Noah and Olivia seem to be entrenched in their No. 1 spots as the province's most popular baby names, according to provincial data released on Monday.

A key issue during Monday's community and public services committee was wading through the potential legal ramifications of defining what a knife is and whether some businesses owners may try to find loopholes to be able to sell knives. 

A 31-year-old Saskatchewan man has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of a father and his two adult sons in Lloydminster, Sask. Brent Peters, 66, and his sons Brennan, 34, and Matthew, 32, were found dead inside a home in the border city on Sept. 11.

I spoke to Rob Rousseau of 49th Parahell about Justin Trudeau’s legacy, the failures of neoliberalism, and the cast of haters and losers lining up to replace Trudeau as Liberal leader.

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A planned extension of Highway 686 would connect Fort McMurray to Alberta's northwest. The planning is being done with significant involvement of First Nations. Fort McMurray long championed the project, saying it'd provide the region with economic opportunities, and another egress route.

This week, council returns from the holiday break to discuss installing cell service in underground transit areas, taxing derelict properties at a higher rate, and the redevelopment of St. Anthony School.

There is a community and public services committee meeting scheduled on Jan. 20 at 9:30am and a special city council meeting scheduled on Jan. 20 at 1:30pm. There is an urban planning committee meeting scheduled on Jan. 21, an executive committee meeting scheduled on Jan. 22, and a public hearing scheduled on Jan. 24.

Here are key items on this week's agenda:

• LRT tunnels could have 5G cellphone service by next spring, should executive committee approve single-source agreements with TELUS. The company has proposed a 5G and 5G+ cellular network that could be used by all telecommunications providers in LRT tunnels and underground stations. TELUS would operate the system for up to 30 years. In 2023, city council approved $4.7 million to improve emergency communications in LRT tunnels and stations, but pending committee approval, the funding will be used for this project instead. Administration said the agreements also include promotional opportunities for TELUS. The agreements are scheduled to be reviewed on Jan. 22.
• A tax subclass that was introduced in 2024 appears to have encouraged owners of derelict properties to demolish, remediate, or sell their properties, according to a report that is scheduled to be presented to council's executive committee on Jan. 22. The derelict residential tax subclass applies to properties in mature neighbourhoods that show serious signs of neglect and is intended to encourage owners to maintain or improve the properties. Administration said 30% of the houses assessed as derelict in 2024 have already been demolished, compared to 0.25% of properties in the mature area. The subclass generated a net positive revenue of $184,000, which will help offset the cost of otherwise dealing with derelict properties. Administration said it would take few additional resources to expand the subclass to the rest of the city as soon as the 2027 tax year.
• Beljan Development's project to redevelop St. Anthony School and an adjacent parking lot could reach a new milestone as council is scheduled to vote on the property's rezoning at a public hearing on Jan. 24. The school, the first Catholic school on Edmonton's south side, is not a municipal historic resource and the current and proposed zoning would not protect it from demolition. Beljan's development manager Leah Kinsella told CBC Edmonton in September that the company plans to preserve the St. Anthony building, located at 10425 84 Avenue NW, and seek historical designation while accommodating new commercial retail tenants. While the lot's current zoning allows for a building of up to five storeys, the rezoning would allow for a building of up to nine storeys. Some residents oppose the application, saying that redeveloping the parking lot will affect the theatres, businesses, and special events in the area and that the new development will congest traffic. Those in support said adding housing will make the neighbourhood more vibrant and add customers and audiences for the businesses and theatres nearby.

