SUMMER 2017 • FREE MAGAZINE All aboard: Bike grid food cruises

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difficult past a call for change a call thanks to thanks our Condo-minimums: Kids, the core and Some Edmontonians

ADA CAN won’t be celebrating– 150 YA R DS DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY LEAGUE AND THE OLIVER COMMUNITY LEAGUE NEWS

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genius ofgenius festivals We investigateWe the Place the space:Place FRESH AIR FRESH FARE

FRESH & LOCAL YEAR-ROUND! CITY MARKET RETURNS TO 104TH STREET MAY 20 TO OCTOBER 7, 2017 EVERY SATURDAY FROM 9AM TO 3PM

WWW.CITY-MARKET.CA the insideYARDS FRONTYARDS SUMMER 2017 PUBLISHER 5 MESSAGE FROM OLIVER 9 DOWNTOWN UPDATE SIMON YACKULIC COMMUNITY LEAGUE Festivals are critical for the core. CONTRIBUTING EDITOR We talk to a place-maker to find TIM QUERENGESSER 7 OLIVER UPDATE out why. They grew up with Oliver over the ART DIRECTOR years. Now they’re saying goodbye. 10 AROUND THE CORE JENNIFER WINDSOR A grab bag of noteworthy events. CONTRIBUTORS MESSAGE FROM 8 Tracy Hyatt, Chelsey 11 THE LIST Jersak, Mel Priestley, COMMUNITY LEAGUE Where to find the story of Canada’s Tamara Soltykevych, hidden history in downtown Kevin Tuong Edmonton. MARKETING & EVENTS Sona Chavda

FEATURES GOVERNANCE BOARD CHAIR Simon Yackulic

PAST CHAIR Jarrett Campbell EDMONTON’S HIDDEN HISTORY TREASURER As the city prepares to celebrate Canada’s Eric Hermanns 150th birthday, our darker and deeper pastmarginalizing indigenous people is SECRETARY demanding to be recognized. Lee Craig 12 COMMUNITY LEAGUE REPRESENTATIVES Lisa Brown & Luwam Kiflemariam MINIMUM GRID, (OCL); Chris Buyze, Justin Turko & MAXIMUM FUN Tamara Soltykevych (DECL) The new Downtown Bike DIRECTORS AT LARGE: Network connects you to all Adriana Amelio, Carolyn Jervis, 15 sorts of culinary greatness. Ben Whynot CONTACT US BACKYARDS The Yards Magazine 1011, 10301 104 St. NW Edmonton, AB T5J 1B9 16 CORE QUESTIONS 18 YOU ARE HERE One group demands change as Snapshots from community ADVERTISING SALES the government contemplates events this spring. [email protected] lifting age-based discrimination in housing. PUBLISHED BY The Central Edmonton News Society in partnership with What’s a Community League? 104 AVE Community Leagues are unique to Edmonton. OCL

118 ST. 116 ST. 103 AVE They’re inclusive, grassroots, community- 112 ST. 111 ST. 109 ST. 105 ST. 104 ST. 103 ST. based organizations found in each of this city’s 102 AVE 150-plus neighbourhoods. They facilitate JASPER AVE healthy, safe, informed and connected DECL communities by promoting participation in 100 AVE recreation, social activities and civic advocacy at the sidewalk level. They’re volunteer-run and promote volunteerism because getting fantastic opportunity to learn valuable profes- involved is a great way to learn more about sional skills, meet your neighbours and have theyardsyeg.ca your neighbourhood and city. It’s also a fun. Join the movement today! facebook.com/theyardsyeg @theyardsyeg AUTHENTIC SOURDOUGH Baked from scratch every day.

COBS Bread THE BREWERY DISTRICT 1195 6 - 104 Avenue, Edmonton 780 423 9955

David Shepherd MLA, Edmonton-Centre

This summer, watch for David and the WINNING Edmonton-Centre team at festivals and events across AN ELECTION Edmonton-Centre IS A TEAM EFFORT I’D LOVE YOUR HELP. Visit www.scottmckeen.ca to donate, Contact the Edmonton-Centre volunteer or request a lawn sign. Constituency Office: [email protected] 780-414-0743 780-652-0826 | @Scott_McKeen [email protected] 10208 - 112 Street Edmonton, Alberta, T5K 1M4

