Edmonton News Briefs - May 2015

Get ready for hip hop downtown

 The Edmonton Arts Council’s weekly CypherWild started up again at the end of April. Every Thursday evening the free, all-ages community gathering brings hip hop culture to Sir Winston Churchill Square through live DJs, mixes, open invitation breakdancing  and street art. The event is hosted by DJ Creeasian, aka Matthew Wood.

Walrus Talks fitting for Edmonton as Aboriginal city

The Walrus Talks Aboriginal City, presented by Enterprise Edmonton, was held April 23 with close to 1,200 people packing the Shaw Conference Centre. Nine speakers from across the country participated, including local presenters Lewis Cardinal, federal NDP candidate in Edmonton-Centre; Patti Laboucane-Benson, director of research, training, and communication at the Native Counselling Services of Alberta; and Clayton Kootenay, the Memorandum of Understanding team lead of Treaty 6, 7, and 8. Among topics discussed were misconceptions people hold about urban Aboriginals; the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the Canadian justice system; the importance of treaties; the need to improve education; and the potential of Aboriginal youth. “The hope is that people leave thinking ‘I never thought about it that way,’” said David Leonard, director of events and special projects at The Walrus Foundation. The Walrus Talks Aboriginal City also included an Indigenous art show and a display area featuring 15 innovative local projects around the Aboriginal city theme.

Services offered to homeless in single location

The 14th Homeless Connect Edmonton was held April 12 at the Shaw Conference Centre, providing 1,500 community members in need with access to nearly 70 services in one safe and accessible location. The event, the largest of its kind in Canada, supports Edmonton’s work to end homelessness. Service providers, supported by 300 community volunteers, worked to provide both essential and dignity-enhancing services including dental care, clothing, housing and employment information, laundry services, haircuts, pre-natal services, birth control, counselling, and a hot meal. Homeward Trust coordinates Homeless Connect through collaboration with Edmonton Economic Development, Shaw Conference Centre, and the United Way of the Alberta Capital Region. The event is led by a community-based steering committee and relies on donations and sponsorship from more than 25 organizations. “Homeless Connect is about community coming together, committing to changing how we think about homelessness and those experiencing it, and sharing the goal of ending it all together,” said Susan McGee, CEO of Homeward Trust Edmonton.  Homeless Connect Edmonton occurs twice annually. The second one takes place in fall and is significant as winter approaches.

Food security, renewable energy focus of upcoming conference

Keepers of the Athabasca and partners will be hosting the ‘We are the Land’ conference in Edmonton June 1-2. The two-day gathering will focus on food security and renewable energy in northern Indigenous communities. The topic is a result of a meeting held in September 2014, where representatives from Treaty 6, Treaty 8 and Treaty 11, as well as the Métis community and settler community discussed over 50 possible subjects before settling on food security and renewable energy. The committee wants to work to ensure that northern Indigenous communities are given the knowledge available to work towards stronger self-sufficiency, by way of technology, funding opportunities and traditional knowledge, as well as to ensure that First Nation and Métis communities are leaders in the advancing changes that are occurring both nationally and internationally, which include technology such as solar energy.