Categories
Alberta Politics

Michael Janz running for City Council in Edmonton’s new Ward papastew

Michael Janz is filing his papers to run for Edmonton City Council in the new Ward papastew. The ward encompasses many central Edmonton neighbourhoods that lie south of the North Saskatchewan River.

The three-term public school trustee announced late last year that he would not run for re-election to the Edmonton Public School Board after 11 years, a handful which he served as board chairperson and vice president of the Alberta School Boards Association.  Janz has been an outspoken advocate for fair and equitable funding for public schools and improving financial literacy in schools.

Janz was re-elected in 2017 with a landslide, earning more votes than any winning municipal candidate in Edmonton except Mayor Don Iveson.

Along with filing his papers with the municipal elections office to officially enter the race, Janz released a long list of prominent Edmontonians who are endorsing his city council campaign. The list includes Edmonton-Glenora NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman, former Liberal MLA Raj Sherman, former Edmonton-Strathcona NDP MLA Raj Pannu, former city councillors Allan Bolstad and Michael Phair, former school trustees Heather Mackenzie, Dave Colburn and Ray Martin, former Catholic school trustee John Acheson, past city council candidate Sim Senol, past school board candidate Neda Asadi, harm reduction advocate Petra Schulz, and former cabinet minister Danielle Larivee among many others.

Already in the race in papastew are Haruun Ali, Kirsten Goa, Tarcy Schindelka, and Byron Vass. Visit the Edmonton Elections page to see the full list of candidates running for Council, Mayor, and School Boards in Edmonton in the October 2021 elections.


Publisher’s Note: Michael Janz is a friend of mine and I have enthusiastically supported his campaigns for public school board in 2010, 2013 and 2017. He was a guest on the Daveberta Podcast in December 2019.

Categories
Homelessness

6th annual edmonton homeless memorial service.

I attended the 6th Annual Edmonton Homeless Memorial Service at Boyle Street Community Services on the afternoon of Saturday, January 22, 2011. During the service, hosted by Catholic School District Trustee John Acheson, friends and family of the 57 Edmontonians who died of causes related to homelessness in 2010 were invited to light a candle in their memory.

It was a somber event and an important reminder that no matter how secure our lives may be socially, materially, or financially, many of our fellow Edmontonians are not so lucky.

Here are a few of the photos I took at the memorial services. You can find more on Flickr.

57 candles were lit in memory of the 57 Edmontonians who died of causes related to homelessness in 2010.
Friends and family were invited to light a candle in memory of the 57 Edmontonians who died of causes related to homelessness in 2010.