Here are some other items on the agenda:

• Eins Development Consulting has applied to rezone a lot in Garneau at 10948 89 Avenue NW, which currently has one single-family house, to allow for a taller multi-unit building. The lot is zoned to allow for a three-storey building with at least 1.2 metres of space on each side. The proposed zone would allow for a building up to five storeys if there are three metres of space on each side. However, given the small size of the lot, it's more likely the development would be four storeys with 1.5 metres of space on each side, administration said. The lot had previously been part of the city's priority growth area rezoning project in which administration identified properties that are ideal for increased density, but the property was removed from the project following neighbourhood engagement. Now that it's up for rezoning again, some neighbours oppose the application because it was removed from the city's project. Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning at a public hearing on Jan. 24.
• The Arabian Muslim Association, which owns the Edmonton Islamic Academy, has applied to rezone an industrial lot in the city's northwest to build a private school. Administration said it supports the application but noted the project would erode industrial land, which could undermine the recently adopted Industrial Investment Action Plan. The site is considered highly valuable because of its size, about 14 hectares, and contiguous nature; it is one of three remaining large parcels in the city, according to the rezoning report. It's also located with ease of access to Anthony Henday Drive and 142 Street NW and far from commercial and residential zoning, limiting off-site impacts and nuisances. Council is scheduled to vote on the rezoning at a public hearing on Jan. 24.
• City council's community and public services committee is scheduled to meet in private to discuss the naming rights for the Edmonton Elks' partner field.
• Administration has prepared amendments to the business licence bylaw aimed at regulating the types of stores where the sale of knives has been identified as a significant concern. The amendment adds a definition for knives and convenience stores to the bylaw, and if approved, the bylaw will prohibit convenience stores from selling knives of any kind except for basic cutlery. Council's community and public services committee is scheduled to review the bylaw on Jan. 20, and could recommend it be sent to council to be voted on.
• Administration is seeking council approval to sell or lease 11 surplus school sites so they can be used to build affordable housing. Council rezoned the school sites in the fall. Industry partners told administration that selling the sites is the quickest and simplest way for providers to secure additional funding and financing as they would hold direct equity in the land. However, if the land is sold instead of leased, the city would give up long-term control over housing affordability on these sites, as affordable housing agreements can be negotiated for a term of up to 40 years. Administration said it would consider lease or sale for each site on a case-by-case basis. City staff are also seeking approval for capital grants to incentivize developing the sites. The grants will cover up to 25% of the capital costs for the affordable housing units, including the value of the land, or more if the projects provide greater affordability or exceed energy efficiency requirements. Council's executive committee will be asked to approve the sale or lease of the school sites and the affordable housing grants at a meeting on Jan. 22. If it does, the decision will go to city council for a final vote.
• City council's urban planning committee will be asked to approve the environmental impact study for the bridge over Blackmud Creek that is being constructed as part of the Capital Line LRT south extension. The study said the new bridge could erode soil, contaminate the creek, lead to the loss of native vegetation, and disturb wildlife. It also identifies ways to mitigate these impacts. If urban planning committee approves the bridge, the report will go to a future city council meeting for a final vote. Construction of the extension is expected to start in the spring and take four to five years to complete.
• Administration proposes designating three properties as municipal historic resources. The McClory Residence and Brennan Residence are homes in Glenora that would be eligible for up to $100,000 for rehabilitation of historical elements. The South Side Market at 10335 83 Avenue NW, the building that houses Pip and Pals, is also being considered for historic designation.
• Council will meet in private for a regional update on Jan. 20. While there are no details about what council will discuss, other municipal bodies in the region are meeting this month to decide whether they will stay with the Edmonton Metropolitan Region Board after the province cut funding to regional planning boards.

Meetings stream live on YouTube on the Chamber channel and River Valley Room channel.

There are calls for Alberta to make good on its plans to usher in publicly funded small care homes as the population ages and demand for long-term care grows.

After weeks of concern, confusion, calls for unity and subsequent dissent, Canada is set to finally have clarity today on U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's threats to enact widespread tariffs on Canadian imports on his first day in office.

New research has found that a complex form of air pollution from Alberta's oilsands has gone largely unreported — and the impacts to downwind habitats are "entirely unknown."

On Jan. 15, I went on Real Talk to discuss my Alberta Views cover story on the UCP’s clampdown on municipal governance with Ryan Jespersen.