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Age restrictions a human rights issue

hen I became president of the After hearing these stories, we decided to WOliver Community League in 2015, look for our “forever” home in Oliver. We I met some folks that had searched for saw handful of units, in buildings a short months for a home in Oliver appropriate for walk to Oliver or Grandin schools and large a family. This shocked me. Before I became enough for a small family. All were age-re- OCL president, I spent about a year living stricted. We’ve now left the searching to a in the UK, where multi-unit residential realtor. We’ve been looking now for almost housing catering to all ages is standard. I’d a year. assumed the same is true in Oliver. It isn’t. Age restrictions create barriers to One father of two young children told diversity and inclusion in our core neigh- me his family aggressively searched for a bourhoods. Not everyone can afford the home for six months. They were moving time, money for car maintenance or the to Edmonton from eastern Canada and stress of owning a detached house to live in Eastern Europe, to be close to their family, the suburbs — where Edmonton tells you who lived in Oliver. They wanted to be close you’re supposed to raise a family. to work and only need one vehicle. Eventu- Because these barriers restrict choice, age ally they found a townhouse they renovated restrictions for housing is a human rights OCL board of directors: Lisa Brown (President), extensively to fit enough bedrooms for their issue, and not just a preferred living style. Craig Lidstone (VP), Erin Wright (Secretary), kids. I just hope that a shift in provincial legis- Mary McPhail (Treasurer), PM Edmond, Anika Another looked for two years for a lation in the next year will make that Gee, Justin Keats, Luwam Kiflemariam, Blaine home in Oliver big enough to start a family. decision more feasible. Kovacik, Tim Mallandaine, Angelika Matson, But just prior to putting an offer on a Lauren Veroni, Mark Workman, Simon Yackulic three-bedroom apartment condominium and Hossein Zahiri. in Grandin, their realtor discovered the building had anti-child age restrictions. Oliver Community League They too eventually bought a townhouse. Lisa Brown 10326 118 St NW My partner and I like to be prepared. President, Oliver Community League Edmonton, AB T5K 2K9 web: olivercommunity.com e: [email protected] Facebook.com/OliverCommunityLeague Twitter: OCLYEG SUMMER OCL EVENTS

JUNE 16 coffee, fruit and good conversation. Breakfast You may have noticed Walking Pub Crawl is free. From 9–11am, location TBD. construction at our hall. The Meet with new and old friends at the OCL board is evaluating the hall every month, before walking to pre- JUNE 12, JULY 10, AUGUST 14 determined locations to enjoy Oliver Civics Committee condition of the hall and will nightlife. 8pm, location TBD. No pub crawl This fully engaged committee meets on be reaching out soon. Event July and August. the second Monday of the month to discuss locations will be changed and developments in Oliver. 7pm, location TBD. MAY 3 - JUNE 14 (WEDNESDAYS) are TBD right now. Please stay Walking Group JUNE 21, JULY 19, AUGUST 16 tuned for more information. Join your neighbours for some fresh air and Events and Programs Committee exercise. This is a gentle approach to walking, If you like event planning, this is the with the focus on enjoying ourselves and committee for you. 6:30pm, location TBD JUNE 18 meeting neighbours. 6pm, location TBD.

Ollie’s Treehouse Inclusive *Note, we enjoy holidays in August JULY 1 Playgroup and look forward to returning to Your little ones will have fun at the hall Canada Day Pancake Breakfast regular programs and special events in with our toys, books and activities while Get your Canada Day celebrations started September. Save the date: September you hang with other parents. 4–6pm, with our traditional and annual Pancake 16 is Community League Day. location TBD. No playgroup July and August. Breakfast. Join neighbours for pancakes,

EDMONTON’S CENTRAL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2017 5 GET THE (BIKE) GANG TOGETHER The Downtown Bike Network is hitting the streets!

Edmonton.ca/BikeDowntown FRONTYARDS

Forty years in Oliver food A couple says goodbye to the ’hood that became their home

fashion

hey were only going to live in the small, BY MEL PRIESTLEY Twalk-up apartment in Oliver for one year, @MELPRIESTLEY but Kathleen Drysdale and her husband David ended up staying for another 40. scream when I took him home.” A few months ago, they left, and now Drysdale says Loren also enjoyed they’re reflecting back on a neighbourhood splashing in the wading pool at Paul Kane that changed along with them over the years. Park. “It wasn’t an ornamental park at that Flash back to 1975, when the newlyweds time, so the kids could go in the water,” she settled here, and Oliver looked a lot different says, noting the park’s recent shift to ban than today. wading. The Canadian Northern Railway line On nights out in the late ‘80s, when Loren still ran down 104 Avenue. Drysale says she was a little older, the family would often end remembers being kept up at night by the up at Tiki Tiki, a Polynesian eatery on Jasper trains shunting back and forth on the tracks. Avenue and 117 Street. “That was a really neat The Brewery District was also there, but restaurant,” Drysdale remembers. art back then it was the fully operational Molson As the decades progressed into the ‘90s Brewery. “My first experience with the and early 2000s, Drysdale says the skyline Brewery District was smelling the hops when changed. Small houses and walk-up apart- they were making the beer. That was not ments gradually disappeared and high rises pleasant,” Drysdale says, with a laugh. took their place. Raising a child on the edge of downtown Beth Israel moved from 119 Street and 102 in the ‘70s and ‘80s seems like it might have Avenue to the Wolf Willow neighbourhood been tough. But Kathleen and David decided in the west end in 2000—Drysdale recalls to do just that after their son was born in how their parking stalls were often taken 1978. by people attending the synagogue—and They skipped the mortgage payments on the squat brick building was converted to a a house in the suburbs in favour of Oliver’s private residence. walkable amenities: A school, playground, Kathleen and David finally moved from grocery store and parks were all close by and Oliver to a seniors-friendly residence Drysdale says she never had to drive. overlooking the Legislature grounds a few Don’t just buy stuff. “I remember the slide – it was one of those months ago. “I kind of hated to leave Oliver,” Buy passion. Buy spirit. metal slides,” she says, of the playground at she says. “I was falling in love with the Buy local. Oliver School, where her son, Loren, learned Brewery District and the stores there.” • to read. “We would go in the afternoon 124street.ca

