Calgary Minute: Public Disapproval, Access Fees, and a Very Merry Christmas

Calgary Minute - Your weekly one-minute summary of Calgary politics

This Week In Calgary:

• It’s Christmas Day - Merry Christmas to you all! Thank you for your support this year - we hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with friends and family. We rarely ask for financial support in these newsletters, but if you’d like to contribute to help us keep producing these newsletters next year, you can click here to make a donation. We appreciate it, and we'll see you in 2024!
  
  
• Council is officially on holiday break - there are no meetings at City Hall this week. Official business resumes on January 10th.
  
  
• There will be fireworks set off from Prince’s Island Park on New Year’s Eve at midnight. They can be viewed live, via livestream on the City’s website, or synchronized to music on CJSW 90.9 FM. Outdoor public skating will run from 10:00 pm to midnight at Olympic Plaza. The CTrain will have extended hours to get people home after the festivities.

Last Week In Calgary:

• New polling showed that this municipal government is not perceived favourably by Calgarians. The data showed that "for as long as there has been municipal public opinion polling in Calgary, there has never been a city council this unpopular.” If you’ve been following our emails, looking at your tax bills, and watching the quality of life deteriorate in the city, this probably isn't much of a shock to you. Only 30% "strongly" or even “somewhat" approved of Mayor Jyoti Gondek, while for City Council as a whole, 37% approve and 41% disapprove, with the rest saying they were unsure.
  
  
• Council has opted to defer any changes to its local access fee (LAF) formula until the provincial review of the regulated rate option (RRO) is completed in the spring. The LAF, a fee charged to electricity providers for accessing municipal infrastructure, is passed on to consumers as part of their monthly bills. Mayor Jyoti Gondek emphasized the need for an informed decision based on the outcome of the RRO review. The LAF in Calgary is unique as it is partially tied to the fluctuating RRO, which saw electricity costs in Alberta reach a record high of 31.9 cents per kilowatt hour in August 2023. The provincial review is scheduled to conclude in March 2024.
  
  
• Calgary police have filed 212 charges against 27 individuals, confiscating various weapons such as an axe, knives, Airsoft pistols, and bear spray during a two-week undercover operation at multiple CTrain stations. The initiative, prompted by a town hall meeting in Marlborough, involved transit safety, the Calgary Police Service's drug undercover street team, and the District 4 community engagement and response team. The operation targeted CTrain stations with the highest crime levels, including Marlborough, City Hall, Chinook, Rundle, 8th Street, Sunalta, Whitehorn, Westbrook, and Heritage. In addition to enforcement, officers collaborated with Alberta Health Services police and crisis teams to connect individuals with addiction to support services, aligning with the city's $15 million public transit safety strategy aimed at addressing increased social disorder and crime.

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