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We talked about a trilogy of bills passed in 2024 that consolidated provincial control over municipalities and other provincial bodies, the University of Alberta’s decision to abandon diversity, equity and inclusion, and corporate vs. union influence over elections.

Just one relatively minor self-correction. I referred to legislation former premier Jason Kenney passed in 2017 to imposed a $30,000 donation limit to third-party advertisers. Kenney, of course, wasn’t in power in 2017. The bill in question was passed in 2020.

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The show is also available in podcast form, if you’d prefer to just listen.

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Makar accomplished his latest milestone Saturday when the Canadian scored his 100th career goal in his 362nd career NHL game. By doing so, he became the fifth-fastest defenseman since 1943-44 to reach that particular mark.

Frustrations boiled over between the Canucks and Oilers on Saturday. Now Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid could miss games as a result.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will not attend the inauguration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump in person, now that the event is being moved indoors because of forecasted frigid temperatures in the U.S. capital.

The City of Edmonton approved enough residential permits last year to construct more than half of the homes it wants to build before the end of 2026.

A bill to criminalize a pattern of behaviour that can perpetuate domestic abuse received unanimous support among MPs, but may be abandoned due to Parliament's prorogation before it can pass in the Senate.

The downtown festival revealed its 2025 lineup on Thursday, which includes music, dance, puppetry, films, and live luminescent performances. 

With incidences of porch piracy on the rise in Edmonton, more homeowners are posting videos of the thefts online. Lawyer Jason Kully offers advice to stay safe and avoid any legal pitfalls.

When a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, authorities were quickly able to gather information, crediting Tesla. But that has some people concerned that the information was so readily available to the carmaker.

Despite some bitterly cold temperatures, the vibe is hot in Edmonton’s Alberta Avenue. The CBC’s Sam Brooks takes us to the Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival, where everyone is partying in their parkas.

As Danielle Smith prepares to attend Donald Trump's inauguration, her approach to dealing with the threat of 25 per cent tariffs on goods coming from Canada has remained consistent. She's trying to negotiate rather than retaliate. The CBC's Sam Samson has more.

The Katana 06-12 well has never produced oil or gas, but leaks a small amount of methane every day.

Canadian ski jumping sensation Alexandria Loutitt claimed her second career World Cup victory on Saturday with a gold medal in the women's large hill event in Zao, Japan, near Sapporo.

The Alberta government announced plans to control the wild horse population, but wildlife advocates say the proposed measures aren't backed by science, have an arbitrary population threshold and are designed to appease the cattle industry.

According to a new survey commissioned by CBC News, there is a strong appetite for more regulation among the people who have lived it first-hand.

A coal company suing the Alberta government is arguing that recent comments made by Alberta's energy minister back up the company's claim for compensation.

An Edmonton woman is hoping to recover the tens of thousands of dollars she spent fixing a sinking front porch and balcony of the home she had built less than a decade ago.

Ashley King woke up blind after her drinks were tainted with methanol during a vacation in Bali. She’s warning others of the fatal consequences of methanol poisoning.

Syrian-Canadian Amrou Nayal is about to visit Syria for the first time in 16 years. He reflects on lost hope, sacrifices, and how he's able to dream again about the future for Syria.

High school student Bryle Hector Socito moved to Canada with his family and was thrilled to discover how much he could earn in a supermarket job. But he faced a tough choice when even AI couldn't help him keep up with his classes.

The domino effect caused by a shortage of anesthesiologists in Canada could be improved if the country allowed specially trained nurses to provide anesthesia care, something they do in the United States, nursing advocates say.

With a new year, many people are flocking to the gym with new fitness goals. It’s normal for muscles to be a bit sore after a workout but pushing too hard can lead to serious damage, especially with popular high-intensity training such as CrossFit. Michael Kennedy, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Alberta, joined Edmonton AM to break down what to watch for with a condition called rhabdomyolysis.

The Calgary Zoo says Kyle Burks has more than 20 years of management, wildlife conservation and animal care experience. He has held leadership positions at the Sacramento Zoo, Denver Zoo and The Walt Disney Company.