because I was home. There’d be no one else Mel Priestley is an Edmonton writer who lives Image credit: adapted from Justin Wayne Shaw’s mural at 124th Street & 108th Avenue. around. My kid would slide for hours and still on 104 Street. Construction pain will build benefits

he adage that there are two seasons and soon the new Tin Edmonton—winter and construction will open and become a place for downtown —is set to hold true in our downtown this residents and visitors to enjoy. summer. But that’s a great thing. Great cities are always changing. As While continues to take shape, governments realize the economic, social other construction projects are starting up. and cultural benefits of a healthy, vibrant The much anticipated Valley Line LRT will core that people want to live in and visit, close much of 102 Avenue and Churchill we will all benefit. and Alex Square, beginning this fall, leaving some Decoteau Park are proof. festivals scrambling for new places to call Through all of this, DECL will continue home over the next few years. to grow our community and try to connect This is all wonderful, because we are residents to each other through our events already starting to see the downtown of our and programming. Our annual Pancake future emerge. Breakfast is June 17, from 9–11am at our Rogers Place has already brought thou- community space, at 10042 103 St. The sands of Edmontonians to our downtown, breakfast is a chance to meet your neigh- sometimes for the first time in years. That bours and celebrate the fantastic summers the Oilers have gone on a playoff run that has we enjoy. And on July 21 we will again host a DECL board of directors: Chris Buyze been a boon for many restaurants and pubs is patio pub crawl to some of downtown’s finest (President), Laurissa Kalinowsky (VP), Milap icing on the cake. patios. Stay tuned for details. Petigara (Treasurer), Colin Johnson (Secretary), This summer will also see Alex Decoteau As always, if you have ideas or questions, Yvonne Epp, Julie Farrell, Jason Gold, Christie Park, downtown’s first new park in many don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@ Lutsiak, Andrew MacIsaac, Jarrett Mykytiuk, decades, start offering residents another decl.org. Even though much construction is Ashvin Singh, Jordan Turko, Chris Wudark. place to get some green. The park’s official still in our future, let’s celebrate what’s been opening is September 16, but no doubt many achieved in the place we call home. Downtown Edmonton Community League are already itching to use the community 10042 103 Avenue garden or walk their pooch in the off-leash Edmonton, AB, T5J 0X2 dog run, or let their kids frolick in the water web: decl.org fountains. Chris Buyze Email: [email protected] What else? Well, an entire downtown bike President, Downtown Edmonton Facebook.com/declorg grid has seemingly popped up over night, Community League Twitter: @DECLorg SUMMER DECL EVENTS JUNE 5 & 19 firing up the griddles again for the annual each location. Details will be available Urban Kids Playgroup DECL pancake breakfast. For a toonie, pile on Facebook.com/DECLORG. Meet other parents and kids ages 0–5. up your plate with pancakes and sausages. No registration required. Just drop-in! Coffee and juice will be served. AUGUST 26 10–11:30am, DECL Community Space, 9-11am, DECL Community Space, Downtown Bike Network 10042 103 St. 10042 103 St. The wheels are turning! DECL, The City of Edmonton and various community organ- JUNE 16 JUNE 20 izations officially kick off the Downtown Bike Urban Kids Family Night Open Mic Night Network. Ride with other cyclists via to desig- Our monthly family night is where kids— Ever wanted to perform publicly or just want nated bike stations around the core using the and parents—can play, explore and make to get inspired? It’s time to try Open Mic new lanes. A station will be at our Community friends in their neighbourhood. 6–8pm, Night. Play a guitar tune, read a poem or Space where cyclists of all ages can decorate DECL Community Space, 10042 103 St. share any hidden talent you’ve got. their bicycles and then join a bike parade to 7pm, DECL Community Space, 10042 103 St. the Federal Building at the Alberta Legisla- JUNE 17 ture grounds. Follow us on Facebook.com/ Pancake breakfast JULY 21 DECLORG for more details. DECL Community There’s something comforting about a DECL Patio Pub Crawl Space, 10042 103 St. stack of pancakes for breakfast. It’s the Cheers to downtown living. Grab some perfect way to start the weekend so we’re sunscreen and come out to the DECL Patio Pub Crawl. By foot, we’ll explore some of best 8 THE YARDS SUMMER 2017 patios in the city and signature cocktails at FRONTYARDS

