Gabrielle Battiste is a candidate in the council elections for Ward O’day-min. She is a mother, an entrepreneur and business owner. She is a 25 year lawyer who has worked across all three prairie provinces (MB, SK and AB). Most importantly, she understands that every one is unique ‘in their struggles and their accomplishments’. She looks forward to ‘listening to you and learning from you.’
Tell us about you?
I am a resilient, strong & capable woman who believes that we can each become anything we want; and that with the help of a community of like-minded individuals, one person can change the world. I am a mother, an entrepreneur & business owner with fresh ideas, common sense & life experience. I am business oriented, fiscally responsible and opportunity focussed. And, I am truly looking forward to serving the heart of our city in Ward O-day’min, Edmonton.
Why politics?
I have held a number of influential positions in government, banking, private industry and not-for-profit organizations. I’ve written provincial legislation and municipal bylaws and policies. I’ve created relationships and organizations that have solved complex issues. At the heart of it, I’m an eldest child of four, who truly wants to change things for the better for everyone else – to reduce barriers and increase inclusive opportunities. I want Edmontonians to hold me personally accountable and I will report regularly on what I’m doing, how I’m doing it and on the specific outcomes. I will not blame other governments or other people. I believe information should be freely shared and proactively sought out. I will build consensus through dialogue and positive actions that get results so that we can move forward with focus and purpose.
Who inspired you to become a lawyer?
Honestly, I never wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to be a singer and a dancer – or a writer! The only reason I applied to law school was because my boyfriend applied. He didn’t get in, and I did. I had my son in the middle of law school and almost did not go back. But I did go back and I persevered. I was a single mother for most of his life. It was difficult to work long hours, care for him (especially when he became a Type 1 Diabetic at age 12 – got cancer at age 19 – and was then diagnosed with Autism at age 23). But I stayed in the practice of law because I knew that my skill set allows me to do anything and be anything that I want. And what I want most is to give a voice to people who cannot speak up for themselves. Being a lawyer allows me the privilege of helping others who need it the most – usually pro-bono. I am inspired to stay a lawyer by all the individuals I have helped over the past 25 years.
I have used my legal skills just in the past year to help create ANSWERS, the first non-profit run by sex workers for sex workers to help sex workers. I have helped create the Coalition for Canadian Police reform that is working to create a national policing college to provide career-long training in alternative methods to enforcement from a citizen-focussed and lived-experience point of view. I have worked with the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations to help all non-profits through the recent pandemic legislation changes. I help victims of harassment, bullying and abuse through the systems needed to report and survive. I am working with women’s shelters to help them navigate their privacy responsibilities. And finally, I am working diligently to ensure women are connected with other women in business and in mentorship to encourage building a larger Community of Care.
Do you find time to read? May I ask what the last book you read was?
I used to read voraciously. I lugged my collection of over 700 books around to over 20 different places. I finally gave them away a few years ago when I realized that a new generation could enjoy them as well. My mother is a librarian and my father, mother and I all have English degrees. I appreciate poetry, fiction and the written word. Language is beautiful and can both heal and harm with equal intensity. The last book I read was Warrior by Glori Meldrum (founder of the Be Brave Ranch for child sexual assault survivors), about surviving sexual abuse and the power of being brave. The message resonates with me as a survivor myself and having used a women’s shelter to escape abuse. I help mentor young women to be brave and to become resilient. Creating a Community of Care is integral to feeling, and being, safe and secure.
On your website, it says stop pet projects please can you tell us more about this?
Edmontonians work hard. We are innovative. We are creative. We are industrious. We are builders. And we aren’t opposed to paying for an amazing city. We know that it takes money to build a great city. However, Council has time and time again demonstrated questionable forethought, decision-making and results when it comes to taking risks with our money, and making the best investments.
Our downtown library is not what was promised – while it may be beautiful inside, it’s an eyesore on the outside. Council created the Edmonton Waste Management Centre as a centre of waste management to divert 90% of waste from landfill, supposedly to recover, reuse, recycle. However, the facility only ever met 45% diversion and worse, they wasted our money on questionable partnerships. Then, the City created another questionable partnership with Enerkem around biodiesel. The city paid a premium to take residential garbage to Enerkem to allegedly process waste to biofuel. This never worked and we have no idea about the status of this project or how our money is actually creating results that matter.
The City approved the construction of an extremely expensive brand new police campus with zero thought put toward operational dollars. The City had an agreement with developers that it would put money into stabilization reserves in good times so that we would have funding available when needed. However, audits show that the money was diverted to questionable purchases. Other audits show the City has a track record of spending money on allegedly non-arm’s length contracts like that for sand recycling.
And then there is the highly questionable partnership with Thales that resulted in years of delay, subpar results and potentially deadly design flaws on our LRT lines. Throw in the hundreds of millions of dollars in consulting fees and we have a Council that has clearly been making decisions without appropriate focus and without due diligence.
All of the above (and much more) indicates that decisions are being made that are ad hoc, based on poor information, without proper analysis and based on individual ideological design – rather than proper planning, based on data and arms-length information. This kind of radical spending without proper oversight and governance has to stop.
Can you describe the Edmonton you see?
I see an Edmonton that is filled with possibilities, potential and opportunities. We have amazing natural resources, engaged citizens, entrepreneurial intelligence and community spirit. My vision is to have truly inclusive and proactive engagement to ensure we have the right people at the right places at the right times to get the right results. I see an Edmonton that has a world class river valley that is truly accessible and inclusive – where our collective mental and physical health is uplifted and encouraged. I see our communities and local organizations and businesses being empowered to work together with better resources to drive innovation and make community level decisions on how to use those resources. I see the City being a facilitator of innovation – not an administrator of rules. I see myself as a community-based Councillor bringing people and organizations together to create and build our future. I see a clearly communicated and transparent focus that is driven by accountability to citizens. I see cross-connected, safe communities of care with local amenities.
