Municipal Election 2025 city councillor candidate (Ward papastew) Q&As: Rozalia Janiszewka

This article is part of The Gateway’s Q&A series with the 2025 municipal election city councillor candidates in Ward papastew. Ward papastew is home to the University of Alberta’s North Campus.

Rozalia Janiszewka is a city councillor candidate for Ward papastew. Janiszewka sat down for an interview with The Gateway to talk about how they would address student issues.

The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Why are you running in this election?

Rozalia Janiszewka: I am concerned about the right [leaning] shift that is happening globally, and I think it’s happening in Edmonton as well. I think things like fascism, racism, xenophobia, and transphobia are becoming more common, and I wanted people to see that there is an alternative to those things.

What would you say are the three main takeaways from your platform?

Janiszewka: Empathy for homeless people, affordable transit, and accountability from the Edmonton Police Service (EPS).

I think that council needs to step up and make a condemnation of the xenophobia that’s occurring. I think that council also needs to have a conversation with members of the EPS to see recommendations on how to make the city safer for minorities as well.

A couple of my proposals are to repeal the public spaces bylaw and to open a new supervised consumption site in Edmonton.

Repealing the public spaces bylaw is getting rid of the bylaw that has criminalized homeless people. The public spaces bylaw was implemented to control the behaviour of people in public spaces. [It] established fines for doing certain activities in public spaces, and a lot of the activities are things that homeless people are most likely to be doing.

A supervised consumption site is a [place] where people can use substances like opioids or meth under the supervision of staff who are trained so that they can do it in a safe space with safe supply and ensure that if they experience an overdose, there’s somebody there with training and the supplies necessary to keep them alive.

If elected, you would be responsible for representing many of the students who attend the U of A. What would be your priority in representing those students on City Council?

Janiszewka: I think affordable transit is really important in representing university students, because a lot of them would be using their transit system.

Affordability is a big issue for students. How do you plan to advocate for students amidst the cost-of-living crisis?

Janiszewka: I’m wanting to implement rent controls for one thing. [This means] I’d like to put a cap on rental prices so that we can have a more affordable living situation for everybody, and I think that would benefit students.

Note: Rent controls fall under provincial jurisdiction.

Transit access and transit safety are other big concerns for students. How would you work to address these issues?

Janiszewka: One of my plans for safety, especially safety on transit, is to experiment with redirecting some 911 calls to specialists, such as mental health therapists and social workers. I think that the way that the police have been responding to 911 calls has been ineffective sometimes, so I think we need to experiment with alternative methodologies.