We talk to an urbanist about why Making space festivals matter so much to downtown Edmonton into place

BY CHRIS SIKKENGA @SIKKDAYS

hen it comes to festivals in down- Q: How does downtown benefit from down. It’s about a market. It’s about a street Wtown Edmonton, change is coming. hosting festivals? performer. It’s about hanging out and having In 2018, construction of the Valley Line LRT lunch. Festivals and events like the Saturday will close Churchill Square, and big events A: Festivals have made us all aware of market create opportunities to see the world like the Street Performers festival and The downtown and what a great place it can in a different way. Works festival will find temporary homes, be. The other thing is it’s starting to create while Taste of Edmonton is working with a momentum to transform public places. Q: You’re hopeful for the future provincial authorities to use the grounds Churchill Square was once a green lawn of festivals downtown. Can you beside the Alberta Legislature. surrounded by streets, but it has been explain why? The shift got us to thinking: Just what do transformed into a destination. Churchill festivals create for downtown? We asked Square continued to evolve as the street A: Yes. But what’s that going to look like? Doug Carlyle, who specializes in designing between it and City Hall was closed to The city is trying to operate and program public plaes, like the new Centennial Plaza accommodate pedestrians. Soon, the Churchill Square so it has life almost all at the Legislature, what he thinks festivals Churchill LRT station will be home to the through the year. The other plaza that’s bring to the core. Carlyle works for design Capital and Valley Lines making the square coming into place is the Ice District. So firm Dialog. a transportation hub as well. We’re starting there’s going to be a second major public, or to think about streets as livable places. community venue there. Then, there’s the Q: What’s your favourite downtown plaza at the Legislature. So there are three Edmonton festival? Q: Streets as livable places? major public outdoor spaces that can start to flourish, given the chance. It’s very exciting. A: It has to be Taste of Edmonton. It’s great A: Yes, and 104 Street is a great example. to go to a place where there are lots of people. You aren’t just going to a single establish- Chris Sikkenga is a writer, video editor and I think what festivals have done is allow ment, you’re actually going to a place. That podcaster who enjoys bad movies and any Edmontonians to experience being in a scene street is not about cars traveling up and restaurant sandwich named after Elvis. with lots of people. The festivals have created EDMONTON’S CENTRAL MAGAZINE that opportunity to come together. SUMMER 2017 9 AROUND BY TAMARA SOLTYKEVYTCH THECORE @TAMARASOLTY PHOTOS BY MACK MALE

JUNE 10, 17 & JULY 1 Pride Events Support Edmonton’s annual Pride parade over in , then bring the cele- bration downtown with Fruit Loop events at The Needle on June 17 and July 1. Parade is 11am-2pm, Whyte Ave.; Fruit Loop events are at The Needle, at 10524 Jasper Ave. facebook.com/fruitloopyeg/

JUNE 14–21 Improvaganza Edmonton’s international improv sketch and comedy festival will be sure to leave Pride Parade you in stitches. Artists invade various locales, fully prepared to entertain. Numerous locations, times. rapidfiretheatre.com/festival/ improvaganza/

