Latest news with #MacEwan
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion: Partnerships are key to providing student housing
Access to safe and affordable housing has become one of the most pressing issues faced by university students across Canada. While the impact is greatest on students themselves, their lack of accessible housing has serious downstream effects on our economy, downtown vibrancy, and the ability to grow to meet needs of industry and our community. Edmonton is experiencing significant increases in rental rates. The average rent for a one-bedroom unit in October 2024, was $1,362 — up 30 per cent from the average rent of $1,049 just three years ago — and rents are still rising. This financial burden is compounded by similar increases in food and transportation costs. Students are having an increasingly difficult time balancing their responsibilities at school with the need to earn enough income to cover their cost of living. This has serious impacts on Alberta's economic future as industry and local communities are telling us they need more talent to drive innovation, productivity, and economic growth. MacEwan University takes great pride in our place in O-day'min, our ward in the city, and our contributions to the vibrancy and safety of the downtown area. We currently bring over 20,000 people to the core every day during our fall and winter terms, and with our plans to grow to 30,000 students by 2030, we will have an even greater impact on downtown revitalization. We are not growing for growth's sake. We are growing to meet the demographic demands of youth in high school and the demands from the economy. Roughly one third of MacEwan's students rent their accommodations and as we grow, more students will be looking for places to live, particularly downtown. The Downtown Investment Plan identified we need to double downtown's population by 25,000 residents, and the Downtown Action Plan echoes this as a priority for downtown's growth. Students can be part of the solution. Our student residence of 846 beds is at capacity. We do not want to own, operate, or maintain a new residence; we are focusing on our core mission of post-secondary education. Our approach to housing has been to identify and work with partners to support housing options for our students. We want the housing industry to do what it does best: Support accessible housing for our students. About 18 months ago, we began bringing people together to find new and creative ways of ensuring downtown has more accessible housing for our students. We brought developers, property managers, social-housing leaders, the municipal government, and students together. We surveyed our MacEwan students. We did predictive modeling of our growth. We've been working with this information and listening to these needs over the past many months. We believe we're developing a responsive approach to MacEwan's student housing that focuses on partnerships. As a result, MacEwan invited potential partners to submit proposals for accessible housing for students. Interested vendors responded and committed to a set number of units at a discount for MacEwan students. Simply put, students have another option for accessible housing in proximity to MacEwan, and properties get help attracting renters to their building. This fall, we will be piloting this new approach. If successful, the plan is to add more units with a variety of properties over the next few years, adapting the number and variety of units as demand and the housing market evolve. Helping the private sector understand the affordability challenges that students are experiencing provides benefits beyond this project. Many housing options are not designed for students, and the conversations we've had will help the housing sector conceive and plan projects that take the needs, wishes and concerns of students into consideration. Things like 24-7 security, high-speed internet, laundry facilities, reasonable rent, intergenerational connections, and gathering spaces are important. Improving housing accessibility takes a creative approach and a sustained commitment from all stakeholders — government, business, industry, and other key players — to address the pressures our students and broader community are experiencing. This is a pilot and we anticipate, if successful, a new approach to securing housing for our students. Dr. Annette Trimbee is president and vice-chancellor of MacEwan University. We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don't publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. Email: letters@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal |The Edmonton Sun.
National Post
01-05-2025
- National Post
A day before Vancouver's festival killing, the suspect told police items were thrown into his SUV
Accused mass murderer Kai-ji Adam Lo called Richmond RCMP the day before 11 people were killed at a Filipino street festival and claimed someone had thrown something into his SUV. Article content Article content An officer talked to Lo on the phone just before 3 a.m. on Friday, but there was no further followup, a police source said. The Mountie then made an entry into a police computer system known as PRIME. Article content Article content Sources said Lo was considered a 'frequent flyer' who called police regularly about his fears people were doing things to him and to the black SUV that police say mowed people down at the Lapu Lapu Day festival just after 8 p.m. on Saturday. Article content Article content He was on 'extended release' from hospital and under the care of a mental-health team, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed earlier. Article content Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said the VPD became aware of the April 25 interaction with police only after the killings. He said investigators ran the suspect's name through the PRIME database and got a hit for the April 25 incident. Article content But he said earlier that Lo had many mental-health interactions with police before Saturday. Article content Dr. Bill MacEwan, a psychiatrist who works at the Surrey pretrial jail, told Postmedia News that the volume of Lo's calls and interactions with police and Lo's apparent level of paranoia should have raised red flags for his mental-health team. Article content 'The question is, 'If they did see him, did they reassess how he was doing? Was he actually getting adequate treatment?'' MacEwan asked Wednesday. 'If they were not following up and not hearing about these episodes and then taking them into account … the system is failing.' Article content Article content MacEwan said mental-health teams meet regularly with those under their care in the community to ensure they're taking medications and abiding by other release conditions. Meetings are usually more frequent if someone requires extra monitoring, he said. Article content Article content Even if Lo, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was on his medication, 'the degree of paranoia is not something that should be ignored,' MacEwan said. Article content Vancouver police wouldn't provide more details Wednesday about the mental-health-related interactions they had with Lo. The east Vancouver resident is facing eight counts of second-degree murder, but more charges are anticipated. Article content Vancouver Coastal Health said in its statement that there was no prior sign that Lo was 'a public safety risk.' Article content Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said Wednesday he's working with community leaders to plan a public memorial for the Lapu Lapu victims that will be held in about two weeks. And he said he wants a provincial government commission into the vehicle attack to 'deal with the very real mental-health crisis across B.C.'