Calgary resident Jamie Alexander, who lives in the southeast community of Manchester, says two trees on her property had fallen, while Cochrane's 'beloved' Grandfather Tree was knocked down by the overnight storm.

Edmonton police have charged an inmate with second-degree murder after 26-year-old Nathaniel Burchat died after an altercation inside the Edmonton Remand Centre in December. Burchat was a former soldier who had serious mental health issues, according to his family.

A Calgary woman who helped kill her boyfriend — a man described by the judge as "violent and abusive" — was handed a 4½-year sentence on Friday.

Junk King, which has worked with the Salvation Army in the past, says cleanup jobs don't always lead to landfills.

An Edmonton limousine service says someone called for one of its cars to show up at the community centre where Mark Carney launched his bid for the Liberal leadership on Thursday — but the person didn’t leave a name and never showed.

The victim of a violent home invasion in rural Alberta told a judge on Friday that his home has become a prison since he and his sister were attacked by a man with a gun who was pretending to be a police officer.

This story was originally published in Alberta Native News.

A recently released scientific study on the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER) poor monitoring of tailings spills merely confirms what Indigenous people have long known to be true, says the executive director of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA).

Sherwood Park-based geologist Kevin Timoney’s report, published in the peer-reviewed Environmental Monitoring and Assessment journal on Jan. 3, found that the AER has significantly underreported spill volumes and their environmental footprints, and that the regulator had conducted routine inspections in just 3.2 per cent of tailings spills.

“This report is just another addition to a bunch of glaring reports that have come out, get some media attention and disappear,” Eriel Deranger, ICA’s executive director, told Alberta Native News in an interview. “Business continues as usual in the sector and industry.”

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Last year, a report in the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal found that the Alberta Emissions Inventory Report and Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory had underestimated air pollution from the oil sands by 6,000 per cent.

“N​​ot only are they under-reporting their emissions,” Deranger said, “but they are over-reporting their cleanup, and the AER is failing to do their job in responding to the toxic waste spills.”

Timoney conducted his research by filing a freedom of information request for all AER documents relating to 514 tailings spills reported from January 2014 to May 2023, including photos of the spill sites, and comparing them with the figures publicly reported in the AER’s field inspection system database.

In one instance, the AER publicly reported a spill of 44,596 m3, but internal AER documents revealed that the true spill volume was 4,459,680 m3.

In another spill, the AER database reported a spill’s footprint as 100 m2. In the internal documents, that figure was 465 m2, but photographs of the site revealed the latter figure too was an underestimate.

“Images show spilled bitumen, soil contamination in a large footprint, and contact with vegetation,” Timoney wrote in the study. “Both the spill volume and spill impact were visual estimates.”

Deranger, who is from Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), noted federal and provincial authorities’ well-established track record of concealing information from downstream Indigenous communities.

In May 2022, the AER notified ACFN and Mikisew Cree Nation (MCN) that discoloured water had accumulated near Imperial Oil’s Kearl mine. The First Nations heard nothing more until February 2023, when 5.3 million litres of contaminated wastewater from a holding pond leaked into the surrounding environment.

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This lack of transparency isn’t confined to the AER. Transport Canada concealed a 2017 report that found the dock in Fort Chipewyan—a key transport hub in the remote community—was surrounded by land contaminated with traces of arsenic, mercury, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and uranium.

“Over the last decade that I’ve been working directly with my community, I can’t tell you the amount of times that a community member, a land user or a hunter has reported foam, oil slicks, things on the water systems and stating, ‘something’s happened,’ and us being gaslit by the AER and industry to say that nothing has happened,” said Deranger.

She added that this has a major psychological impact on Indigenous communities, compounding the negative environmental and physical health effects of unchecked oil sands extraction.

“These are huge, huge violations of our Indigenous rights in the community and a failure of the government to uphold their fiduciary obligations to also ensure that Indigenous rights are protected in the pursuit of economic endeavours in the region,” Deranger said.