JUNE 21 Make Music Edmonton Following a French tradition called “Fête de la Musique,” where musicians offer free music on the streets every summer solstice, this event showcases all styles and genres of live music. Various venues, 5–9pm, along Cariwest Caribbean Festival Taste of Edmonton 124 St from Jasper to 108 Ave. makemusic-edmonton.ca JULY 20–29 chair, family and friends and watch a flick on Taste of Edmonton a three-storey inflatable screen. Pre-movie JUNE 22–JULY 4 An annual favourite, Taste of Edmonton cele- entertainment starts at 7pm; movies at dusk. Works Art and Design Festival brates all the culinary delights our community Churchill Square. edmonton.ca The Works is North America’s largest, free offers. Whatever you fancy, you’ll be able to outdoor art and design festival. Through a find it here. 11am–11pm, daily. Churchill AUGUST 11–13 multitude of exhibits, live performances, and Square. tasteofedm.ca Cariwest Caribbean Festival more than 200 special events, the festival Experience one of Edmonton’s most colourful encourages everyone to discover and develop JULY 20 and vibrant festivals: Enjoy Caribbean music, an appreciation for art and design. Churchill Premier’s K-Days Breakfast cuisine and over a weekend filled with a Square, various times. t heworks.ab.ca Everyone is invited to the annual kick-off to costume extravaganza, parade, Caribbean the Edmonton K-Days festival to enjoy free village and more. Churchill Square. JUNE 23–JULY 3 pancakes, eggs and sausage. 7–9am, south cariwest.ca Jazz Festival grounds of the Alberta Legislature. k-days.com The Edmonton International Jazz Festival AUGUST 18–20 connects audiences with provincial, national JULY 21–23 Dragon Boat Festival and international jazz artists. Various venues Canadian Food Championships A festival held annually in Edmonton since and times. edmontonjazz.com Experience CFC as a competitor, judge, 1996. Come watch strong teams compete in volunteer or spectator. This is one of the the 2017 dragon boat races in Edmonton’s JULY 7–16 tastiest and highest stakes competitions beautiful river valley. Louise McKinney river- Street Performers Festival in the country as it is the only Canadian front. edmontondragonboatfestival.ca Prepare to be entertained by performers. qualifying competition for the World Food These hard-working artists earn their pay Championships. Churchill Square. AUGUST 19–20 from the audience; please be generous. canadianfoodchampionships.ca Servus Edmonton Marathon Daily shows begin at 11:30am and end This marathon aims to be personal, genuine with a Troupe du Jour variety show at 10pm. AUGUST 2, 9, 16, 23 and fun–it’s the Edmonton way. Challenge Churchill Square. edmontonstreetfest.com Movies on the Square yourself, connect with your friends and make Enjoy free movies in the outdoors for the first new ones. Start/Finish Line at 9797 Jasper 10 THE YARDS SUMMER 2017 four Tuesdays in August. Bring your lawn Ave. edmontonmarathon.ca FRONTYARDS

THE LIST

Core lessons for Canada 150

ou can walk past Edmonton’s deep BY TRACY HYATT Yconnection to Canada without even @IAMTRACYHYATT knowing it. But you wouldn’t want to do that. For your adventurous spirit, as our country of 1897, they had moved to the Klondike. celebrates 150 years, here are some links to Today if you want to strike it rich, you can the bigger story. make your way to Ezio Faraone Park at 110 Street, take the stairs down to the river 1. Commodore Restaurant below and pan on the sandbanks and gravel A gold rush attracted the first throng of bars with hobbyists. Chinese settlers to Canada, in 1858. Twenty- five years later, 6,500 Chinese workers 3. 110 Street in Grandin helped build the railroad across Canada. The first European language spoken And in 1890, the first Chinese settler, Chung in what became Alberta was French. Gee, arrived in Edmonton, via Calgary, to French-Canadian voyageurs arrived in open a laundromat located between 105 and the North West Territories for the fur trade, 106 Street, off . In 1942, two married Cree women and established the blocks away from the original laundromat, first Métis communities. Soon thereafter the Gee family opened Commodore Restau- Francophone missionaries followed and rant, one of the longest-operating Chinese built churches across Alberta. Edmonton’s cafés in Edmonton. Although most head Grandin neighbourhood is home to to Chinatown for Chinese food, we suggest St. Joachim’s Church, one of the first heading to Commodore for “Western” French-speaking parishes in Edmonton, Chinese dishes like chop suey and egg foo originally established at the first location of yung—and don’t forget to say hello to David (where the Alberta Legisla- and Wilma Gee, relations of Chung Gee. ture building now sits). Further south down 110 Street, Grandin School, built in 1915, is 2. The banks of the North another reminder of Edmonton’s French Saskatchewan River roots. It was intended to offer instruction Years before the Klondike Gold Rush, pros- in French only, but with a growing English pectors staked their claim along the North population in the core, the sisters from the Saskatchewan River. Though the waters Les Fidèles Compagnes de Jésus taught weren’t awash with gold nuggets, you could students in both languages. St Joachim find particles, known as ‘gold flour.’ At the played an important part in helping peak of Edmonton’s rush, from 1895 to 1897, other Roman Catholic churches get built. about 300 miners came to the city. Most Parishioners helped organize the fund- could not resist the tales of more substantial raising efforts for St. Joseph’s Basilica, finds in the Yukon, though, and by the end on 113 Street. • CanadaBY TIM QUERENGESSER 150

