‘I don’t get what problem we’re trying to solve’: Edmonton mayor weighs in on libraries controversy

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack discusses downtown construction, provincial changes to the Libraries Act, and property taxes.

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack discusses construction season, the province changing library rules, and preventing another big tax increase with CTV Your Morning Edmonton’s Kent Morrison.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: The Stanley Cup playoffs continue to drive people to the downtown area, but it’s a headache down there because of construction. Is anything going to be different this year?

Andrew Knack: There are some differences. Our city administration… is going to be phasing in certain projects, not doing everything they were originally planning on doing this year, shifting some to next year in order to better align some of the work.

Also, you might remember last year, I made a motion on trying a different construction approach along the Valley Line West LRT, where we actually closed down certain intersections and then let crews work 24/7. It turned out that worked exceptionally well, and so we’re going to be able to apply that approach going forward to other construction projects. So I’m glad that new way of trying things allows us to do construction way better this year.

KM: Is there anything to be done to hold these projects accountable, to make sure that they’re on time?

AK: About 80 per cent of city projects are done on time, or even ahead of schedule. For the 20 per cent that aren’t, the city constantly has mechanisms and penalties that are put in some of our contracts to help motivate that.

But that’s also why we wanted to change our rules. We had heard from the construction industry. They said we would like, in some cases, to be able to work 24/7; it can be better for them. It can be better for the rest of us, who, instead of having to deal with two years of construction at a certain intersection, we dealt with two months of full closure.

That’s why we need to be willing to be a little more innovative in how we let construction companies do that work, while also making sure we hold them accountable.

KM: The province is coming after changing the rules with libraries in pursuit of what they say is controlling content in there. What do you think about this new potential legislation from the province?

AK: It’s completely unnecessary. If we’re talking about controlling content, I mean, parents should be keeping an eye on what their kids are borrowing and are using at the library, right? There’s a kids section where parents should be taking their kids. This provincial government often talks a lot about parental rights and I think Edmonton Public Library does a phenomenal job of ensuring there’s a kid section that they’re being responsible on this.

I don’t get what problem we’re trying to solve. We have an affordability challenge in this province. We have to focus on things like economic development. I would really like to work with the minister and the entire provincial government on the things that are really impacting Edmontonians.

Going into libraries, when, literally, in the 12-and-a-half years I’ve served on council, have never had a complaint about something like this – like what? What is it we’re trying to solve when we could be really focused on the things that matter to Edmontonians?

KM: You talked recently about the tax increase, the big one that we’re going through right now, and not seeing another hike like that again. How can you make that promise?

AK: Because I made a motion to restructure how we’re budgeting. We are already doing public engagement now. We’ve done six public engagement sessions; we have six more to come in the next week and a half. We’re reaching out to Edmontonians well in advance to build the budget in advance because I hear them loud and clear: we cannot have the same type of increases we saw from 2023 to 2026.

Yes, we’re still a growing, expanding city, so there will still be some level of increase, but it cannot be at the same level. That’s why I made the motion to restructure how we do it and how we engage Edmontonians.