Melanie Dene, executive manager at ICA, expressed frustration that Indigenous concerns about what’s happening to their lands are only taken seriously when they’re validated by settler scientists.

“I feel that Indigenous knowledge supersedes Western science,” said Dene, who is from MCN. “It’s our science, our land users, our traditional knowledge holders, that have been saying this since the very beginning. They have been witnessing it for the last 50 years.”

An AER spokesperson said the regulator is aware of Timoney’s report and “subject matter experts will review the data for a more comprehensive response at a later time.”

Calls for AER Accountability

Speaking of tar sands tailings and the AER, Alberta Wilderness Association conservation specialist Phillip Meintzer called for the entire AER board to resign “at a bare minimum” in a Jan. 15 Edmonton Journal op-ed.

ACFN Chief Allan Adam has previously gone further, calling for the “joke” of a regulator to be dismantled entirely.

In his piece, Meintzer references Timoney’s study, the Kearl spill and the AER’s unwillingness to order an environmental assessment of Pathways Alliance’s proposed $16-billion carbon capture, transport and storage hub.

He continues:

Taken together, these incidents represent a dereliction of duty by the AER to regulate Alberta’s energy industry in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. As other experts have previously concluded, the AER and its decision-making record bear the hallmarks of a captive regulator, which has “has prioritized its relationship with the oil and gas industry over accountability to the public.”

Perhaps most exemplary of this capture, is that 100 per cent of the AER’s current board members have direct ties to the energy industry. Industry representatives cannot be trusted to regulate themselves, and any entity responsible for making decisions related to Alberta’s public resources should be independent and unbiased.

There is an urgent need for sweeping changes to ensure that the AER prioritizes the health and safety of Indigenous peoples, Albertans, and ecosystems. If they are looking for suggestions on where to start, at a bare minimum, all board members must resign, and new appointments should reflect shared jurisdiction with Indigenous communities and independence from industry.

Alberta desperately needs a regulator that puts people and the planet before profits.

Read the full piece here.

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In other news …

• The AER appears to be feeling the heat. On Friday, the regulator laid nine charges against Imperial Oil under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and Public Lands Act for the aforementioned 2023 Kearl spill.

• Former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland has officially confirmed that she’s running for the Liberal leadership.

• The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a law passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress requiring TikTok’s shut down unless the popular app is sold to a non-Chinese owner, although incoming president Donald Trump has suggested he’s not too keen on enforcing it.

• At the Breach, Saima Desai and Aniket Kali detail the Conservative Party of Canada’s deepening ties to Hindu nationalists affiliated with India’s far-right president Narendra Modi.

• Jared Kushner, president-elect Trump’s son-in-law who served as his top Middle East advisor during his first term, has become the largest shareholder of Phoenix Financial, an Israeli firm that finances the construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

The A/V Corner

Listen: Friends of the Orchard Shama Rangwala and Desmond Cole released a new episode of their excellent pop culture criticism podcast Replay. Just in time for the start of Apple TV’s second season of Severance, Shama and Desmond discuss the show’s first season.

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Imperial Oil is facing nine charges for allowing millions of litres of oilsands wastewater to leak from its Kearl oilsands mine in northern Alberta, and for failing to mitigate the environmental damage.

The City of Edmonton says it is extending funding for its Edmonton's Chinatown vibrancy campaign over the next two years. The grant program will invest $480,000 to support community projects in Chinatown through festivals, events, and cultural projects.

The number of Edmontonians attending arts events appears to be rising, but most encounter barriers to participation, according to results from a survey conducted for the Edmonton Arts Council.

Ward O-day'min Coun. Anne Stevenson says Blatchford hit several milestones in 2024, a year she previously told Taproot would be an "inflection point" to judge the project's success. The milestones include the opening of the NAIT/Blatchford Market LRT station, and lower prices now on offer to buyers thanks to the neighbourhood's first multi-family housing development.

