A new group is trying a different strategy to push back against Edmonton infill development. The Infill Action Committee is pressuring the provincial government to step in because its members say the city isn’t listening. Group co-founder Jesse Watson says thousands of city residents are scrutinizing the quality and impact of infill multiplexes, which have been popping up all over mature neighbourhoods since a new zoning bylaw took effect in 2024. “We’ve gone from zero to 60, and I don’t think we’ve contemplated all the impacts,” Watson told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday. Watson, who ran for city council last fall in the north-side Ward Anirniq, said the Infill Action Committee is starting a three-month letter-writing campaign to seven provincial ministers who he says have a mandate to bring common issues they hear about from the public to the premier. “This is an election issue to us,” he said. “How the government acts is going to determine voting in Edmonton.” Mayor Andrew Knack has spent large parts of his 13 years on council discussing the ins and outs of infill. “I think this is an issue that, like most local issues, are best determined by local representation,” Knack told reporters Thursday at city hall. “The provincial government doesn’t have any MLAs in Edmonton.” Through surveys, door-knocking, town halls, public hearings and election campaigns, he believes the city has considered every angle of infill impacts. City council has made several changes responding to feedback, such as shrinking the size of infill buildings and adding enforcement officers. “No matter which decision you make, half of the people are going to be on the opposite end of the outcome they desire,” Knack said. “That’s different than not being heard.” The infill action committee plans to send between 300 and 400 letters on infill to the province per week until October.
