St. Albert Minute: Bird Count, Improving Walkability, and a Council Strategy Session

St. Albert Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of St. Albert politics

This Week In St. Albert:

• Today, at 9:00 am, City Council will meet at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel West Edmonton for its 2025 Strategic Planning Session. This meeting will continue tomorrow as well. Council will also discuss the 10-Year Capital Plan and the Corporate Business Plan.
  
  
• On Tuesday, at 6:30 pm, the Policing Committee will meet. The agenda includes an in-camera discussion regarding a Policing Committee Bylaw Update. The Standing Committee of the Whole will meet on Wednesday at 9:30 am. A resident will bring up some of their safety concerns regarding the area in front of Elmer Gish Elementary School, and Administration will provide a presentation on the Provincial Hydrogen Economy.
  
  
• The Seniors’ Advisory Committee will meet on Wednesday at 6:30 pm. The agenda includes the Committee’s 2025 Priorities, an update on the Seniors & Elders Service Awards Program, and an invitation to a Seniors Housing Presentation.

Last Week In St. Albert:

• A recent data breach involving PowerSchool, a widely used student information system, has impacted parents, students, and teachers in St. Albert. All four local school boards - St. Albert Public, Greater St. Albert Catholic, Sturgeon Public, and Conseil scolaire Centre-Nord - have confirmed they were affected and have notified families. PowerSchool reported the breach originated from compromised credentials on its customer support website and has since taken steps to secure its systems and notify law enforcement. While no financial data was accessed, affected users are being offered credit monitoring and identity protection. The breach is part of a larger incident impacting hundreds of school divisions across North America.
  
  
• After St. Albert improved its livability ranking, moving from 31st to 25th in the Globe and Mail’s report, Mayor Cathy Heron highlighted the need for improved walkability, noting that adding density and mixed-use developments like those in Riverside could help address this. She emphasized the importance of integrating commercial spaces into residential areas to reduce car dependency and increase accessibility to amenities. While St. Albert performed well in safety and health care access, the City scored below average for walkability, housing affordability, and diversity. Heron remains optimistic about ongoing efforts to enhance affordability and urban planning, citing Riverside as a model for future developments.
  
  
• The 2024 St. Albert Christmas Bird Count recorded rare sightings and set new records for bird populations in the area. Volunteers observed 33 species, including a golden-crowned kinglet, last seen in 2007, and an American tree sparrow, absent since 2013. Robins and northern flickers reached record numbers, while white-winged crossbills appeared in unusually high counts, likely due to a spruce cone surplus. Only 480 bohemian waxwings were seen, a sharp decline from typical numbers. Data from the event, part of a global citizen science initiative, will contribute to Birds Canada’s population studies.

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