alvin Bruneau was blowing residents, including those who live minds by telling facts rather than downtown or in Oliver are connected to this fiction. darker, often hidden story. Indeed, some of CIt was 2012 and Bruneau, who heads a the same people Edmonton has lionized as First Nations group that isn’t fully recog- founders are those who indigenous peoples, nized by Canada, was narrating the history like the descendants of the Papaschase, see as of Edmonton. But as he lectured to the first- the central characters responsible for taking year native studies class at the University of what was theirs. So, as we prepare to mark Alberta, he included the Papaschase people Canada’s 150th birthday in our city, some say in the story. it’s time for some harder work—to advance Chief Papaschase Edmonton’s standard foundation myth the conversation and make these two hist- is full of yarns about forts and voyageurs, ories one. pioneers and oil derricks, business people and settlers. Historically, the sometimes Rob Houle is tall and dwarfs the chairs beautiful, sometimes stark stories of at the Kids in the Hall bistro as we talk. “It’s indigenous peoples and their lands fine that people want to celebrate Canada have been left out of Edmonton’s story. 150 and whatever else, but it has a much But Bruneau didn’t omit them as different understanding and interpretation he talked that day and sure enough, for indigenous people,” he says. “To a lot of mouths dropped. indigenous people, Canada 150 represents “The majority of the students were the things that were lost.” in their 20s, young, and I could tell by Houle is a member of the Swan River First the look on their faces that they hadn’t Nation and has written several indictments heard of Edmonton’s history and the of Edmonton’s history from an indigenous history of the Papaschase reserve,” perspective. A central reason for why he says Bruneau says. “There was one student he struggles with Edmonton celebrating who said she’d grown up on the south Canada 150 largely goes back to one man: side and had no clue about this Frank Oliver. history. She was just blown away. Oliver is something of Edmonton royalty. The real history was hidden from To this day he’s celebrated in city discussion them.” as a pioneer, a business man and Alberta’s Canada is 150 years old on July 1. first member of parliament. Fittingly, Oliver’s Ottawa is bankrolling a birthday name is everywhere. In the 1950s, the city party set to sweep through our named the neighbourhood he built his house city and many others. But the within after him. There’s also Oliver School, indigenous nations that Canada a park and a community rink, as well as a swallowed to become a country power centre. Oliver is given a prominent are many thousands of years story at , too, celebrated old. And the story of their lands, for his use of his printing press to publish the Photo of Chief Papaschase courtesy of the which many settlers took, and city’s first newspaper, The Bulletin. Glenbow Museum. Photo of Frank Oliver (opposite) their cultures, which colonialism But Oliver’s role in Edmonton’s history is courtesy of the Provincial Archives of Alberta. attacked, are plot points that far different when you ponder his dealings Canada has struggled to place in with indigenous people. History shows he its happy-birthday narrative. used The Bulletin and his powerful positions THE YARDS 12 SUMMER 2017 Knowingly or not, Edmonton in governments to systematically attack and some tougher history for Edmonton

