Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on a call-in radio show Saturday that federal interference prompted her government to roll back some Edmonton housing rules.
Smith said the province reversed zoning bylaw changes this week that Edmonton made in 2024 because Ottawa influenced the city’s rules.
She said the federal government at the time offered Edmonton millions in funding in exchange for the zoning changes that made it easier to build multi-unit complexes in older, established neighbourhoods.
She called Ottawa’s funding a bribe and said it disrupted the integrity of the home building process in Edmonton.
“In Edmonton, … they didn’t start seeing what it meant until the bulldozers showed up, took down a single family home and put up a (multi-family building) so 16 units go up beside them with no parking,” Smith said on Your Province, Your Premier on CHED and CHQR.
“So I would say that the overreach happened when the federal government came in and and bribed city councils.”
Edmonton has been given three months to reverse the 2024 changes.
A statement released in February 2024 from former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government said a Housing Accelerator Fund would fast-track over 5,200 new housing units in Edmonton over the next three years.
“As part of the agreement, the city will streamline zoning bylaw approvals, build more homes around public transit, and use city-owned land to build hundreds of new homes.”
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It said Edmonton would shorten project approval timelines.
Edmonton implemented new zoning changes the same year in order to build higher-density neighbourhoods and make room for intense population growth.
But Smith said this week alone, she received hundreds of letters from people asking her to do something on the infill issue.
“We’re undoing some bad federal policy,” she said.
The mayors of Alberta’s two major cities have pushed back on the reversal by Smith’s United Conservative Party government, with Calgary’s Jeromy Farkas saying the province was threatening local democracy.
While the latest reversal will leave Calgary unaffected, Farkas said it sets a dangerous precedent for the province working to influence city councillors in the future.
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Calgary repealed its blanket rezoning rules earlier this year following a public hearing over a span of two weeks, with more than 400 public speakers and nearly 3,300 written submissions.
Smith directed Calgary maintain its rollback this week.
The issue of federal interference is being tested in the upcoming referendum in Alberta.
Albertans are set to vote in person Oct. 19 on 10 questions. The 10th and most debated question will ask whether they want to stay in Canada or have a second, binding referendum on leaving Confederation.
The first nine ask if the government should have more authority to push for Constitutional reform and impose limitations and financial guardrails around some newcomers.
In a booklet about the referendum that the province distributed to homes this month, the government gave its reasoning for each question and urged voters to give it a mandate on them.
Under a question about the Constitution, it said it’s time for Alberta to gain more control from Ottawa over its provincial affairs.
“Often, the federal government will seek to control provincial affairs by offering federal funding in return for allowing them to interfere with a province’s laws and policies,” it said.
“Over time, this has allowed Ottawa to gain more and more power over provincial affairs.”
On Saturday, Smith said that in her travels around the province, she has heard people say “they want more autonomy from Ottawa.”
On the separation question, she said, as she has repeatedly said, that she plans to vote to stay in Canada.
Canada has some of the highest housing prices in the world. Why? Cities in other countries allow urban sprawl.
Why doesn’t Canadian cities allow urban sprawl? Cities in Canada are profit oriented. While cites in other countries do their best for the good of the citizens. Canadian cities does what is best for the cities.
Infill is way more profitable to the city than a new neighborhood so of course the focus is on infill.
The reversal of the RC-G doing in Calgary speaks volumes. There were a majority of Algerians against the RC-G and the CoC went ahead with it anyway. FFWD to the mature lots being scraped and huge 2 story high-density homes being built and the reality hot. Calgarians were furious so the council had no choice but to hold a public hearing where it was deemed that 60% of Calgarians were dead set against it.
Edmonton is in a similar situation where council has ignored the majority in order to receive the federal funding – basically the federal government has to approve the plan for the municipality to receive said funds. Yet the majority of Edmontonians disapprove of the re-zoning.
Smith is standing up for the majority when the governing municipality will not. Personally that’s just doing her job.
in the beginning was Adam and eve, now with a new liberal premier once she is gone there will be Adam and Steve . we will re-write the history books! the liberal way lets go !
Not long before we have a new premier
There is nothing you can do about !! Go fist your azz betty !
You are a looser using other people’s names from older comments. F,,k off dude. Find your own thoughts.
you trash Alberta people need to vote no to 10. my family from India are going to replace you soon
Seems she has interference between her ears.
Funny thing…when I was working for the city of Edmonton in 2024 cleaning toilets , all the meeting I attended in the washrooms were discussing how the city went and reached out to other municipalities and attended conferences that discussed infill options to make their decisions on rezoning. Did Danielle attend those meetings ? I DONY KNOWI because i was cleaning toilets ! So how can she claim to know how the decisions were made other then having first hand information being Premier?
Danielle Smith has not been lying through her teeth for years.
Time to send her a message: vote YES to 1 – 9 and choose option two for 10
Danielle Smith has been lying through her teeth for years.
Time to send her a message: vote NO to 1 – 9 and choose option one for 10
Funny thing…when I was working for the city of Edmonton in 2024, all the meeting I attended were discussing how the city went and reached out to other municipalities and attended conferences that discussed infill options to make their decisions on rezoning. Did Danielle attend those meetings? Nope! So how can she claim to know how the decisions were made?
@ds Cooke
Alberta what’s to bring in who they want not who Ottawa says. Most
To the people Ottawa is bringing in are unskilled people still living in welfare. If it’s good for qubek it’s good for Alberta.
Ba ba black sheep.
How ironic that there’s a question about limiting immigration numbers. 2 years ago Danielle Smith was pushing for 10 million people in Alberta by 2050 with ads encouraging people to move here.
Smith is absolutely right. It is also how liberals stole their fake majority.
Smith is right, the liberals want to stack them east Indians 4 high
Edmonton votes socialist.no further explanation required.
Oh, Danielle, it’s time to let go of that obsession with Jt.
It was not your bed he chose, but the beds of others. Get over it and move on
@it’s time for change
really? is that the best you can do?
Well Edo Deweert, you say stupid things you win stupid prizes.
Yeah, it’s the same government we have today dweebs, Carney is lipstick on the pig that is the Liberal Party of Canada.
We need to stand up to this government by all means possible.
how can Global allow imposters to manipulate and alter what has been posted here? I (edo deweert) did NOT post the comment at 9 25 pm.
she the one that interfering
she is playing the treason card.its right out of the eby hand book ,i cant think of any other insult because i am like a chimp
this is a direct attempt at influencing the separatist vote by fomenting anti ottawa anger. i am so angry i want to cry for mommy
she is a card carrying separatist, no two ways about it
Premier Smith is pretty !
The feds did bypass the province so yes she is spot on with her comment! We are not Hong Kong we have room here in Edmonotn!
she is playing the treason card.
this is a direct attempt at influencing the separatist vote by fomenting anti ottawa anger.
she is a card carrying separatist, no two ways about it
Why did she bring this up just before the referendum and not when it was brought in before? Seems like political grandstanding to promote her separatist ideology even though she flops and says she wants to stay in Canada but under her rules and not the majority of Albertans.
Surprised she does not end her conversations with Thank you for attention to this matter!
Come on Alberta send this Wildrose Premier a message during this complete waste of money referendum that we all need to vote on.
As a person that has voted conservative in every election I have not been more disappointed than I am now.
All this is going to hopefully not but give the NDP momentum for the next election and that would be at worse than what we have now as their Narcissistic leader. He would be way worse than what we have now!
Will definitely be looking at other options to earn my votes for any upcoming elections.
Blames mayors.
Blames feds.
Lady needs to get lost.