EDMONTON — A cost-savings initiative proposed by City of Edmonton administration is receiving some pushback one week before it’s presented to city council.

City administration says its Reimagine Services project will save taxpayers $16 million over the next five years. 

But the union representing city workers says some of the proposed strategy’s ideas will hurt Edmontonians.

“City administration has forgotten what makes Edmonton great,” CUPE Local 30 president John Marvyn told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

PROPOSED COST-SAVING MEASURES

Among the 18 proposed cost-saving measures within the plan is the privatization of some city services.

City golf courses and some older arenas and pools could be privatized, meaning staffing at those facilities would no longer be the city’s responsibility. 

“It’s all about keeping our public services public,” said Marvyn. “Anytime that it’s been privatized in the past it has been demonstrated that the contractors don’t run it as well as the city.”

Marvyn worries contracting services out will push Edmonton taxpayers’ money outside city limits. 

“When we contract it out, we’re paying for a profit margin with the business companies and a lot of those dollars don’t end up in Edmonton or Alberta,” he said.

At least one city councillor agrees with the union.

“I’m a business guy,” Ward 11 Coun. Mike Nickel told CTV News Edmonton. “I will tell you, just contracting out is not always giving you the best value.”

“You need to have a balance between unionized and non-unionized work in the city, that’s how you manage costs,” he said. “Sometimes the public sector adds better value because they add to the service.”  

The city is also planning to cut back on grass mowing, its vehicle fleet and programs with low enrolment.

Ward 7 Coun. Tony Caterina says when the pandemic hit, council did ask administration to look for cost savings, but told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday most of the proposed changes wouldn’t be worthwhile.

“The amounts that we’re saving from some of these suggestions is really so small that you can’t even measure it as a percentage point,” Caterina said. 

PROPOSED PAID PARKING

On Wednesday, Ward 3 Coun. Jon Dziadyk spoke out against the Reimagine Services project’s proposal to charge parking fees at city parks and attractions.

A day later, Nickel echoed his colleagues complaints.

“This idea of paid parking to go to a park to me is absurd,” Nickel told CTV News Edmonton. “It’s over the top absurd and it actually makes me very angry.”

“You’re punishing people on low incomes, single moms and so on, that want to use a public park,” he said. “I just think it’s so wrong.”

The city tells CTV News Edmonton it paid accounting firm KPMG $997,500 to do the research behind the report.

A CTV News Edmonton request to interview the city manager about the proposal on Thursday was denied.

Administration’s plan will be presented to city council on Tuesday.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson

EDMONTON — Alberta drew within a few thousand first vaccination doses of its reopening target Thursday, as the province reported 150 new cases.

The province administered 5,342 first doses Wednesday, increasing the percentage of the eligible population with one shot up to 69.9 per cent, just under the 70 per cent target for Stage 3 reopening.

Alberta appears on track to meet its Stage 3 reopening target of 70 per cent of eligible Albertans having had at least one shot as soon as Friday.

Stage 3 of the province’s reopening plan, which lifts virtually all health restrictions, will go into effect 14 days after the 70 per cent target is met.

Just over 920,000 individuals, or about 24.2 per cent of the eligible population, have now received a second dose of vaccine.

Also Monday, active cases fell to 2,471. Two more deaths due to COVID-19 were reported Thursday: a man and woman in their 70s from the Central and South zones respectively. Their deaths bring the total number of Albertans to have died due to COVID-19 up to 2,280.

There are now 242 people in hospital receiving care for COVID-19, including 58 in intensive care units.

The province recorded a test positivity of 2.91 per cent based on about 6,000 tests.

After strong initial demand, the pace of first shots administered tapered off quickly in early June. It took the province 20 days to go from 40 per cent of the eligible population with a first dose to 60 per cent.

Should the province reach the 70 per cent mark tomorrow, it will have taken 21 days for first doses among the eligible population to increase from 60 per cent to the 70 per cent Stage 3 threshold.

EDMONTON — Edmonton police are looking for help from the public to locate a missing 15-year-old youth who was last seen on Friday.

At approximately 8:45 a.m., police say Ceili Orchard was last seen by family when she was dropped off at Svend Hansen School near 21 Street and 16 Avenue.

According to police, Orchard did not attend class that day and left school grounds shortly after being dropped off.

She is described as:

• 5’4
• 100 pounds
• Long blonde hair
• Hazel eyes
• Last seen wearing a black tank top, blue oversized hoodie, blue jeans and red Converse runners

Mounties say Orchard has friends in Edson and she may be travelling to the area.

Orchards disappearance is said to be out of character and there are concerns for her well-being, EPS said.

Anyone with information should contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

EDMONTON — Police are searching for a man believed to be involved in an armed robbery in Leduc Wednesday afternoon.

Leduc RCMP responded to the call at approximately 1:25 p.m. to a lone man entering a Giant Tiger with a firearm, demanding money.

The man left the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police said the clerk was not physically injured.

According to Mounties, a witness said the man got into the passenger side of a truck in the area of 50 Street and 64 Avenue in Leduc.

The truck is described as a dark-coloured Chevrolet Silverado quad cab with a blacked out Chevrolet symbol.

The man is described as:

• White
• Roughly 6’ to 6’3’
• Thin build
• Clean shaven
• Last seen wearing dark blue jeans and a blue shirt

Anyone with information is asked to call Leduc RCMP at 780-980-7267 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

EDMONTON — A Sylvan Lake, Alta., woman is shocked and excited after lightning struck right in front of her home — and she got it on camera.

Carly Horner was filming the dark storm clouds on her phone on Tuesday so she could send it to her family in Nova Scotia.

“A lot of my friends and family don’t really get to experience the weather that we do out here, so I tend to take a lot of videos and pictures of the cool clouds and that kind of thing,” said Horner.

But as she panned across the sky she saw something incredible: a lightning strike pierced through the dark clouds and hit the road only metres from her home.

“Boom! Right in front of me. It was really freaky, I’m not gonna lie, I was a little bit nervous.”

Her husband heard the thunder while working in the basement.

“Loud bang when it hit in front. It was like a train hitting in the front of the house,” said Jesse Horner.

The lightning was followed by relentless hail.

After the hail let up, Carly and her husband ran outside to see if the strike had left a mark. It didn’t, but the experience left an immediate impression on Carly.

“I turned off a couple of lights after that happened because it was like, ‘OK, that’s really close,” said Carly.

“I’ll be hiding a lot more,” she laughed.

But when she looks back at the video, she’s glad she captured a once in a lifetime experience on camera.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity to share it with everybody. To be able to show people how cool nature can be.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nav Sangha.