many indigenous nations and ultimately Alexandra, Hazeldean, Pleasantview and take their land, upon which much of our city Mill Woods, to name a few neighbourhoods. was built. Papaschase has been all but erased—aside It’s a point Houle can’t omit. “He may have from one industrial neighbourhood, just done some things, he may have helped the north of the Whitemud and east of Gateway city of Edmonton become what it is today, but Boulevard, which bears the former chief’s people have to realize that the reality and the name. truth is a lot of that success came at the cost of In 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada someone else, and a lot of those people were rejected a Papaschase application to pursue a indigenous people,” he says. land claim and calls for about $2.5-billion in Consider the Papaschase. In 1877, as compensation. Chief Papaschase—known to newcomers in Houle says he will never forget Oliver’s Edmonton as John Gladieu-Quinn—signed connection to this history. Frank Oliver Treaty 6 at a spot roughly where the Alberta “I purposely avoid Oliver [neighbour- Legislature now resides, the Papaschase saw hood] because it has a reminder for me, as the Canadian government attempt to reduce an indigenous person—one I’m sure people their vast, traditional territory to a land from Enoch and people from Papaschase has reserve of just 100 square kilometres in size. an even stronger recognition of—of what this Papaschase selected the land he wanted, as guy did to them,” he says. was his right, choosing a square of land about 10 kilometres south of the North Saskatch- Cory Sousa first learned of the hurt ewan river. surrounding Frank Oliver’s name when But the land was ideal for farming and he was involved in discussions to move the Oliver knew it. In editorial after editorial, he privately-owned downtown park that was targeted the Papaschase reserve. He lobbied named after Oliver. Ottawa for “settlers rights” and dismissed the That park is currently in a sort of Papaschase people as “lazy,” or, incredibly, as limbo, as its former home—right beside not “true Indians.” Meanwhile, the Papas- Hotel Macdonald—is being developed. chase version of history recalls how rations But when some proposed moving it promised by the Canadian government into the Oliver neighbourhood, the never arrived and that the disappearance of community spoke. the buffalo, which coincided with European “People on the project were very settlement of the North American prairies, much like, ‘We don’t want this saw them slowly starving to death in their racist,’” Sousa recalls. “I think reserve. that was the first time that I In 1888, 11 years after signing Treaty 6, heard or became more aware Oliver succeeded—at least in the eyes of of just how much he was Canada. Three men, who were then living disliked and how there on the Enoch reserve to survive, signed was concern regarding what Canada took (and remains to this day Frank Oliver.” to support) as a land surrender to the Papas- Sousa is a prin- chase reserve. Three signatures and it was cipal planner with gone. the City of Edmon- Today, the former Papaschase reserve ton’s naming EDMONTON’S CENTRAL MAGAZINE is parts of Old Strathcona, Ritchie, Queen committee and SUMMER 2017 13 has been pushing— along with strong public people, which is like a small city in Alberta,” name that we should really bring more atten- support from people like Mayor Don Iveson— Sousa says. “So, 50,000 people are now going tion to it’s Papaschase.” for dramatic change in what receives name to be saying ‘Decoteau,’ and I think that’s recognition. Most recently he’s advocated just a really neat tie to who he was and the Bruneau heads the Papaschase, though assigning indigenous names within Edmon- history.” there are other groups that claim to repre- ton’s river valley trails in the future. But Sousa knows there are other names sent the descendants of former Chief Papas- He says he feels names can be tools that might be hard to change. Oliver is one of chase as well. for creating the conversation many say them, he says. Instead, he sees more possi- Regardless, he says his battle is to see the Edmonton needs to have during Canada 150. bility with new names, or in shifting existing Papaschase become part of Edmonton’s And, he says, there are signs of progress. mainstream story. Consider Alex Decoteau Park, opening in We meet the day he’s finished work September along 105 Street at 102 Avenue. “We’re pounding on a door, consulting with the city on artwork depicting Originally the park was set to be called Chief Papaschase, to be installed at a stop in “Renaissance Park,” but Sousa and others saying ‘We want back in to Mill Woods along the future Valley Line LRT. worked behind the scenes to see it honour our own place.’” But that’s just the beginning, he says. Decoteau, who among other things was an In future, Bruneau says he’s hoping to Edmonton police officer, a soldier in the First - Calvin Bruneau create an urban reserve where land, profits World War and a marathoner. and taxation powers are returned to the Their victory on that name spurred more ones, to spark conversation and learning. Papaschase. And as Canada 150 approaches, movement. Sousa says he’s now hopeful Which takes us back to the Papaschase he’s hoping his nation’s story will prompt that several new suburban neighbourhood Industrial area. “Why an industrial area?” many in Edmonton to ask why they know so developments in the city’s south will be Sousa asks. “We want to really respect the little about his history. named along indigenous themes. And one history of Papaschase to those lands, so why “Edmonton is our city, but at the same of the overall area names—think Winder- wouldn’t you name the whole area Papas- time, too, it’s like we’re knocking on a door,” mere or Hardisty, for comparison—will be chase and bring more prominence there? he says. “We’re pounding on a door, saying Decoteau. Then the busses will have the neighbourhood ‘We want back in to our own place.’ We’re “Getting Decoteau was huge because that name, people will have it in their taxes, or getting there, but it’s just like there’s still a lot whole area is going to be home to 50,000 roads. If there’s one individual or family of work to be done.” •

nothing. better. LOVEPIZZA

Bring this in for a FREE Grizzly Paw Soda with the purchase of a regular pizza! Expires Aug 31, 2017 Not valid with any other offer, deal or special only valid at Canterra location 10196 109 Street www.lovepizza.ca Bike Network food cruise

The Downtown Bike Network is opening and is a great grid to do just that—so here’s our downtown food cruise way to stay safe as a cyclist. But like all cyclists know, for cyclists. This is just a small sampling of haunts to the best part of cycling is the ability to stop, lock up your check out. And, as the network evolves over the next bike and grab a bite, a coffee or a drink along the way. few years, spreading west into Oliver, our grid will firmly We want to encourage everyone interested in the new become the best way to get your snack on in Edmonton.

