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Edmonton is a city of generosity, grit, and practical action. We show up for each other when things get hard. But today, the forces pressing against our most vulnerable — relentless cold, the shortage of supportive housing and recovery spaces, untreated mental illness and addiction, fragmented systems, and rising public fear — are stronger than anything we’ve faced in decades. Our current pace, approach, and political culture are not equal to the scale of the problem.

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This isn’t a moment for blame. It’s a moment for courage, clarity, and collaboration worthy of the crisis.

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Edmonton’s challenges aren’t simply “big-city problems.” They are northern problems, historical problems, regional pressures, and system-design failures stacked on top of each other. Extreme cold pushes people into pedways, transit stations, and encampments at rates unmatched anywhere else. What looks like disorder is often people trying to survive.

Indigenous homelessness is disproportionate — a direct........

© Edmonton Journal