Edmontonians might lose out on physical activity due to City worker strike

City workers are expected to strike at 11 a.m. on Thursday, shutting down multiple services across the City. One of the services affected will be recreation facilities that could put youth sports at risk.

“The longer this goes the worse it’s going to be,” said Reed Clarke, the chief executive officer of the Edmonton Sport Council.

“You know it’s really the drop-in programs. People who don’t have the structure, maybe don’t have the financial or funds to be apart of those teams who just use these rec centres to just stay active.”

Edmonton’s rec centers will close at 11 on Thursday morning due to the strike, but there will be wiggle room in that as those organizations with advanced bookings like rink or rentals, swim lessons, and other pre-arranged bookings can still go forward.

Speaking to some Edmontonians on Wednesday, they say this will impact a lot of people looking to stay active.

“We’re sort of just getting into the rhythm, so I guess we’ll have to take a break and do something else or go somewhere else,” explained one Edmontonian.

Another saying, “It’s going to affect a lot of people and memberships for all that stuff too. So, it will be tough for people to get active and get out if they don’t have their place that they normally go to.”

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This week, Commonwealth Rec Centre unveiled solar panels on its roof that cost the city $340,000. If the centres remain closed, Edmontonians won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of tax dollars spent.

“We have some of the best rec facilities in the country and maybe even beyond that. We spent all these tax dollars for people to enjoy them,” said Clarke.

According to the City, non-unionized workers will still be at facilities to ensure operations run smoothly and that facilities will be evaluated on a daily basis.

But once pre-bookings run out, there will be no way to make a booking until the strike is over, which will affect organized sports if the strike lasts weeks or months.

“I would say that we are doing our best to make sure recreation is allowed to continue in our city and we’ll put every resource available we can to provide the most programming,” said Andre Corbould, Edmonton City Manager.