minister and gave him a personal tour of the facility, which has been run exclusively by City of Edmonton staff, volunteers and the members of our community since the centre opened. The Prime Minister thanked all the volunteers and staff for their hard work in making our neighbours from northern Alberta feel welcome during this stressful time.
The City of Edmonton continues to provide support for evacuees, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, and in fighting the fire dubbed “the beast”. As mentioned above, the reception centre remains open and has had over 21,000 people visit, over 15,000 register, and currently has hundreds of evacuees staying overnight. The centre continues to provide regular public updates for evacuees. The Edmonton Fire department also continues to provide assistance with firefighting in Fort McMurray, ensuring hotspots are taken care of as we get closer to the province’s tentative re-entry dates for evacuees.
On Tuesday the city confirmed that the rainbow crosswalks in Old Strathcona will get repainted just in time for this year’s pride parade. Tuesday was International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, a day that raises awareness of the hate and discrimination still faced by the LGBTQ+ community.
The Mayor was the North Edmonton Business Association’s (NEBA) guest speaker this past Wednesday where he raised the importance of working with the provincial and federal governments. He again highlighted the need for long-overdue improvements to Yellowhead Trail, which help ensure the efficient movements of goods and services into and within our city.
Next week City Council will discuss the EndPoverty Edmonton task force’s roadmap for implementing their strategy to eliminate poverty in our city in a generation. Mayor Iveson serves as co-chair of the task force and is looking forward to the discussion on advancing this strategy which aims to uplift some of our most vulnerable Edmontonians.
This ends another week in the Mayor’s Office. Rain is forecast for the long weekend and we hope that you appreciate this expected respite from the dry conditions both in Edmonton and up north.
For More Information
Mayor Don Iveson
2nd Floor, City Hall
1 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, AB
T5J 2R7
| Online | Contact The Mayor Online |
|---|
| https://twitter.com/yegmayoroffice |