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EDMONTON’S CENTRAL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2017 15 CORE QUESTIONS BACK YARDS Why kids belong downtown Anti-child discrimination in housing comes into focus as group forms to fight it

hould our downtown and core neigh- BY CHELSEY JERSAK Sbourhoods welcome kids and families? @CHELSEYJERSAK It’s a question that’s about to get messier than a playpen in Alberta. Edmonton. As you may have read or experienced, in Why? ON M TO Alberta a landlord can still refuse to rent to Raj Dhunna, CEO of Regency Develop- D N E tenants with children, and a condominium ments, told the National Post in April that the

9 @C board can still evict an owner (yes, an owner) cost to build townhouse units—for example, COM 94. KUAR UA. AD or resident who contravenes an adult-only three bedroom, multi-unit housing—puts CK fm IO building bylaw by having the audacity to get their price uncomfortably close to what a pregnant. buyer can find a single-detached home selling gan Ouch, right? Well, it depends who you ask. for in a greenfield suburb. Dhunna said that r i c Many Albertans opine that kids disrupt made these units hard to sell, and that’s why di what’s apparently guaranteed to be a placid he and other developers don’t really build o a o condo lifestyle — or so social media commen- them. r tary suggests. And as these commenters As a 30-something millennial who’s often add, what parent would choose to raise lived in an apartment her entire adult life, their child in a downtown apartment or I’m always perplexed by arguments like condo, when we have perfectly nice suburbs, Dhunna’s. They assume all consumers make exurbs and bedroom communities for that? housing choices based solely on economic The conversation about where kids factors, rather than a web of social, economic, and families belong in Edmonton became transportation and lifestyle preferences. heated this spring when, in April, the Child They also assume we will always choose Friendly Housing Coalition of Alberta the suburbs in lieu of the urban life that we (CFHCA) launched a campaign to end age love, if they’re cheaper. based discrimination in housing. The group Such comments also plunge me into self- had its eye firmly on areas like Oliver and doubt. By still living in an apartment, am I pathetically trying to extend my youth? Do I downtown, which see large amounts of the multi-unit apartment and condominium lack the gene that allows other adults to enjoy FREE • 2017 SUMMER housing and often, child-blocking age restric- lawn care? YA R DS tions applied to that housing. Hard to say, but I don’t seem to be an THE DOWNTOWN EDMONTON COMMUNITY LEAGUE AND THE OLIVER COMMUNITY LEAGUE NEWS The group has been spurred to act by a outlier. MAGAZINE January 2017 high court decision that, by The City of Edmonton’s 2015 Growth next year, will see Alberta become the last Monitoring Report states that, “vibrant CAN Canadian province to add age as a prohibited and attractive urban cores have begun to ground of discrimination. The province change the way in which we plan. Millen- also has until next year to decide which age nials’ [...] movement into urban centres has ADA discriminations it will uphold (think needing helped shift investment from the suburbs, to be 16 to drive, 18 to drink, and so on). and developers and businesses have begun 150Some Edmontonians won’t be celebrating– Some developers and industry advo- to follow, by building condominiums and thanks to our cates are hoping the government keeps locating businesses in these urban areas in difficult past Place the space: Condo-minimums: We investigate the adult-only housing as one form of legal age an attempt to capitalize on this generation’s Kids, the core and All aboard: genius of festivals a call for change Bike grid discrimination. desired lifestyle.” food cruises Aside from the laws, however, what many A shift to investment in urban areas like seem unable to grasp is the choice bit. Some downtown and Oliver can only work if people of us choose to live downtown or in Oliver of all ages are welcome. That must include SMART. URBAN. because we prefer that to other options. We’re parents, kids and families. CONNECTED. not just saving up for the ‘burbs, and we might If you agree and want to end discrimina- also want to have children while living here. tion against children in housing, there’s now YOUR CUSTOMERS. Imagine! a group you can add your voice to. • But when it comes to choice, there’s often OUR READERS. little of it in downtown and Oliver for housing Chelsey Jersak lives in one of downtown’s that’s usable for a family (three bedroom kid-friendly condos. She’s the founder and ADVERTISE WITH THE YARDS apartments, condos or townhomes) in principal of Situate, a municipal planning and placemaking firm, and a founding member of [email protected] 16 THE YARDS SUMMER 2017 CFHCA. For more information, see cfhca.ca. EVERY THING MATTERS.

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Christie Lutziak, chair of the parks committee, at the DECL Spring Clean-Up & BBQ. May 7. Volunteers help during Oliver Clean Up 2017 on April 22.

Community members enjoy food and drink at Chic-Hog-O’s during the OCL pub crawl on April 20.

Justin Keats and Dustin Bajer discuss urban agriculture at The Yards Spring Salon x on March 23.

Coun. Scott McKeen speaks at the OCL AGM on April 19. Coun. Ben Henderson speaks to media and onlookers at an update on the Downtown Bike Network, to be completed this summer. OCL AGM, April 19.

Oliver Community League’s new board, elected at the 2017 AGM.

Downtown community members gather in Dick Mather Park for the annual Spring Clean-Up & BBQ. May 7. 18 THE YARDS SUMMER 2017 Core Crew n d to o n wn o town edm

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