What kind of business barriers will you eliminate at Council?
We need to change our City culture from one of administration to one of facilitation.
Businesses need support to get going after the pandemic. What will you do for businesses?
Small and Local Businesses are the heart and soul of Edmonton, and Ward O-day’min. We need to make it easy to start new businesses and prosperous to stay in business. I will fight to change the culture at the city to one of “Getting to Yes”. Every time you call the city, we should start with “how can we help you do what you want or need to do”. Instead of investigators, we need facilitators. Instead of administrators, we need activators and motivators. We need to drive traffic to brick & mortar stores and create avenues for innovative online business.
I will create an advisory council of small businesses in Ward O-day’min from a cross-section of industries. I will drive reform for the Land Use Bylaw to be flexible for business innovation, development, permitting and zoning. I will actively support outdoor venues year-round. I will actively support micro-mobility (ie. Scooters) and other means of moving larger numbers of people quickly and effectively to our small business locations. I will create hop on-hop off safe, effective and rapid transit where our kids don’t need to worry about being attacked as a result of race, religion, gender or otherwise. This transit should go around all secondary schools, core attractions, small and local business in Ward O-day’min from 124th to Chinatown and up to 107th and around 118th – then across to Whyte Avenue.
Major road and utility works and transportation projects along the Yellowhead, Jasper Ave, 102 Ave and 104 Ave are necessary but negatively affect enjoyment of our neighbourhoods and business options. We need better project oversight & management standards that get construction completed faster so people actually want to visit businesses.
We need focussed grant options for diverse, small businesses so that online businesses are included. In particular, I am a huge supporter of grants for women of colour and women in general as entrepreneurs to showcase some of the amazing talent we have in Edmonton. I will advocate for support for the Black Owned Market and other unique opportunities for showcasing our diversity in business.
Homelessness and drug addiction are big problems for Edmonton and your ward. What are your strategies to solve these problems?
We need a Comprehensive Review of the Delivery Models for Community Safety (Police, Fire, Operations, Peace Officers, Social Services, etc.) where the responders are not just the police, but social workers, mental health, and health workers. We need community-based policing and social resources that deliver the right people to the right place at the right time with the right solutions. We must invest in community safety, so residents don’t need to hire private security to feel safe in their neighbourhoods, and we must implement better safety practices on public transit, pedways, libraries & other high-use infrastructure.
I will divert resources away from simply warehousing people to focussed, culturally appropriate & smaller wrap around centres like Ambrose Place and Niginan Developments. Ambrose place has actually helped and housed some of the hardest to house individuals through strategies that actually work.
I believe appropriate 24-hour supportive & affordable housing is a priority. We need to locate smaller centres of social support across communities outside of O-day’min. I will work towards creating social agency standards because warehousing is not housing. We need to focus on Prevention and Intervention and work on an entire Social Safety Support System that helps transition from Shelter to Housing and includes decriminalization of poverty and mental health.
We should create a paid advisory board for those with hidden disabilities to help inform better hiring practices and future employment opportunities, and ensure those with disabilities have good, long-term & affordable housing options. I will push for creating opportunities for affordable housing options for Muslims & others so that they can create communities of faith.
We need an intervention and prevention strategy starting at birth and continuing throughout school. Focusing on women means focusing on families and children. Women of all ages are particularly vulnerable in poverty so our programs must focus on prevention & intervention for our youth, promote more pre-natal and early development programming, and support creation of more supportive housing for women – ensuring no pregnant women are houseless. We should explore partnerships with organizations focused on women and youth, such as Junior Achievement and Women Building Futures, to create new focused programs and easier access to existing programs towards life skills, resilience, entrepreneurship and employment.
Where can we find out more about you?
I encourage everyone to check out my website: www.gabrielle4yeg.com
I have also answered a number of questions for media and interested organizations like
I Heart Edmonton: http://www.iheartedmonton.ca/2021/
Check LinkedIn for my complete skills & experience background: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielle-battiste/
Instagram: gabrielle4yeg
Twitter: gabrielle4yeg
Facebook: gabrielle4yeg
YouTube (where I’ve been interviewing local business owners and Edmontonians who give us inspiration): gabrielle4yeg
You can also find me as President at Autism Edmonton: https://www.autismedmonton.org/board-of-directors
As a board member at CIVIDA (formerly Capital Region Housing – providing subsidized housing)
As a board member at the newly formed national Coalition for Canadian Police Reform
As a board member at ANSWERS – a non-profit for sex workers, by sex workers
As a published article writer with Sharp Women, the Canadian Bar Association & others: https://www.cba.org/Sections/Women-Lawyers/Articles/2018/December/Creating-a-values-based-law-firm?lang=en-ca https://issuu.com/sharpwomen/docs/swhl_june_21_v3
And as a frequent webinar presenter and speaker with the Canadian Bar Association on inclusion, diversity, unconscious bias, values-based business, ethics, leadership and mentorship
Most recently as a speaker with the inaugural World of Diversity in Leadership Conference: https://diversityconference.ca/speakers/
And on August 9, 2021, I will be doing an AMA (Ask me Anything) on Redditt: https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/top/?f=flair_name%3A%22Local%20*Amateur*%20Sports%20%22
