{"id":500896,"date":"2026-02-26T13:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/500896\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:49:11","slug":"keith-gerein-on-edmontons-density-or-an-mps-defection-there-is-an-art-to-breaking-political-promises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/500896\/","title":{"rendered":"Keith Gerein: On Edmonton\u2019s density or an MP\u2019s defection, there is an art to breaking political promises"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the surface,\u00a0Edmonton\u00a0city council\u2019s decision last week to\u00a0stay the course on infill density limits<\/a> could be seen as a broken promise from Mayor Andrew Knack and\u00a0a couple of\u00a0other\u00a0council members.<\/p>\n

After all, Knack, Michael Janz and Ashley Salvador\u00a0last year\u00a0all\u00a0supported\u00a0six-plexes\u00a0over eight-plexes<\/a>\u00a0as the maximum for interior lots in mature communities, and Knack even made that\u00a0vow\u00a0one of his campaign planks.<\/p>\n

So\u00a0when Coun. Karen Principe made a motion\u00a0last week\u00a0to do just that \u2014 following the recommendations of city administration and even lukewarm support from some developers \u2014\u00a0it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0the best look for Knack, Janz and Salvador to vote against it.\u00a0You can\u00a0probably understand\u00a0if some homeowners and communities felt a bit betrayed.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0if we\u00a0dive\u00a0a little deeper,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also possible to see\u00a0the decision as\u00a0an\u00a0appropriate\u00a0response\u00a0to new and valuable information.<\/p>\n

There is a\u00a0frequent tension\u00a0in\u00a0politics\u00a0between the need to make good on campaign promises\u00a0and the pressure to pivot when confronted with relevant evidence or changing circumstances.\u00a0Both are important, but\u00a0the best ideas should\u00a0ideally\u00a0win\u00a0out.<\/p>\n

Due to its lack of formal partisanship, city hall is better suited to achieve that outcome than other orders of government. The principle of open debate is designed for council members to keep an open mind and to change their positions after hearing the arguments of colleagues, administrators and the public.<\/p>\n

In this case, council heard from a lot of public speakers that unit maximums are not necessarily the most relevant issue. Instead, more people focused on the overall building size and shape, also known as the \u201cmassing\u201d of developments.<\/p>\n

They also heard that most infill lots in the city are already too small to accommodate eight-plexes under the current rules, and that there is likely to be a slowdown in the infill construction market anyway after all the activity of the past couple of years.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack sits in council chambers on Jan. 27.<\/p>\n

Sustaining momentum<\/p>\n

Perhaps most\u00a0importantly, concerns were raised that a drop in the unit maximum could\u00a0hurt the viability of\u00a0future\u00a0projects and\u00a0chase away even more development\u00a0activity,\u00a0undermining the successes Edmonton has\u00a0started\u00a0to\u00a0achieve\u00a0in\u00a0housing\u00a0choice and affordability.<\/p>\n

Confronted\u00a0with this information, council decided to leave the dwelling limit at\u00a0eight, and\u00a0will instead look at reducing the maximum height of projects\u00a0from 10.5\u00a0metres\u00a0to 9.5\u00a0metres, and will also consider a new bylaw to protect trees during construction.\u00a0A\u00a0public\u00a0hearing\u00a0is tentatively set for April.<\/p>\n

That potential drop in height, combined with changes council made last summer to building length and aesthetics, should help to mitigate at least some of the issues experienced by neighbouring residents.<\/p>\n

Yes, many of those residents will feel the changes don\u2019t go far enough \u2014 some opponents won\u2019t be happy until no more than a duplex is allowed next door \u2014 while others will be frustrated at the constant tweaking of the rules.<\/p>\n

I have sympathy for some of those feelings, but it\u2019s important to remember that the zoning reform process was always meant to have ongoing revisions as new and better information came to light. Last week\u2019s decision is not the end of the journey, but just another step.<\/p>\n

(As examples, the city\u00a0still\u00a0has to\u00a0deal with\u00a0street\u00a0parking,\u00a0waste bins, better enforcement of zoning rules,\u00a0and encouraging more development in nodes and corridors and near transit lines, among other issues).<\/p>\n

While messy at times, this is an example of how civic governance is supposed to work, in which council continually strives to find the right balance of being fair to existing homeowners while keeping focus on the big picture of sustainability and affordability.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0anything, we can\u00a0perhaps criticize\u00a0Knack and others for\u00a0prematurely pushing toward six units ahead of last fall\u2019s election when it seemed politically\u00a0expedient.<\/p>\n

Maybe they shouldn\u2019t have made that vow, or maybe time will reveal that they should\u2019ve held to it. But at this point I am loathe to criticize anyone for evolving their positions when the best evidence available suggests that they should.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

MP Matt Jeneroux, left, Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in Edmonton after Jeneroux crossed the floor to the Liberals on Feb. 18.<\/p>\n

Switching sides<\/p>\n

As to another local political switcheroo, my feelings are a little different\u00a0when it comes to\u00a0Edmonton Riverbend\u00a0MP Matt\u00a0Jeneroux\u2019s\u00a0recent move<\/a> from the blue team to the red team.<\/p>\n

To be clear, I think floor-crossings are a legitimate part of our parliamentary system. And when these moments happen, a lot of the indignation we hear is weakened by the obvious hypocrisy of people who would otherwise cheer a defection if it benefitted their side. In this case, Jeneroux does not deserve the extreme hatred he is receiving, especially from those casually using the word \u201ctraitor\u201d while they simultaneously work to break up the country.<\/p>\n

Most who know Jeneroux would also likely characterize his views as generally akin to that of a progressive conservative or red Tory. That strikes me as more-or-less reflective of where Edmontonians stand these days, and it has made Jeneroux an increasingly awkward fit with Pierre Poilievre\u2019s Conservatives and a better match with Mark Carney\u2019s Liberals.<\/p>\n

So\u00a0from\u00a0a political\u00a0standpoint, a move like this makes sense.<\/p>\n

Likewise, I can understand if Jeneroux might want to spend at least a few of his MP years with a place at the decision-making table doing meaningful work rather than forever shouting at the clouds from the opposition benches. It could be beneficial for Edmonton to have a second Liberal MP in caucus.<\/p>\n

All that said,\u00a0my\u00a0defence\u00a0of\u00a0Jeneroux\u2019s\u00a0choice goes only so far.<\/p>\n

Switching partisan teams is a big deal, especially less than a year after an election, and even more for an MP who has represented the riding as a Conservative for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

To me, that means constituents deserve some form of meaningful consultation before the change is made, like city council did with its infill framework \u2014 and perhaps Jeneroux did make some behind-the-scenes attempts at this \u2014 but the most respectful way to accomplish that is to put the move up to the test of a byelection.<\/p>\n

A dozen years ago, our now-premier and several of her Wildrose Party MLAs failed the consultation test when they abruptly crossed to the Progressive Conservatives \u2014 and they were soon sent into political purgatory for the transgression.<\/p>\n

Danielle Smith was eventually forgiven, and\u00a0perhaps\u00a0the\u00a0same fate awaits\u00a0Jeneroux, but that tends to be more the exception than the rule.<\/p>\n

If he hopes to beat the odds, he\u2019ll need to spend the next few years demonstrating to constituents that he made the right choice, since he didn\u2019t give them any choice at all.<\/p>\n

kgerein@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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