"We're seeing new units continue to be built, and continue to be built at a lower price point," Stevenson told Taproot. "A big milestone was finally having a connection to the LRT. That's really opening up the transportation opportunities."

Ever since council approved a vision to lead an energy-focused redevelopment of Edmonton's former city airport in 2010, the project has drawn both praise and criticism. In April, Mayor Amarjeet Sohi suggested Blatchford is "not a huge success" during an audit presented to council, which detailed that just 84 homes were occupied at Blatchford.

The city has marked 2042 as when it expects Blatchford to house 30,000 residents within its 536 acres. To date, the city has invested at least $167 million, though Coun. Tim Cartmell has suggested the amount is $232 million.

Stevenson said Blatchford hit some benchmarks in 2024, pointing to the first multi-family development with three-storey townhomes by StreetSide, a company within the Qualico portfolio. Those homes go for as little as $369,998. Stevenson said this provides more accessible prices than were previously available in Blatchford. In 2022, reports noted the average townhouse price at Blatchford was $650,000, or around $200,000 more than the city-wide average for a home in 2022.

Stevenson also pointed to a Nov. 7 memo to council from Tom Lumsden, development manager for Blatchford. Lumsden's memo lists a combined 401 housing units either completed or being built at Blatchford, including 143 garage suites and secondary suites that are under construction or in the planning stage, since the city approved the Blatchford business case in 2014.

The original plan was to build 2,750 homes by 2022.

"At a high level, approximately 42% of the Blatchford site is either constructed, under construction, or in the planning-development stage," Stevenson said. "Thirty-three acres of land sold to NAIT, on the east side, have been substantially serviced. So it's now up to NAIT to build that out."

The land NAIT acquired will likely house its Advanced Skills Centre, a facility that is in the design phase, and student housing.

Lumsden's memo said Blatchford is growing at "a pace typical of other neighbourhoods in Edmonton — even though Blatchford is not a typical neighbourhood" and that a third-party report from late 2023 "found that the current pace of development was reasonable, with market acceptance improving."

Stevenson is aware of the critiques of Blatchford's pace and cost, including from her fellow councillors. She said these may have made progress even harder.

"One of the biggest risks that Blatchford has faced is political risk, and some of the discourse that's happened on council, I think, hasn't been helpful in promoting Blatchford," she said. "I think it's very easy to create self-fulfilling prophecies, and the more we talk about the failure, the lack of success at Blatchford, the less likely you are to spur investor confidence in those areas."

More contextual numbers from Lumsden's memo include that part of the city's federal grant of $175 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund will be used in Blatchford; that 994 more units are planned for land that has been sold, is pending sale, or has active builder interest; and that Blatchford has earned $95.7 million in revenue against a $95.1 million operating budget as of the end of 2023.

More plans are underway for Blatchford as well. Two sites have been earmarked for affordable housing, and further infrastructure such as bike lanes and parks are on the agenda.

Stevenson highlighted that the torn-up runway near amiskwaciy Academy, at 101 Airport Road NW, will increase amenities for the community. "That's going to lead to the installation of a new park and get a school site ready, that will be available," she said.

Stevenson also told Taproot she will run as the incumbent for her ward in this year's municipal election. Speaking Municipally co-host Troy Pavlek recently described her candidacy as "vulnerable" because she received slightly more than one quarter of the vote in the last election. Former NAIOP Edmonton CEO, Anand Pye, who is registered as running in October, could challenge her for the seat given his ongoing connection to the downtown conversation.

Stevenson said she's hopeful Blatchford won't be a major election debate, even if she could be running against someone with expertise in development. She thinks administration's November update could challenge the idea that things aren't going well.

"This memo that we received with the data, with the numbers, has really silenced some of the naysayers," she said. "The data truly does speak for itself at this point, not that we can't continue to push for improvements, not that we can't continue to push to see greater acceleration, but the fundamentals are there."

