What your City Hall did while you were sleeping

It seems some of our city councillors are planning a little trip south to Calgary this fall. And, honestly, who can blame them? November here is… character-building.

Councillor Erin Rutherford, Councillor Andrew Knack, and Councillor Keren Tang weren't on the list this time, but others are heading to the 2025 Alberta Municipalities Convention. Councillor Jo-Anne Wright and Councillor Jennifer Stevenson apparently approved the agenda for the Agenda Review Committee, 2-0, on April 14, 2026. This is less a surprise and more of a procedural formality.

What's more interesting are the expenses. Councillor Clarke, for instance, has racked up $825.88 for accommodation and another $685.00 for registration for the Calgary convention, scheduled for November 12-14, 2025. Councillor Elliott also has $825.88 for accommodation, plus $348.00 for food and incidentals. The Alberta Municipalities Convention is where our city leaders connect with others from across the province. It's important work, I suppose, but it's also Calgary.

Meanwhile, back here at home, the top 311 service request issues reveal that Edmontonians are primarily concerned with "General Information" (160,623 requests) and "Routes and Schedules" (112,470 requests). It seems we're always looking for information, or trying to figure out how to get somewhere. Some things never change, not even when the Oilers are on a tear.

It'll be worth watching if these convention costs balloon as more councillors add their names to the attendee list. Edmonton doesn't need your approval. Never did.

Darren Fedoruk (@deepnorth_yeg)

My colleagues are probably already dissecting this, catch them live at mornings.live.