Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi was wrong when he said he did not have prior knowledge about the Alberta government forming a community safety task force for the city, according to messages obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Western Standard. Office of the Mayor of Edmonton (OME) Chief of Staff Lisa Holmes had asked Coun. Sarah Hamilton to inform Sohi about the Alberta government appointing she and Coun. Tim Cartmell to the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force (EPSCRTF). “He was told this but didn’t think it was true since you and Tim hadn’t told him about it,” said Holmes in an iMessage. “Andre [Corbould] was also asked, but the Mayor and him were discussing whether it is appropriate seeing that councillors were potentially being asked to be on it as well, making it political.” The Alberta government announced in 2022 it had formed the EPSCRTF to address social issues through a co-ordinated response between the Alberta government, City of Edmonton, and local partners. .Edmonton task force to tackle social disorder.Addiction, homelessness and public safety concerns have affected every community in Alberta, with Edmonton being especially hard hit as residents requested on social media that leaders address these issues.The EPSCRTF built on Alberta’s recovery-oriented system of addiction and mental health supports. It implemented a series of initiatives in the Edmonton area as part of a $187 million commitment to address addiction and homelessness in Alberta’s urban centres.Sohi said in 2022 he was unsatisfied with how the Alberta government was implementing the EPSCRTF. “I was not made aware of it,” said Sohi to CTV News Edmonton. “We were not, in any way, included in the creation of the task force.”Hamilton started off the conversation by saying she and Cartmell would be appearing at an Alberta government press conference about housing and mental health. “Hey heads up, Tim and I have been asked to join a presser tomorrow for a provincial announcement about housing and mental health,” she said. In response, Holmes asked if they were getting appointed to the EPSCRTF. Hamilton said she believed they were. While Holmes admitted Sohi had some knowledge about it, Hamilton said she and Cartmell would tell him. “It was floated over the last two weeks, but I wasn’t sure any decision had been made,” she said. OME Communications and External Relations Director Justin Draper said Sohi did not receive any formal notification about the creation of the EPSCRTF before it was announced. “Staff in the Mayor’s Office had heard rumors that the provincial government was considering setting up some sort of group, but had no notice from the province of any mandates, memberships or timelines prior to the province’s public press conference,” said Draper. Hamilton and Cartmell could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