Vancouver Sun
30-04-2025
- Vancouver Sun
A day before Vancouver's festival killing, the suspect told police items were thrown into his SUV
Article content Accused mass murderer Kai-ji Adam Lo called Richmond RCMP the day before 11 people were killed at a Filipino street festival and claimed someone had thrown something into his SUV. Article content Article content An officer talked to Lo on the phone just before 3 a.m. on Friday, but there was no further followup, a police source said. The Mountie then made an entry into a police computer system known as PRIME. Article content Article content Sources said Lo was considered a 'frequent flyer' who called police regularly about his fears people were doing things to him and to the black SUV that police say mowed people down at the Lapu Lapu Day festival just after 8 p.m. on Saturday. Article content Article content He was on 'extended release' from hospital and under the care of a mental-health team, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed earlier. Article content Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said the VPD became aware of the April 25 interaction with police only after the killings. He said investigators ran the suspect's name through the PRIME database and got a hit for the April 25 incident. Article content Article content But he said earlier that Lo had many mental-health interactions with police before Saturday. Article content Article content Dr. Bill MacEwan, a psychiatrist who works at the Surrey pretrial jail, told Postmedia News that the volume of Lo's calls and interactions with police and Lo's apparent level of paranoia should have raised red flags for his mental-health team. Article content 'The question is, 'If they did see him, did they reassess how he was doing? Was he actually getting adequate treatment?'' MacEwan asked Wednesday. 'If they were not following up and not hearing about these episodes and then taking them into account … the system is failing.' Article content MacEwan said mental-health teams meet regularly with those under their care in the community to ensure they're taking medications and abiding by other release conditions. Meetings are usually more frequent if someone requires extra monitoring, he said.
Ottawa Citizen
30-04-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Day before Vancouver's Lapu Lapu tragedy suspect told police items were thrown into his SUV
Article content Accused mass murderer Kai-ji Adam Lo called Richmond RCMP the day before 11 people were killed at a Filipino street festival and claimed someone had thrown something into his SUV. Article content Article content An officer interacted with Lo on the phone just before 3 a.m. Friday, but there was no further follow-up, a police source said. The Mountie then made an entry into the police computer system known as PRIME. Article content Article content Sources said Lo was considered a 'frequent flyer' who called police regularly about his fears people were doing things to him and to the black SUV he allegedly used to mow people down at the Lapu Lapu festival just after 8 p.m. Saturday. Article content Article content He was on 'extended release' from hospital and under the care of a mental health team at the time, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed earlier. Article content Richmond RCMP Cpl. Adriana O'Malley would not comment on the interaction with Lo on Friday 'due to privacy reasons.' Article content Vancouver Police Sgt. Steve Addison said the VPD became aware of the April 25 interaction with police only after the murders. He said investigators ran the suspect's name through the PRIME database and got a hit for the April 25 incident. Article content Article content But he said earlier that Lo had many mental health interactions with police before Saturday's tragic events. Article content Dr. Bill MacEwan, a psychiatrist who works at Surrey Pre-trial, told Postmedia that the volume of Lo's calls and interactions with police and Lo's apparent level of paranoia should have raised red flags for his mental health team. Article content 'The question is, if they did see him, did they reassess how he was doing? Was he actually getting adequate treatment?' MacEwan said Wednesday. 'If they were not following up and not hearing about these episodes and then taking them into account…the system is failing.' Article content MacEwan said mental health teams meet regularly with those under their care in the community to ensure they're taking medications and abiding by other release conditions. Meetings are usually more frequent if someone requires extra monitoring, he said.
Vancouver Sun
30-04-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Day before Vancouver's Lapu Lapu tragedy suspect told police items were thrown into his SUV
Article content Accused mass murderer Kai-ji Adam Lo called Richmond RCMP the day before 11 people were killed at a Filipino street festival and claimed someone had thrown something into his SUV. Article content An officer interacted with Lo on the phone just before 3 a.m. Friday, but there was no further follow-up, a police source said. The Mountie then made an entry into the police computer system known as PRIME. Article content Article content Sources said Lo was considered a 'frequent flyer' who called police regularly about his fears people were doing things to him and to the black SUV he allegedly used to mow people down at the Lapu Lapu festival just after 8 p.m. Saturday. Article content Article content He was on 'extended release' from hospital and under the care of a mental health team at the time, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed earlier. Article content Vancouver Police Sgt. Steve Addison said the VPD became aware of the April 25 interaction with police only after the murders. He said investigators ran the suspect's name through the PRIME database and got a hit for the April 25 incident. Article content Article content But he said earlier that Lo had many mental health interactions with police before Saturday's tragic events. Article content Dr. Bill MacEwan, a psychiatrist who works at Surrey Pre-trial, told Postmedia that the volume of Lo's calls and interactions with police and Lo's apparent level of paranoia should have raised red flags for his mental health team. Article content 'The question is, if they did see him, did they reassess how he was doing? Was he actually getting adequate treatment?' MacEwan said Wednesday. 'If they were not following up and not hearing about these episodes and then taking them into account…the system is failing.' Article content MacEwan said mental health teams meet regularly with those under their care in the community to ensure they're taking medications and abiding by other release conditions. Meetings are usually more frequent if someone requires extra monitoring, he said.
