City Pride: How We Build Reflects Who We Are

Written By Nathan Beck

City Pride: What Inclusion Looks Like

Walk down 118th Avenue, Whyte Avenue, or a quiet cul-de-sac in Mill Woods, and you’ll see something in Edmonton deeper than bricks or bike lanes. You’ll see neighbours who care. Teachers who wait for kids at the crosswalk. Business owners who know your name. It’s these everyday moments that show what our city is built on.

Inclusion in Edmonton doesn’t begin at City Hall. It begins in the way we show up for one another. And during Pride, we’re reminded that the measure of inclusion is about the actions we take in our daily lives.

Pride is more than a celebration. It’s an affirmation that everyone belongs here. That identity, love, and expression are not just permitted in this city, but protected and embraced. That safety isn’t conditional, and belonging shouldn’t be seasonal.

But if we want to live up to that standard, inclusion has to go beyond symbolism. It has to be reflected in how we serve, how we plan, and how we lead.

As we work alongside a team of passionate Edmontonians running to build a Better Edmonton, our city’s first-ever municipal party, this belief in inclusion guides everything we do. We want to lead a city where people feel like they matter. Where decisions are made with empathy. And where leadership starts with listening, not lecturing.

That means demonstrating inclusion in tangible ways:

  • Partnering with 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to support community-led events with real resources: grants, venues, and planning support

  • Creating safer spaces in city facilities: from gender-inclusive washrooms in recreation centres and libraries to ensuring city staff are trained in inclusive service delivery

  • Proclaiming Pride Month annually and ensuring city leaders participate meaningfully, not just with photo ops, but with dialogue and presence

  • Ensuring housing, transit, and public services consider the needs of marginalized communities, including queer and trans Edmontonians

  • Maintaining a year-round equity lens at City Hall to drive accountability, action, and inclusion, not just celebration

Pride is a powerful reminder that we are at our best when we choose to lead with care. It’s a chance to reflect on where we’ve come from and commit ourselves to where we need to go.

So this June, let’s fly the flag, support 2SLGBTQI+-owned businesses, show up at events, and have the hard conversations. Let’s live the values we say we believe in.

Because inclusion isn’t something we say—it’s something we do.
And in Edmonton, we do it together.

Tim Cartmell is running to be the next Mayor of Edmonton and is leading the Better Edmonton municipal party. Nicholas Rheubottom is running for Council in Ward Ipiihkoohkanipiaohtsi with the Better Edmonton municipal party.


Nathan Beck