Edmonton’s small business community wants civic candidates to keep them in mind

With Edmonton’s municipal election less than three weeks away, small businesses in the city are asking mayoral candidates to keep them in mind, while one business owner here in Chinatown hopes whoever is elected mayor will focus on crime.

“There’s more awareness, but the occurrences of crime, I don’t think have slowed down,” said Chip Tang, the owner of Hong Kong Bakery.

Tang says that over three years after two men were killed in an unprovoked attack nearby. Adding that crime and homelessness are still issues in the neighbourhood.

“Luckily, it’s not violent, but it’s just minor crime, broken windshield, broken glass,” said Tang.

Adding to Tang’s frustration, he says, is what he feels is a lack of consultation from city leaders when it comes to social agencies in the area and even construction on city streets and sidewalks.

“The widening of the sidewalk on 98 Street, the bus lane, is removing parking space for us as a business owner, and I don’t see the sense of doing that because we don’t need a wider sidewalk. We don’t have pedestrians,” he explained.

Tang is not alone in his frustration with councillors who don’t listen. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses tells CityNews that more than 70 per cent of small business owners in Alberta believe their municipality isn’t paying enough attention to their issues.

With nearly 60 per cent saying they don’t receive fair value for their business property taxes.

The CFIB told CityNews on Wednesday that business owners in the city share the same concerns as most other Edmontonians in this year’s election.

“Keeping municipal spending down, and keeping taxes reasonable instead of the year over year increases. Another thing we’re hearing is construction, it’s a big issue right across the city, Stony Plain Road businesses really, really impacted by construction,” said Keyli Loeppky, the director of Alberta & Interprovincial Affairs with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The CFIB report found that nearly 55 per cent of business owners in the province feel they’re treated unfairly by their local government.

Edmonton’s election is set for October 20.