The intermunicipal sparring continues, as an Edmonton councillor has continued criticizing St. Albert’s lack of emergency shelters.

Since Edmonton Coun. Michael Janz made his initial comments, which Mayor Scott Olivieri called short-sighted, Janz doubled down in an opinion column in the Edmonton Journal on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Janz wrote that “St. Albert kiboshed a youth transitional housing facility, despite being told by their own staff that on any given day there were three to four St. Albert youth at an Edmonton youth shelter.”

St. Albert council never voted down a facility of any kind. Janz is referring to a motion to remove the Municipal Reserve (MR) designation on a parcel of land near downtown St. Albert, which council voted down in March of this year. Had it passed, the parcel of land could have been used for a youth transitional housing facility.

City spokesperson Cory Sinclair said there are currently no plans to bring the youth transitional housing facility back to council. 

“We continue to explore and pursue opportunities for St. Albert that were identified through the Mayor’s Task Force to End Homelessness and the Youth Transitional Housing Feasibility Report,” Sinclair said in an email. “While a specific date for returning to council has not yet been determined, this work remains ongoing. Youth transitional housing in St. Albert, along with related youth support initiatives, will continue to be discussed with council as opportunities and recommendations advance.”

In a Facebook post, St. Albert Mayor Scott Olivieri said he remained optimistic Janz would share his plan in further detail.

“I would expect that plan to include strong advocacy to the province, a willingness to collaborate and build stronger relationships with his municipal partners, and a presentation, including all the facts to support the solutions he has so confidently advanced publicly,” Olivieri wrote in his post. “If the answers are as obvious as suggested and factually correct, I’m sure municipal leaders across the region and at all levels will be interested to hear what we have all apparently missed and what we should be doing differently in our own communities.”

In an interview with the Gazette, Janz said he stood by his wording that St. Albert ‘kiboshed’ the youth transitional housing facility.

“I’ve heard disappointment from Edmonton youth-serving agencies that they wanted to be part of it,” Janz said. “If you don’t do it now, when need is acute … that’s just kicking the ball down the road.”

The city’s housing needs assessment identified 262 individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability in St. Albert in 2025.

In a Daveberta Substack post, Janz called for a regional approach to public safety, funded by a pooling per capita of non-residential tax in the region. A memo to council in the post dated July 17, 2026 finds that St. Albert’s assessment per capita of non-residential tax comes to $29,626, Edmonton sits at $34,153, while Sturgeon County’s assessment per capita is $372,382. 

Janz argued it’s not sustainable for the Edmonton taxpayer to have more of their budget go towards policing, shelters, and homelessness.

“It’s a much bigger problem that we all have a role to play in, but Edmonton cannot continue to be the social safety net for the capital region,” he said.

Executive director of the St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village Suzan Krecsy said she understood Janz’s concerns as Edmonton does have a large homeless population, although she said St. Albert’s homeless population by and large do not go into Edmonton.

“The only reason they go into Edmonton is if we give them a bus ticket to go to the navigation centre if they need to have specific paperwork done,” Krecsy said.

The St. Albert Food Bank has two day spaces set up for those experiencing homelessness. In extreme weather circumstances, Krecsy said there is funding for them to put individuals in a local motel. 

She added that many of the people they deal with prefer not to go to shelters as they find they present safety issues.

“Sometimes when you build a shelter, it’s one and done and nothing else gets done to help the folks off the street,” she said.