Does Edmonton need a night mayor for nighttime economy?

With festivals, concerts, attractions, events, plus bars, pubs, and clubs, Edmonton is clearly an entertainment city.

And a lot of that is happening at night – after regular business hours and after those at the city whose job it is to help businesses have gone home.

So does Edmonton’s nightlife economy need a boost? That’s what city councillors are now looking into.

“This is something that I think Edmonton desperately needs,” said Brent Oliver, who produces the Winterruption YEG festival.

Oliver was among those asking city council Wednesday to hire someone dedicated to supporting events in the evening. He says it can be a challenge to get through red tape at city hall for those whose working hours are outside 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“For example, my festival gets money from the city to put it on, yet we also have to pay whenever we close down the streets for parking. Well, which is it? Which do you wanna do?” said Oliver.

He says about 30 per cent of Edmonton’s businesses would be implicated, like restaurants, live venues, sports, and all the things Edmontonians do for fun.

As of right now, there isn’t anyone around at night working at the city for businesses to call.

“It’s going to Oilers games. It’s going to Elks games. It’s going out to see live music. It’s going out for that great restaurant experience or bar experience. It’s going to a street, a night market somewhere on 124th Street. It’s all the reasons that you really wanna be in a city,” said Oliver.

City Councillor Jon Morgan hopes council will put dollars towards someone who can help businesses after hours.

“Make sure that all of our businesses, nighttime, daytime, are thriving,” said Morgan of Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi.

Edmonton’s previous city council looked into a position like a night mayor to help bars and other venues at night, but ultimately it didn’t go through.

“That kinda stalled out last term,” said Morgan. “I’d like to bring it back to ensure that we have the supports that we need.”

Mayor Andrew Knack also saying he’s supportive of doing more.

“There’s not enough being done right now on the nighttime economy,” said Knack.

“I had the opportunity to go to a rave that I was invited out to, to experience what that was like. I’ve talked with a lot of folks who operate in the nighttime economy, and frankly, I don’t think that they feel the city is supporting them the way it needs to.”

Council could look at funding a nighttime economy office for the next budget.

–With files from Lauren Boothby