On this day in 1975, one of Edmonton's most influential philanthropists was being honoured for contributions to the Citadel Theatre.

It isn't hyperbole to say Sandy Auld Mactaggart changed the shape of Edmonton.

Born to a wealthy family in Scotland, Mactaggart first came to Canada at 11 years old when his family evacuated the United Kingdom in the late 1930s due to fears of a war brewing in Europe. Mactaggart attended school near Peterborough, Ontario, before he moved to the United States for high school and eventually attended Harvard, where he studied architecture and business.

In 1952, Mactaggart and Jean de La Bruyere, his dormmate and business partner, moved to Edmonton, sensing opportunity in Alberta's still-new oil industry. The original plan was to open a restaurant. However, they instead combined their surnames and created a property development company called Maclab Enterprises. The business was slow initially but picked up as the '50s and '60s saw rapid growth in Edmonton's suburbs and exurbs.

The profits allowed Mactaggart to indulge in his passions for art, adventure, and academics. Mactaggart was a dedicated patron of the arts, offering both his time and fortune to build Edmonton's cultural institutions. He was one of the co-founders of the Citadel Theatre, and one of the driving forces behind the Edmonton Art Gallery. Mactaggart and his wife, Cécile, also built one of the most extensive foreign collections of Chinese art and clothing. The collection, valued at more than $37 million, was eventually donated to the University of Alberta.

Mactaggart sought adventure. His wealth allowed him to indulge in racing cars, sailing, and aviation. According to some, he was one of the first hot-air balloonists in the country, back when you couldn't legally bring them into Canada. Instead, Mactaggart secretly assembled his own balloon, buying the parts piecemeal to bypass the regulations. His first flight ended when he had to leap from the balloon to avoid a fiery death when it hit a power line. And no, that didn't stop him from ballooning again.

Mactaggart was also a tireless advocate for universities and spoke regularly about how they were a vital part of a city's character. Over the decades, the Mactaggarts donated around $60 million to the University of Alberta and worked to secure millions more in additional donations and government funding. He served on the university's board of governors for a decade in the '80s and became its chancellor from 1990 to 1994, where he worked to build stronger ties and communication between the university and community leaders.

The Mactaggart's also made two large gifts of land to the university. The first was 40 hectares in Whitemud Creek, which is now the Mactaggart Nature Sanctuary. The second was in 2010, when they donated their $23 million mansion before leaving Edmonton.

Sandy Mactaggart passed away in 2017, having returned to his native Scotland in his final year. His time in Edmonton remains apparent in many ways: The southside neighbourhood that bears his name, the institutions he helped build, and the donations he made to the city's largest university. A few years ago, the Mactaggarts' donated mansion narrowly escaped demolition after it was deemed too expensive for the U of A to maintain. The fate of the home is still uncertain, but there was a proposal floated last fall to turn it into a Nordic spa.

This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse of @VintageEdmonton.

Ahead of the U.S. president-elect’s rapidly approaching inauguration, Canadians in the agri-food sector are anxiously awaiting what could be a turbulent start to a second Donald Trump term, as threats of sweeping tariffs continue to dominate headlines.

The union representing Edmonton Public Schools support workers are questioning the use of substitute teachers to fill gaps in the classroom while more than 3,000 of its members are on strike.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for refusing to sign a joint statement on Canada’s tariff response. Smith says she opposes using Alberta oil and gas as a bargaining chip.

The appointment of a new chair and vice-chair for the Edmonton police commission was overshadowed on Thursday after Edmonton police requested that the province investigate commission appointments leading to one commissioner resigning.

Local documentarian Vernon Boldick talks to Nancy Carlson about Ahkameyimok: To Persevere. It's a new film showcasing the people and stories of Bent Arrow, an urban Indigenous non-profit in Edmonton.

At Issue this week: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith bails on the ‘Team Canada’ approach to Donald Trump’s tariff threats. Mark Carney officially enters the Liberal leadership race. And what’s Kevin O’Leary doing at Mar-a-Lago?