A Coffee with Karen Principe, Ward Councillor for the City of Edmonton

Join us for a coffee and chat with Karen Principe, Ward Councilor for the City of Edmonton. 

Karen's journey from dental assistant to community advocate is one filled with passion and dedication. Born and raised in Winnipeg, she found her calling in the dental field while also working as a DJ for fun on the weekends. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Gene, and later relocated to Toronto.

As fate would have it, Gene's broadcasting job led them to Edmonton, where Karen seized the opportunity to continue her career as a dental hygienist. As her children were growing up, Karen was very active in their community; volunteering with her children's schools, sports teams and local Food Banks. Once her children had reached the teenage years, the volunteering with school and sports teams came to a stop. Karen missed the sense of connection to her local community. 

This led Karen to City Council, where she was elected as a Councillor in 2021. With her genuine desire to reignite a sense of community, Karen has been able to channel her passion for volunteering into tangible initiatives. From dedicating a week to providing dental care in Peru to participating in Free Dental Days in Edmonton, Karen has always been at the forefront of making a difference. Her commitment to giving back is truly inspiring.

So, join us for a coffee and chat with Karen Principe, a Ward Councilor who not only brings her professional expertise but also a genuine desire to create a strong and united community. Discover how her journey has shaped her into the compassionate and dedicated advocate she is today.

Transcript

0:13

Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park. My name is Cam Milliken, and I'm here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association. Hi, Jennifer. Good morning, Cam. How are you on this, once again, snowy day? It is a very cold day, but it's Alberta, so it's okay. It's all right. We're used to it. Yeah, we're used to it. Got my sweater on, and I'm happy about that. We are coming to you live, well, not live for you, but live for us right at this moment at the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So if you have never been to the Wall Coffee Roasters, now is the time, right before Christmas, we're doing this. Do you realize that, well, when people hear this, it won't be, but today is seven days away from Christmas Eve. I know. Isn't that wild? It is a little... I think when are we dropping this, next week? No, maybe in the New Year? I don't know. But anyway, it's right before Christmas when we're doing it. So it's hard to believe. It is. So incredible. So if you haven't done your finished Christmas shopping, come on over to The Wall Coffee Roasters because he's got some awesome coffee and maybe a gift card. Get one of them gift cards for Uncle George. Put about 200 bucks on it. And so Uncle George can buy coffee for all of you for the rest of the year. That's right. Yeah, it's going to be awesome. Jennifer, tell us about some important people. Well, we want to thank our gold corporate sponsors, which include the Myshak group of companies, Genics and Parkland County. Thank you to these individual businesses for all that they've done for the Acheson Business Association in 2024. Right on. Without them, we could not do what we do. That's right. I'm so excited today. This is awesome. We have a fantastic guest today. We've never had a city councillor on our program. We haven't. OK, we just may. No, we haven't. But we want to clarify, this is not a conversation about politics. No, that's not. But I'm just stating the title. That's all I'm stating. I understand. We don't do politics, but I'm just stating. This is pretty cool. It is. So it is my absolute pleasure today to introduce Karen Principe, who was a ward councillor with the City of Edmonton. And if the name sounds familiar, she is the better... Half.... smarter. Can I say smarter? Sorry, Gene. Spouse of Gene Principe. That's right. She is. Karen, welcome. Welcome, Karen. Thank you very much. You were way up on the list. We want your husband one day. But he was down. We wanted you before we wanted your husband. And that's the honest to God truth, isn't it? It is. We're telling the truth. We are. So we're very excited that you're here today. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. Yeah. So the only... The very first thing we need you to do is to pronounce the name of the ward that you are councillor in Edmonton. Oh, I'm happy to do that. I'm happy and proud to represent people living in the ward Tastawiyiniwak. Tastawiyiniwak. And share with us, where is that ward? What does that represent? Yes, that's in north Edmonton. So basically city boundary to Yellowhead, in the middle, 97th Street to 66th Street, also including the Castledowns metro area. Okay, right on. Awesome. Okay, Tastawiyiniwak. Tastawiyiniwak. Yeah, okay. So yeah, for those of us who grew up in Edmonton that are a little bit older, I don't know if I'm allowed to ask this question. What actual ward was that? Ward number? Ward number three. Ward number three. Okay, good. So for those of you who coined, ward number three, and now it's Tastawiyiniwak. Tastawiyiniwak. Yeah, good. There you go. So we're to all the people in Tastawiyiniwak. There, you got it. Anyway, good to have you here. Yes. So Karen, tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up? Are you a born and bred Edmontonian, or are you a transplant? I am a transplant. I was born and raised in Winnipeg. Come on. Yes. Yeah. My husband, Gene, though, is a North Edmonton boy. He was born and raised in North Edmonton. Okay, so here's the million dollar question. Born and raised in Winnipeg, husband works broadcast for the Oilers. Are you a Jets or an Oilers fan? Oh, this is tough. I'm an Oilers fan now. Okay. No problem. I was a Jets fan at one time. You know, that was the way my dad and I bonded. And then you converted. Yeah. Yeah. That's okay. You know, how can you not being in immersed in this? True enough. It's a culture. Yeah. It is in Edmonton, isn't it? Yeah. It has been forever. Yeah. I think in all the Prairie provinces, hockey is a culture. It is. Yeah. It really is. So you grew up in Winnipeg. What did your parents do? My dad, he was a truck driver. He worked in the mines. He did everything. My mom, she was a sewer. She sewed draperies and cleaning. Yeah. Any kind of work they could find. Cool. And how long did you live in Winnipeg? Until I got married. Oh, so you're okay. Okay. So Gene's from Edmonton. Right. You're from Winnipeg. Right. How did that happen? So Gene was working in Winnipeg as a sportscaster for CKND. And at the time, I was working as a dental assistant. And on the weekends, for fun, I had a job working as a DJ in a lovely restaurant lounge. Really? As a DJ. See, these are the stories that come out of this podcast. Absolutely. I mean, yeah, that's fast. Well, that's incredible. Grapes Pier 7, Grapes Pier 7 in Winnipeg. Really? So I don't mean to put you on the spot. What years were that? What was the era? What was the music era? Oh, that was in the early 90s. The 90s? Okay. Early 90s, yeah. Wow. Do you do any DJing? No. I did that just for fun. Just for fun? Okay. When anybody is looking for their Christmas party, looking for a DJ, call the councillor and maybe she'll do a guest appearance or something. Oh, yeah. I think Gene used to be a DJ too. Well, that I could see. I could see a little bit of that. Yeah. So we'd be happy to do that. That's fantastic. All right. So you met in Winnipeg. Right. Yes. So I was working as a DJ. Did Gene come request a song? Was it true love? He did come try to pick me up. Oh, that's fantastic. And I very politely declined. Oh, playing hard to get for you. Well, no, not necessarily. She's like, I just... She was living her life. She already had stardom. Yeah. No, no, it was just... Yeah, just something I made a practice of not doing. Right. That's right. Fratenizing with the peonies. Because I was working. And six months after that, I met him in Manitoba. They have things called socials. Okay. It's like what they used to have here, hall parties. They used to have here. In Manitoba, they have socials. Okay. So Gene and I happened to be at the same social. Right. And he came up to me. It was six months later and said, Oh, hi, do you remember me? And I said, no, I don't. Sorry, I don't. And then we ended up sitting and talking the whole night. We just talked and talked and talked all night long. And it was lovely. And he said, well, I struck out once, I'll try again. Good for him. He didn't give up. Yeah, he did not give up. So yeah, we started dating then. And after four years, we got married. And that was, we got married in 1997. So what is that? 27 years? Fantastic. And so how long did you both stay in Manitoba then before you moved to Edmonton? He actually got a job working in Toronto. Oh, Toronto. Okay. Okay. So he had moved to Toronto, then we got married, and then I moved to Toronto. Okay. And then... Were you happy about that? Was Toronto okay for you? Yeah, it was good. Yeah. Yeah, it was a good experience. Yeah. For some people, Toronto is like, yeah, you know, but yeah. Yeah, we enjoyed it while we were there. And then when we started our family, and he got the job offer to come back to Edmonton, to work here, you know, his hometown. Yes. And we had just started our family. I was just pregnant, and it was just the perfect time to come back to Edmonton. So you must have been pretty excited about that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So tell us a little bit about your family. You have how many children? Three kids. Three kids. Yes. They're 21, 23, and 25. Oh, okay. And boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, girl, boy. Boy, girl, boy. Boy, girl, boy. Yeah. And are they all in Edmonton still? They're all at home. Okay. They all live at home. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And they're all in university. Oh, wow. That's fantastic. So it's lovely. Yeah. Okay. So Winnipeg, Toronto, Edmonton. Correct. Good journey. Great journey. Yeah. And so you were a dental hygienist in Manitoba. Did you stay in that field? I was a dental... I started off as a dental assistant. And then went into dental hygiene. Right. And I was a dental hygienist up until I was a city councillor. Really? Really? As a matter of fact, I was elected and had to go to work the next day. Sorry. I'm quitting my job . We won't be cleaning your teeth today. I'm now a city councillor. No, I did. I still went to work. That's fantastic. Did you tell the patient? Do you say, hey, I'm now a city councillor? Well, no, not really. No, I'm just kidding. I'm totally kidding. That's really awesome. That's cool. Yeah. And you were elected in 2021. So three years you've been on council. Yeah. Wow. I've learned so much. It's unbelievable. Has it been what you expected? Has it been a journey you expected? Has it been different? What is, I mean, how do you feel after three years? You know, it's funny because it's both. Much of it is what I had expected, but there's a lot of what I didn't realize. There's so much to learn. Right. And I was very fortunate. I had some people I could rely on, some mentors on city council like Tim Cartmell and Sarah Hamilton, Andrew Nack, who really helped me. If I had questions, they were always willing to help out. So, Karen, why? This is the question for me. Why? Dental hygiene to city politics. Yeah. Why did you decide to make that shift? I was very involved in the community. I still am very involved in the community. I was volunteering at the kids' schools, with their sports teams. I felt so connected to the community. And then when they got older, and there's not as much volunteering in the schools, and they weren't in the community sports anymore, I felt I didn't feel I was as connected. Right. And I thought, what can I do? And I was still volunteering, but I thought, what can I do to really be connected to my community? And there was someone who I used to work with in Winnipeg. In a dental clinic. Who was the interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Candice Bergen. Yes. And she is a lovely person who, you know, when I worked with her, she, many of the people we worked with, would go to her for advice and guidance and stuff. She was, and she was just always such a kind, lovely person. Right. And so she inspired me. I thought, you know, maybe that is something I can do. That's how I can really, and I saw that in her. She really wanted to represent her community. She really wanted to, like, just be closer communities. What would... What I saw. Yeah. And that's what I wanted to do. I thought, you know what? That's, that's maybe a path that I could take. How long was that process? Was that months, years? What was it always in the back of your mind? It was years because I ran three times before I was elected. Oh, okay. All right. So you wanted to do this. This is what you wanted to do. Yeah. That's fantastic. Wow. You didn't give up. No. I love that. Just like Gene. Yeah. Didn't give up on you. It just kept coming back. Okay, let's go back to that for just a minute. Now, was Gene as famous in Winnipeg and Toronto as he is here? Would you say like, or? Winnipeg, yes. Winnipeg, yes. Winnipeg, yes. Okay. So what's it like sort of being the spouse of a... I'm going to say, because Gene is a celebrity. Everybody knows Gene. Everybody knows Gene. And again, this isn't about Gene, it's about you. But what's that like? Like did it... Yeah. You know what? I'm so proud of him. Yeah. It's nice, you know, because with that, with his maybe popularity, I would say, I feel comes a responsibility, right? To be someone who's upstanding and who helps community. And so he likes to do a lot of volunteering as well. Right. And yeah, that's something that's very important to us. And our family is volunteering and giving back to the community. Does it cause an issue when you're walking through the mall? No, not at all. And go, hey, councillor! And does Gene get hurt when he's like, no, no. Or is it like, you know, hey, hey, why are we out there? Like, no. Yeah, no, it's no, we're both proud of each other, right? And he, one of the things that I'm, I've gotten really good at is being the professional photographer for people because they like to have a picture taken with him. Well, can I just say the first time I met you was at the dinner. We were at a chamber dinner. And I got my picture taken with you. I got my picture taken with your wife before you. Anyway, yeah, so that was pretty cool. Yeah. Wow. So yeah, so I mean that, yeah, that's kind of interesting. How do your kids relate? How was that in school and stuff for them? Hey, your dad's Gene Principe. They grew up with it, so they don't really know any different. I think it was, you know, cute at first when they were younger. Yeah. They would say, Dad, how do you know that person? How do you know that person? Because everyone would come up, oh, Gene, and be so excited to see him. And sometimes people feel like they know him. Yeah, of course. So the kids at first when they were younger didn't understand that. And yeah, now it's just natural, normal. That's really cool. Yeah, he does such a great job. This is the question Jennifer and I both wanted to ask. You don't have to answer it. Is he on TV, is he as funny at home as he is on TV? Or how does that go? Yeah, we do a lot of eye rolling at home. Okay, that's what we really wanted to say. That was the question. Are the kids like, oh, dad. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I think that's really cool. And again, one day, hopefully, maybe we can have Gene on and talk to him. But more importantly, one of the questions we ask, and we really, I know for me and for Jennifer especially, because Jennifer, and she'll talk about this in a second, and what she does, but women in leadership. So you've obviously been in leadership and leadership positions for a number of years. You do your Women's in Leadership Conference every year, and it was fantastic. Yeah, first year we did it. It was great. I think one of the questions for me, especially as the world has really changed, and I think social media has really affected so much, especially being in the public eye now. What's that like being, you know, a woman in council? I know that there are others, but I know that, again, your life becomes very public. And again, social media plays a big role in that. You can't just turn it off at the end of the day. How do you deal with that? Is it when you started to run, was it negative? Was it positive? Do you think it's changed? It's both positive and negative. However, I think many things in life are like that. So you just kind of roll with it. I know when I was running, someone that I had met had said to me, one thing I wish for you is that you don't become jaded. Keep your true self, like make sure. And I keep that, I keep repeating that to myself over and over again. Don't let any of the negative, like you need to listen to everything, but don't internalize and change who you are. Right. And that's what I keep reminding myself of that. What do you do to push the noise out? What is there something like those negative things you hear, those thoughts, what do you do to? I pray. Yeah, yeah. I do, I meditate. I not necessarily meditate in the true or the historical way, but just internally. Yeah. And I just keep reminding myself of that, the importance of being your true self. Yeah. I think that would be probably one of the toughest things is to just try to continue to live your normal life and not let some of that negativity affect you. Right. Yeah. So, in reading your bio, and then I think I'm bringing this around a little bit, I read that you did a week long mission, dental mission in Peru. And the reason I'm bringing that along is I know for me in my life, I've done a lot of that. And when I need to push the negative out, this helps me far out. Tell us about Peru and what you did there and the purpose in all of that and what you were doing. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had in my life. So it was with the dentist I used to work with, and a few of us, quite a few of us, went to Peru for a week long. And it was a lot of work. It was a lot of work. And we worked in conditions. We didn't have a dental office. Yeah. We would just find a bench. We took the pillows from the from the airplane. Yeah. That, you know, the pillows that we got to use for pillows for them. Wow. And it was very... What were you doing? Were you doing full on dental work? Yes. Yeah. I was cleaning teeth and we used garbage bags for people. Wow. Really? Yeah. Rinsing their mouth and just spitting into garbage bags was how we... It was very, very... But we, everything was very hygienic. Yes. Like we had, the standards were very high. We still sterilized everything and... But the sterilization was very primitive. I wouldn't say primitive, but... Much different than here. Much different than here. Yes. For sure. Yeah. But it was, we had to keep standards. Everyone had to be licensed to work in the field. And the dentists were doing extractions, fillings, everything. Yeah. What part of Peru were you in? Were you interior? Were you... No. Yeah. We were new to Trujillo. Okay. And it was up in the mountains. Right. We were. And it was... What an experience. Like, as I said, it was quite primitive, but what an experience. Yeah. And you're so right. And were these groups of people who had never... I was going to say, yeah, had never had their teeth. Right. Many of them had never seen. So that you were first for them. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And many of them traveled by foot for a couple of hours. Wow. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. What joy you must have brought to them. Yeah. A smile, literally a smile on their face. It is. It is. And, you know, there was a lot of fear, too, right? Although they were very excited, like, happy. And they waited, patiently waited, no complaining, no complaining at all. They patiently waited. Everyone waited their turn. And but they were very appreciative. And as you can imagine, nervous as well, because it's an experience that they didn't know what to expect. And right. So you had to bring all of your equipment, tools, everything over to Peru. Right. Yeah. Wow. And so when you were all done, and you got back to Canada, what was your takeaway from, what was your personal takeaway from all of that? How did it, what did it do to you? Yeah. You know, it's like you said, something that you can look back on and think how much you can appreciate what you have and how you can help others, right? There's a lot of people that need help out there. And I've done Free Dental Day here in Edmonton as well. Yeah. It was an amazing experience. Free Dental Day in Edmonton. Is that through Nait? Was that? No? No, I used to work at Nait, though, in the Dental Assisting as an instructor. But it was through West Central Dental. OK, I believe is the... I might have to look back on what the name of the clinic is. But yeah, they do free or they did at one point. I'm not sure if they still do. They did Free Dental Day and same thing, you know, cleanings, extractions, fillings, that kind of work, things that could be done in a day. I know for me, I spent a lot of time overseas doing different projects. And you come back and it kind of helps put things in perspective. Right? Yeah. It really does. And when you're going through a tough day, you remember back to some of those experiences and you realize you're still going through a tough day. But it does help to put it into perspective a little bit. It does. And, you know, with, as I said, I have three kids. Gene and I have three kids. And when he was traveling a lot and the kids were young, I would sometimes be like, oh, this is tough. Three little kids and a husband, you know, who's traveling. And then what I would always think about was the military wives, whose husbands are gone for months at a time and they're possibly in a city with no family and possibly have kids as well. Yeah. So I would always think of that. And I thought, oh, don't, you know, there's always someone who might have it, you know, an experience a little bit more difficult. So that's something that's really important to me, is to show support for the military perspective. It is a great pers, you know, perspective. And I think too, the volunteering aspect is so important for our community. And Cam and I both volunteer for a number of things. And I'm just so, I guess, inspired and in awe of people that continue to, even though they're busy in their lives, continue to get back and volunteer. Because without it, we're just not the community that we need to be. Yeah. No, and if we, all we're going to do is rely on government to fill in spaces and help people. It will never be, it will never happen. So as we do this around Christmas time, of course, for sure, lots of opportunities to be involved, to volunteer, but year round. And it's exciting to hear somebody in office, in political office. And again, reading your bio, your heart for volunteering. Yeah, we love volunteering as a family as well. Sometimes we will sign up all five of us volunteering at the food bank. It's a great way to bond. That's so exciting, because I think more parents need to do that with their kids. It's a great way to bond. We did that with my daughter. I know you do that with your son. We need to get them involved. And not put them out the door and say go get involved. We need to lead the way. Yes, absolutely. So that excites me to hear that. Yeah, it's great. So involved with the food bank and all of that. And Christmas Bureau on Saturday will be delivering. And I get the sense from reading your bio that, and I'm saying it's not a political thing for you. It's at the heart of who you are. And your family. It's who you are. It's something that we've done for years. My mom actually started many, many years ago, she started a food mission in Winnipeg called Feed My Lambs. Okay. Yeah. So you were down there feeding the lambs. Yeah. Yeah. So it's just something that's just been a part of my life. Yeah. I love that. I think that's fantastic. So do I. I really do. I mean, yeah, you can't get your kids involved early enough and teach them to give back in so many ways. Because we are blessed. We're blessed people. We're very fortunate. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that excites me. That excites me. I mean, I knew a little bit about you, but now I just man, that's fantastic. That's just fantastic. So I do have a question after reading Karen's bio though, too. Karen, tell us about the Sommelier course that you took. Oh, yeah. I need to know. I need to know. Yes. We better, we better, just for those who are, who don't know what Sommelier is. Tell us what a Sommelier is. A wine specialist. Right. Yes. But a very specialist. Yes. A lot of people think they're wine specialists, but they're not Sommelier. So tell us about that. Yes. Tell us about that. So I have taken two levels of the courses, and after the third level, you'd be considered an entry level Sommelier. Wow. Yes. And so I love it. I love learning, and I like wine. So I thought, why not put the two together? And just I am doing something for fun, because it's something I really enjoy. And so now I have a glass of wine, and I always say it's for my education. It's a great party. Yeah. Like, opener, I, yeah. Yeah, you'd be awesome at parties. I know. Because you'd be like, so, so how, is this like an online course? Is this, you go somewhere? It was an in-person course. In-person, okay. It was an in-person course, and we have to taste different wines, and. So obviously you must have a good nose, a good smeller. Well, you know what? That's why I haven't taken my third level yet, because I want to. So I jokingly say, I drink wine for my education, but there is some practice, and you don't necessarily have to drink it. No. You're actually. Right. So if you got your third level, could you be working at a restaurant as a sommelier. You could do that. Yeah, even with my second level, yeah. So who knows, maybe. This could be a next career. Once you're done calling the councillor, we'll see you down there at the, I don't know. I don't know, we'll run into you. That's incredible. That's really cool. Yeah. I think that's neat. I do too. Yeah. I've always been fascinated by that. It must be fun for you. It is fascinating. Because you'd be like, well, we'll get that bottle because she needs to check it out. Well, you see, yeah, the, Gene doesn't drink. Oh, okay. So yeah, so he's my driver. Yeah. You should always marry your designated driver. That's true. This is true. I agree with that. Well, that's fascinating. I mean, who would have known? I mean, that's just amazing. Wow. So Jennifer? Karen, we have one final question that we ask all of our guests. Share with us the best piece of advice you've been given either personally or professionally that you carry with you to this day. I think it would have to be what we were discussing earlier, is not to allow the negative to impact you internally. You need to listen to the negative just as you do the positive, but don't let it change. Don't let it affect you to change your character in a negative way. Yes. Don't become jaded. Right. Like you need to still keep your true self. Yeah. I like that. That's great advice. Because it's easy to lose yourself. It is. And it's easy to become jaded. It is. It really is. So I think that's fantastic advice. Yeah. Well, Karen, this has been such a treat. Man, that's stuff we've learned. I know. Isn't that something? She's a wife, she's a mom, she's... She went to Peru. She went to Peru. She's a dental hygienist. She's a... City councillor. She's a sommelier. I know. I mean, what? Unbelievable. I know. Oh, we've never had all these people... She was a DJ. Don't forget about the DJ. She was a DJ. I was. There's a gig right there. A sommelier DJ. That would be unbelievable. I never thought of that. When it's all done. Yeah. Great idea. Just we could go into business together. Yeah. I'm sorry, but that's fantastic. But man, it has been. And you know, this is what I love about... Jennifer, This is what I love about our podcast, because when people hear that we're going to have somebody like Councillor Karen Principe on, they all think we're going to talk politics. I know. I think today was 100 million, billion times more valuable than talking politics. 100% agree. Yeah. Fantastic. What a fantastic person. You are just amazing. And thank you for taking the time to do this. Oh, thank you. I had a lot of fun. It was so nice to be here today and have a great cup of coffee. Yeah. We'll send you home with some coffee. Yeah. Does Gene drink coffee? He does. Okay. So we'll send him home with some coffee. That's fantastic. Well, thanks everybody for tuning in to another episode of the ABA Coffee In The Park. Thanks for doing that. Remember, we want you to share our podcast with people. Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your co-workers, tell your enemies. If you don't have any friends, make one so you can tell them about the podcast. And just share this with everybody you can because we think we got some pretty great stories. But more than that, we're thankful that you are our faithful listeners. Yes, we are. Thank you everybody for taking the chance and listening to this podcast. Again, Cam, you and I said five people would listen. Our families. We thought our families. That's right. And then we thought they get bored and quit. So thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support in 2024. Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it. And we'll talk to you next week. See you next week.